Didi Conn: Remembering "You Light up my Life"

A few weeks ago I was watching “Blue Bloods” and saw this guest star who looked familiar. Older but still with a mousey voice, I thought it might be Didi Conn. Sure enough the credits revealed it was Didi Conn.

I remember her best from her time as a mousey, bashful secretary on the comedy “Benson”, but I remember her first from the movie “You Light Up My Life”, where she lip synched the song later made famous by Debby Boone.

The movie song
I was in elementary school when I first heard “You Light Up My Life”. This is where it gets a little confusing for me. I heard the song on the radio by Debby Boone. At the same time, I heard it was in a movie of the same name.

Shortly after, I saw that movie on TV. It starred a young actor named Didi Conn. All I remember from the movie is Conn’s character, wearing headphones and standing in front of a microphone in a recording studio. She was lip synching, I could tell even at that age, and she was doing it to “You Light Up My Life”.

It turned out, I recently discovered, “You Light Up My Life” was recorded in the movie not by Debby Boone, but by Kasey Cisyk.

The radio song
The version I always remember is by Debby Boone. It was released in 1977 and spent 10 weeks on the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Debby Boone was a newcomer, but she was from a storied performing family. Her father was legendary ‘50s crooner Pat Boone. My Mom was the one who actually first told me that.

The song won the Grammy for song of the year in 1977 and Boone would go on to win the Grammy for best new artist that same year.

Getting the words

One day in Grade 5, in 1980, I was trying to sing “You Light Up My Life”, and was kind of struggling. I had heard it on the radio coming to school. I only knew about a third of the words, and mumbled through the rest.

Monica, a classmate of mine, sat in front of me in school. Instead of telling me to shut up, or mocking me, she did something much different. First she corrected me on the words I got wrong, then told me the right words, them taught them to me.

She even wrote them all out for me. I still remember those song lyrics to this day.

Actor Didi Conn in "You Light up My Life".
Source: https://diaryofamoviemaniac.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/you2.jpg
(May be subject to copyright)

The actor
Didi Conn would return to the big screen as Frenchie in “Grease”. She was one of the members of the gang the Pink Ladies who daydreamed of becoming a professional hair dresser. She would reprise the role in the forgettable sequel “Grease 2”.

However, what I remember Didi Conn most for was her role in the durable comedy “Benson”.

The show overhauled its cast after its first and subsequent seasons, adding new characters. One was Clayton Endicott, the governor’s chief of staff. Another was Pete Downey, the governor’s press secretary. A third was Denise Stevens, a new secretary, played by Didi Conn who joined the cast in the third season.

Eventually her and Pete, played by Ethan Phillips, would get married and leave the show after the fifth season.

I watched the first season of “Benson” awhile back on DVD, and had forgotten some of those first-season characters. “Benson” really benefitted from the additions of those new characters who made the show stronger, and Didi Conn played a big part in that.

Parting thoughts
Sometimes I pick the topic and sometimes the topic picks me.

When I first saw Didi Conn on “Blue Bloods” I thought, maybe, I could write something about her and “You Light Up My Life”, and how the words still stick in my head from that day in Grade 5 when Monica taught them to me. Perhaps it was my original ear worm.

It was also a song that was really powerful, and touched me deeply. On top of that, Didi Conn was a great actor who I really liked on "Benson".

Then, on the morning Saturday, May 14, I was at a garage sale and spotted some records for sale.

I flipped past the first and staring me in the face was, “You Light Up My Life.” I bought all three records and the bag for a loonie.

It was a sign to write this post.

Sometimes I pick the topic and sometimes the topic picks me.