Jeff Conaway, "Grease" and "Taxi" star, dead at 60

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie in "Grease" and Bobby Wheeler on "Taxi," has died. 

Spokeswoman Kathryn Boole said the 60-year-old actor died Friday morning at the Encino Tarzana Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized in a coma since May 11. His manager, Phil Brock, has said Conaway had tried to treat himself with pain pills and cold medicine while in weakened health and suffered an apparent overdose.

According to E! Online, the actor's family decided to take him off life support on Thursday, after doctors said there was no hope of recovery.

Conaway's ex-girlfriend, Vikki Lizzi, tried to see the actor before he died, according to reports, but his family was granted a restraining order barring her from coming to the hospital. Lizzi, who was the one who found Conaway unconscious, tried to overturn the order, but was unsuccessful and didn't get to see him, E! reports.

The actor had long battled drug and alcohol addiction, which he blamed in part on back problems and repeated surgeries. He battled those addictions publicly when he appeared on the VH1 reality series "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2008.

Conaway played high school bad-boy Kenickie in the 1978 movie "Grease" and appeared in the Broadway version of the musical. He also played struggling actor Bobby in the sitcom "Taxi" from 1978 to 1981.