Susan Buckner has died. She was best known for her role as cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 musical comedy Grease. Seventy-two.
According to Melissa Berthier, a publicist for the family, Susan died peacefully on May 2 with her loved ones by her side. The cause of death was not given.
“The light she brought into every room will be missed forever,” Samantha Mansfield, Buckner’s daughter, tells PEOPLE. “She was magic, and I was very lucky to call her my best friend.”
Buckner was born in Seattle in 1952 and became famous on the beauty pageant circuit. In 1971, she won Miss Washington and then went on to represent her state at Miss America the next year.
Buckner used her experience in beauty pageants to get a job in show business. She joined The Golddiggers, a singing and dancing group for women that appeared on The Dean Martin Show.
The Mac Davis Show, Sonny and Cher, and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour were some of the other shows she was on.
But it was her supporting role in Grease that made millions of Americans know who Buckner was. She got the part of exciting cheerleader Patty Simcox, which she shared with Olivia Newton-John.
“Do the splits, give a yell!” was her famous cheer for Rydell High School in the story. Get into the spirit for Old Rydell! Red and white, you did great! Go fight, Rydell! Fight, fight, fight!”
Even though she kept acting in the 1980s, Grease would always be the role that made her famous.
She had roles in movies like Police Academy 6: City Under Siege and TV shows like The Love Boat and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. But Buckner put her acting career on hold to raise her two kids.
After her marriage, she ran a children’s theater program at an elementary school in Florida and taught dance at a Coral Gables gym.
Her son Adam Josephs, grandchildren Oliver, Riley, Abigail, and Ruby, her sister Linda, her daughter-in-law Noel Josephs, her son-in-law Adam Mansfield, and her longtime partner Al are all still alive.
