What Happened To The Cast Of Saturday Night Fever?

This article contains references to sexual assault.

Five decades after its original theatrical release, "Saturday Night Fever" is fondly remembered as a classic example of American cinema during the 1970s. The John Badham-helmed, Norman Wexler-penned dance drama was responsible for introducing John Travolta, then known primarily as "Welcome Back, Kotter's" Vinnie Barbarino, to a larger audience and solidifying his status as leading man material. Meanwhile, its highly touted disco scenes and dance choreography — Travolta's strut at the beginning of the film ranks among the greatest openings ever filmed – as well as a soundtrack featuring some of the most iconic tracks of the Bee Gees' vaunted mirror ball era (the album was once the best-selling in music history), have provided enjoyment across multiple generations.

However, one would be hard-pressed to describe "Saturday Night Fever" as a fun-filled romp, as the film explored class, gender, race, sexual assault, mental health, complex family dynamics, and other harrowing themes that are just as relevant now as they were when it hit theaters in 1977. Thanks in large part to a cast led by Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney, though, the film manages to strike a balance that has allowed it to maintain a spot alongside the celluloid masterworks of the 20th century. Over the years, those actors have gone on to have incredibly diverse careers in the entertainment world, as well as in other walks of life. Here's the rundown of what happened to the cast of "Saturday Night Fever."

John Travolta's Tony Manero works at a paint store by day but owns the dance floor at the discotheque 2001 Odyssey by night with superior moves and his embattled Bay Ridge neighborhood friends by his side. After the harrowing events of "Saturday Night Fever" (which parallel some of his real-life shadiness), Manero ultimately skips town to start a new life. For his efforts on the film, Travolta received an Oscar nomination for best actor. Of course, Travolta went on to add multiple other iconic characters to his résumé, including "Grease's" Danny Zuko in 1978, Vincent Vega from 1994's "Pulp Fiction" (which netted a second Best Actor nomination), Chili Palmer from "Get Shorty" the following year, Sean Archer and Castor Troy from 1997's "Face-Off," Edna Turnblad in the 2007 adaptation of "Hairspray," and many others.

These days, Travolta — who's now in his 70s and has undergone a significant transformation over the years — continues to work regularly, albeit not always in high-profile projects. In 2024 and 2025, he starred alongside Lukas Haas in the action heist film "Cash Out" and its sequel, "High Rollers." A third installment in the series is in the can. He's also slated to star alongside Melissa Barrera in the upcoming aquatic survival thriller "Black Tides" and has multiple other projects in the works. Travolta also made headlines with a rare Instagram video featuring his youngest son, Ben, who was the product of his marriage to the late actress Kelly Preston.

While Tony Manero initially takes Annette (Donna Pescow) as a dance partner, he ultimately dumps her for Karen Lynn Gorney's Stephanie Mangano as he aims to win a big dance contest. He ends up falling for her, too, and even tries to force himself upon her after they win the contest. In the end, she forgives him and inspires him to be a better version of himself. "I studied drama at Carnegie Tech," Gorney told the New York Times in 1977 (via her official website) of her efforts to master a Brooklyn accent for the film, "and they taught us how to write down accents phonetically. So I did that with Stephanie's lines — I wrote down the vowel sounds and the consonants. And I hung out with some kids from Brooklyn and broke down their sounds methodically."

After starring in "Saturday Night Fever," Gorney took a lengthy sabbatical from acting, during which she managed a Manhattan art gallery; Gorney has been an artist since childhood, continuing to exhibit her paintings and even sell them online now. However, she returned to the acting fray during the 1990s and has been racking up television, film, and stage credits in recent years. In 2025, she appeared briefly in an episode of the Hulu miniseries "Dying for Sex." Gorney is also a versatile singer and released multiple albums during the 2000s.

Bobby C, played by Barry Miller in "Saturday Night Fever," is one of the boys who backs Tony Manero (John Travolta) as he dominates the discotheque, providing the rowdy bunch with their wheels. His existence is a troubled one as he contends with a difficult transition to adulthood, emotionally absent parents, and his girlfriend's accidental pregnancy; as a result, he fails to match the others' bravado and longs for Tony's approval and support. After a heinous assault takes place in the back seat of his car near the end of the film, and in a moment of extreme vulnerability and desperation, he climbs the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and ends up falling to his death.

Miller added some memorable roles to his list of credits in the years immediately following "Saturday Night Fever," playing Ralph Garci in the 1980 teen musical "Fame" and starring alongside teen idol Robby Benson in "The Chosen" a year later. In 1985, he won a Tony Award for his work in the play "Biloxi Blues." He continued to act in film and television throughout the '80s and '90s but hasn't logged a new acting credit since "Shortcut to Happiness" in the mid-2000s. In 2020, he penned a remembrance of his "Fame" director, Alan Parker, for The Guardian. There's very little information available about his current activities, outside of a 2017 real estate listing; however, his work is fondly remembered by stage and screen fans alike.

