After a few small parts in feature films , Channing co-starred with Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson in Mike Nichols ' '' The Fortune '' ( 1975 ) . Despite Channing being tagged " the next big thing " in cinema , and the actress herself considering this some of the best work of her career , the movie did poorly at the box office , and did not prove to be the break-through role Channing hoped it would be . On May 22 , 1977 , she , along with Ned Beatty , starred in the pilot for the short-lived TV series '' Lucan '' . Lucan , played by Kevin Brophy , is a 20-year-old who has spent the first 10 years of his life running wild in the forest . After being raised by wolves , Lucan strikes out on his own in search of his identity . In 1977 , at the age of 33 , Channing was cast for the role of high school teenager Betty Rizzo in the hit musical '' Grease '' . The film was released in 1978 and her performance earned her the People 's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress . In addition , during the second half of the 1970s Channing played a mischievous car thief in Jerry Schatzberg 's 1976 dramedy '' Sweet Revenge '' ( which competed at the Cannes Film Festival ) , Joseph Bologna 's love interest in the disaster film spoof '' The Big Bus '' ( also 1976 ) , Peter Falk 's secretary in the 1978 Neil Simon film '' The Cheap Detective '' , and real-life deaf stuntwoman and ( still current ) female land speed record holder Kitty O'Neil in the TV movie '' Silent Victory : The Kitty O'Neil Story '' ( 1979 )
Cannes Film Festival
1976 Cannes Film Festival
Stockard Channing