Jim Jacobs

Work by the author

Author's Bio

Jim Jacobs is the co-creator of the hit Broadway musical Grease and was one of three judges on NBC’s talent-competition series “Grease: You’re the One That I Want”. Jacobs, who created Grease (in 1970) with Warren Casey, was born and raised on the mean, tough streets of Chicago’s far north-west side. During the golden era of rock ‘n’ roll (1956-1960) he was a guitar-playing “greaser” student at Taft High School. In 1963, Jacobs met Warren Casey when they were both cast in a local theatre production of A Shot in the Dark. Seven years later, the pair sat down and wrote what was to become one of the greatest musicals of all time. Grease opened in 1971 in a drafty old former trolley barn called the Kingston Mines Theatre in Chicago and was an instant success. A year later, Grease made it to Broadway and “greasemania” took off, eventually resulting in one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history and the 1978 movie, which became the highest-grossing movie musical in film history (a record that still stands today). Originally an actor, Jacobs has been seen on television, in motion pictures, regional theatre, national tours and on Broadway. He is the co-author of several other plays and musicals including Island of Lost Coeds, a musical spoof of the low budget sci-fi/horror/jungle movies of the 1950s which he wrote with his Grease collaborator, the late Warren Casey.