Arguably the most tragic of all of "Saturday Night Fever's" characters, Donna Pescow's Annette was cast aside by her crush, John Travolta's Tony Manero, in favor of Karen Gorney's Stephanie, after which she takes pills and overindulges on alcohol in a jealous fit, and is later sexually assaulted by Tony's friends in the back seat of Bobby C's car.

Post-"Saturday Night Fever," Pescow was in high demand as an actor, and went on to star in her own sitcom on ABC, "Angie," for two seasons, beginning in 1979. As the 1980s wore on, she starred as Dr. Lynn Carson on the ABC soap "All My Children" and also had a starring role on the syndicated sitcom "Out of This World." Pescow continued to act periodically in film and television roles before landing the role of Eileen Stevens on the Disney sitcom "Even Stevens" in the early 2000s. Since then, she has largely made guest and recurring appearances on TV series like "The Flash" and also taught the next generation of performers at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Lee Strasberg Institute. 

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Joseph Cali played Joey, one of Tony Manero's degenerate and disillusioned friends, in "Saturday Night Fever." After initially convincing Annie to have sex with him in the back of Bobby's car, he participates in her assault with Double J. He also participated in the assault on the Barracuda Club after Bruce Ornstein's Gus accuses the Barracudas of beating him to the point of hospitalization.

Cali continued acting for the next two-plus decades after the film, mostly in guest spots on popular television series. He landed a starring role in the short-lived ABC crime drama "Today's FBI" in 1981 and played Nick the Nose in the 1997 crime thriller-comedy "Suicide Kings." He also appeared in several episodes of the soap operas "Santa Barbara" (which ran from 1984 to 1993 on NBC) and "Port Charles" ('97 to 2003, ABC). However, no new credits have been added to his IMDB page since the 2008 "Saturday Night Fever" video game. That's not to say that Cali hasn't kept busy in the entertainment space, though. He owned and operated a home theater and systems business, Joseph Cali Systems Design Inc., in California. Cali is married to singer-songwriter Lori Lieberman.

Paul Pape played Double J in "Saturday Night Fever," another member of Tony Manero's crew. During a 2024 appearance on the podcast "Hollywood Obsessed," Pape revealed that he had been working as a doorman at a New York City jazz club when he auditioned for the film; it was the first time he went out for a feature production.

In the years immediately following his "Saturday Night Fever" debut, Pape guested on Travolta's "Welcome Back, Kotter" and other popular series of the day, including "Family" and "Hart to Hart," in addition to numerous other television and film roles. However, he found his niche during the '90s as a voice actor and ADR maven. As a result, he may just be the busiest working actor today to have emerged from the "Saturday Night Fever" cast. In the last few years alone, he has provided primary, additional, and background voices for films like "Smurfs," "Kung Fu Panda 4," and the "Spider-Man 2" video game. Per his LinkedIn page, the actor has logged more than 8,000 voice credits across various media. His production company, New Trails Production, has been in operation for decades.

Years before she was beamed into homes across the United States as Fran Fine in the long-running CBS sitcom "The Nanny," Fran Drescher appeared briefly in "Saturday Night Fever" as a dancer named Connie. And while her screen time was limited, she made an impression in her debut film role, asking John Travolta's Tony Manero whether he's as good "in bed" as he is on the dance floor and sneaking a grab of his polyester-clad posterior. Years later, she repeated the line back to Travolta on the red carpet. "His wife's jaw dropped," she told BUILD in a 2018 interview. "She thought I was coming on to her husband, which, I would never do. But, you know, he knew exactly what I was doing and said how proud he was of my success."

We may not hear much from her anymore, but outside of Travolta, Drescher's career after "Saturday Night Fever" probably soared the highest, as the Queens native stacked leading roles in television and film, from "The Nanny" to "The Beautician and the Beast" in the 1990s to a recurring voice part as Eunice in the "Hotel Transylvania" series. She was famously married to "The Nanny's" creator, Peter Marc Jacobson, for years as well. However, she also worked behind the scenes for the betterment of all performers, serving as the president of SAG-AFTRA from 2021 to 2025. She was recently honored with a dedicated star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Denny Dillon had already acted on Broadway when she made her film debut in "Saturday Night Fever," and, like castmate Fran Drescher, she used the talents she honed to make her small role memorable. Dillon plays Doreen in the film, essentially a Tony Manero fangirl who sheepishly asks to wipe his forehead, after which she confesses her love of his dancing technique. Manero rewards her with a dance, but Doreen just wraps herself around him when he tries to dance with her.

