Remembering Susan Buckner: Actress from ‘Grease’ and Miss Washington dies at 72

“She was magical. She was my best friend. And I miss you every day. I was lucky to have such a mother, now I have her as an angel,” she was quoted as saying The Keeper his daughter, Samantha Mansfield.

Susan Buckner’s most famous film was Pomade, where she played the vivacious assistant Patty Simcox when she was twenty-five years old.

Olivia Newton-John, who died the year before, and John Travolta appeared in the film. He said goodbye to Buckner on social networks with the message: “Forever to Danny, to John. “Susan, you made Pomade even more special! We will miss you,” wrote the actor who played the character of Danny Zuka in Pomade.

After Pomade, Buckner starred in several TV shows. She later left acting to raise her two children, Adam Josephs and Samantha Mansfield. She directed several theater productions at Pinecrest Elementary School in Florida and worked as a fitness instructor for nearly ten years.

Buckner was born on January 28, 1952 in Seattle, Washington, and was crowned Miss Washington in 1971 and represented the state in the national pageant the following year.

She dabbled in music and songwriting, playing in Dean Martin’s Golddiggers, the girl group Fantasy, and the musical duo Buckner and Pratt. She also appeared as a dancer and synchronized swimmer on the American variety show The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.