How Lorenzo Lamas Stole His Role in ‘Grease’ From a U.S. President’s Son
What To Know
- Lorenzo Lamas revealed at a 2026 Grease reunion how he landed the role of Tom Chisum.
- Lamas got the opportunity after his famous mother introduced him to the Grease producer.
- Playing Tom Chisum in Grease launched Lamas’ acting career.
The humbly handsome Lorenzo Lamas, The Falcon Crest and Renegade hottie of ’80s and ’90s TV, didn’t have that tough guy cool we all know him for today in his first movie role, which was the 1978 blockbuster Grease. Lamas took the stage at the Hollywood Show on May 30, 2026, for a Grease reunion panel and left the crowd in awe after he said that he took the part from one of our U.S. presidents’ sons.
Karen Ruud/ReMINDMagazine
While his part was somewhat small, his character in Grease remains a classic. Lamas played Tom Chisum, the straitlaced dumb jock from Rydell High who Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) dates briefly to make Danny (John Travolta) jealous. Lamas was only 19 at the time and was enamored by the opportunity to work with his childhood crush, Olivia (he had all of her albums!). How he got the role, he’ll never forget.
“It was an auspicious beginning,” Lamas admits.
CBS/Getty Images
At first hesitant to share how the role came about (Lamas thought it was too long of a story to share on the panel), his costars egged him on, believing the audience would enjoy it. They were right!
“My mom was a very famous star,” Lamas started. His mother was Arlene Dahl, a prominent MGM star during the golden era of Hollywood who headlined popular films like 1959’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1949’s Scene of the Crime, 1949’s Reign of Terror, 1956’s Wicked as They Come, and more.
In March of 1977, Lamas escorted his mother to the Academy Awards, where, after the awards, they went to the Governor’s Ball.
Arlene Dahl in 1951’s “No Questions Asked.” Everett Collection
“Everybody sits down at tables, and they serve a wonderful meal, and my mom and I were sitting kitty-corner to Allan Carr [the Grease producer],” Lamas explains. “Shirley Eder, a publicist at the time, was a friend of my mom’s, and she came over to our table, and she said, ‘Arlene, you have to introduce Lorenzo to Allan Carr, he’s producing the musical Grease for Paramount.’ So, my mom and I get up and walk over to Allan Carr’s table.
“It’s the first time I’m meeting anybody in show business,” he clarifies. “I’m nine months out of military school, and Allan Carr says, ‘Oh, Ms. Dahl, you are absolutely gorgeous,’ which she was. And he recognized her right away. And my mom, like moms do, pushed me in front of her, and she goes, ‘Allan, I want you to meet my son Lorenzo. He’s going to be a big star.’ I just wanted to die right there. I just wanted to crawl under the table and disappear. But two months later, Allan Carr reached out to me somehow, I think through Shirley, and he wanted to meet with me at the studio, Paramount.
“And at the time Steven Ford had been cast as Tom — Gerald Ford, President Ford’s son had been cast,” Lamas said. The part somehow became available (rumor has it that Steven Ford didn’t know how to dance), and Carr remembered meeting Lamas and offered it to him. When Carr told him more about the role of Tom and how he would have scenes with Olivia, Lamas immediately said, “Sign me up!”
Steven Ford in “Secret Service.” Credit: Jeff Katz / TV Guide / ©NBC / Everett Collection
At the time, Lamas’ hair was black, and Carr asked him to dye it blond.
“I would have changed it into a rainbow color to do scenes with Olivia,” Lamas said.
Following Grease, Lamas got an agent and followed it up with a leading role in a very small independent picture called Take Down, which was the first PG release by Disney under the Buena Vista umbrella, and went on to have a long and successful career in Hollywood.
— Additional reporting by Karen Ruud.
Remind