Dillon later had the unenviable task of stepping in alongside a handful of other performers for the original cast of "Saturday Night Live's" infamous sixth season in 1980. Many members of that cast ultimately crashed and burned; in the end, only she, Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, and Gail Matthius survived the whole season, and Dillon wasn't retained for Season 7. However, she continued to work regularly in Hollywood, eventually receiving multiple CableACE nominations for her role as Toby Pedalbee on HBO's "Dream On," which aired for six seasons from 1990 to 1996. She also received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the 1983 Gershwin musical "My One and Only." More recently, she appeared in five episodes of the AppleTV+ series "Servant." Outside of collecting acting credits, Dillon taught improv at Vassar and Syracuse University and operated an art gallery called The Drawing Room.

One of the pivotal characters to the plot of "Saturday Night Fever," Bruce Ornstein's Gus — part of Tony Manero's crew — gets beaten up and hospitalized, prompting his friends to seek violent revenge on a Puerto Rican gang known as the Barracudas. Later, Gus confesses that it may not have been the Barracudas who put him in the hospital, but the damage is already done. Ornstein's filmography since "Saturday Night Fever" is relatively sparse compared to some of his castmates; however, he has continued to make his own waves in show business.

Ornstein wrote and directed the 1992 Sam Rockwell feature "Jack and His Friends," as well as the 2012 horror-comedy "Vamperifica." He has also written, directed, and served as artistic director for a number of off-Broadway productions. In 1998, he founded the Bruce Ornstein Acting Workshop with six students, and he has continued to teach acting over the ensuing decades. Ornstein has been on the faculty at Columbia University and NYU.

While Tony Manero's lifestyle did little to impress his parents and grandmother, Martin Shakar's Frank Manero, Jr. managed to win their approval by becoming a Catholic priest. In the end, though, he suffers a crisis of faith and decides to leave the priesthood, confiding in his younger brother that he only ever went down that path because he knew that's what they wanted him to do. However, Frank, Jr. nonetheless attempts to counsel Bobby C about his pregnant girlfriend and also encourages Tony to pursue his dancing dreams and not give in to his family's expectations as he once did.

In addition to starring in "Saturday Night Fever," Shakar appeared in several episodes of the long-running NBC soap, "The Doctors." Over the ensuing decades, he acted in films including the 1980 horror "The Children" and the 2003 Dakota Fanning and Brittany Murphy-led comedy "Uptown Girls" and made multiple guest appearances on television series, including "The Equalizer" and "Law & Order." He also acted on the stage, both on Broadway and in off-Broadway productions.

Val Bisoglio's Frank Manero, Sr. is the out-of-work, short-tempered patriarch of the Manero Family, who's none too pleased with his sons Tony (John Travolta) and Frank, Jr. (Martin Shakar), the latter of whom quits his priesthood (which had been a source of pride for his parents) in the film. Bisoglio was a veteran stage and screen actor by the time he appeared in "Saturday Night Fever," having accrued roles in a wide variety of series and features during the 1960s and '70s, including "Bonanza," "The Doctors," "The Partridge Family," and many others. He continued to act, mostly in TV projects, into the '80s and '90s and was a series regular on the Jack Klugman-led medical drama-mystery series "Quincy, M.E." on NBC from 1976 to 1983.

Later in life, Bisoglio had a recurring role as Murf Lupo on the hit HBO drama "The Sopranos." Bisoglio died at his Los Olivos, California, home in 2021 at the age of 95 due to late-onset Lewy body dementia. 

A native of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, Julie Bovasso played Tony Manero's deeply religious, pearl-clutching mother, who worries for her kids and out-of-work husband. In addition to appearing prominently in "Saturday Night Fever," Bovasso reprised her role as the Manero family matriarch in the 1983 follow-up film "Staying Alive." Before landing the part, Bovasso appeared in the 1970 Otto Preminger-directed dramedy "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon" in 1970. She was also an accomplished theater actress and experimental thespian, who occasionally wrote and directed her own material.

In later years, Bovasso starred alongside Cher in 1987's "Moonstruck" and also appeared in television series like "Miami Vice" and "Cagney & Lacey." All the while, she made waves behind the scenes as an acting and dialogue coach. Bovasso died of cancer near her Manhattan home in 1991 at the age of 61.

Lisa Peluso portrayed Tony Manero's kid sister, Lisa, in "Saturday Night Fever," which marked her second screen role and first feature film appearance after she had appeared on the NBC soap opera "Somerset" in 1975. The same year she landed her "Saturday Night Fever" role, she began playing Wendy Wilkins on the CBS soap "Search for Tomorrow," a role she would continue to play until the mid-1980s. She continued to act on major soaps through the '90s, portraying Ava Rescott on ABC's "Loving" and Lila Hart on NBC's "Another World" and CBS' "As the World Turns." However, Peluso hasn't added any new acting credits to her IMDB page since 2010.

In more recent years, Peluso has focused on her family life and a long-time career as a real estate broker. According to her Zillow profile, she has been selling real estate since 2002, and her Instagram is regularly updated with information on New Jersey-area listings and house showings.