Susan St. Clair[1] is a main character in the Paramount+ original series, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. She is portrayed by Madison Thompson.
Susan is a popular cheerleader at Rydell High who spreads salacious rumors about Jane, putting her on a collision course with the Pink Ladies.
Biography[]
Susan was born and raised in Rydell to Tippy St. Clair. She was sent to a finishing school that forced her to conform to certain roles. She dated Buddy Aldridge in Sophomore year and they had sex, though Susan got pregnant. She had a quiet abortion and never told Buddy, and the couple broke up at some point.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies[]
In "We're Gonna Rule the School", Susan attended the drive-in with her friends when she learned from Rosemary that Jane Facciano had shown up in Buddy Aldridge's letterman jacket.
Jane was accosted in the bathroom by Susan and her friends who were protective over Susan as she used to go together with Buddy. Susan feigned happiness over the coupling and then sobbed into her friends, who guided her outside. The girls tried to cheer up Susan, who latched onto Richie across the lot. Dot didn't think she would go for the JDs, but Susan sauntered over. She asked Richie to buy her a soda. Gil dropped the keys into Richie's expectant hand and the duo were off.
They sat a table where Richie shared his plans for the future with a clueless Susan, who then noticed Buddy and laughed dramatically at Richie's words. They moved to the T-Birds car where she tried to make out with him. He stopped her so they could watch the romantic part of the movie.
The next day was the first day back to school, and Susan tried to find Richie. She spotted him across the hall and shouted to him loudly, waved, and was disappointed when he scurried off without a word. Meanwhile, rumors about Jane having sex with Buddy, among other salacious inaccuracies, spread like wildfire thanks to Susan and the Socs.
Susan found Richie again by the bleachers. He tried to brush her off but froze when he saw Jane under the bleachers. Susan, who didn't see Jane, wanted him to ask her out but he couldn't, because kissing her was “like going through a car wash without a car!”. She screamed, called him despicable, then ran to her fellow Socs. She lied that she had one soda with him to be nice and now he won't leave her alone. Richie, the T-Birds, Olivia, and Cynthia stalked over as Richie argued that Susan flipped the roles. Neil didn't believe Susan would associate with low-life dirty greasers or “their whore sisters”, which provoked Richie to attack Neil. Jane intervened before it could escalate and told everyone what she saw. She reasoned with Susan that someone could get hurt. Susan admitted that she exaggerated a little. The Rangers mocked the T-Birds as the groups dispersed.
The girls of the school attended home economics to learn all of what the “modern woman needed to know”. The teacher left to get supplies, and Olivia told Susan she was right. Jane could teach them about those kinds of girls. But it's not what she thought. She got up and sang “Good Girl Act”, which spurred the entire class to get involved. She spear-headed the movement to clear Jane's reputation back to that of a goody-two-shoes. Things were fun until Nancy's middle finger was pierced by a sewing needle and the teacher walked in to see the mess. When asked who started it, Susan only smirked. Nancy, Cynthia, Jane, and Olivia were sent to the principal's office.
The whole school and some of their families gathered for the pep rally that night. Jane took the stage in the front as a baton twirler under their banner. The Socs pulled a rope meant to mark their grand finish, a second banner covered the words "THIS YEAR, RYDELL" and replaced it with "JANE FACCIANO", which humiliated the girl and her family. In the parking lot, Jane confronted Susan and her fellow cheerleaders about the cruel prank. They now believed Buddy, who told Neil that Jane slept with him.
The next day at Rydell, the students gathered for the student council candidacy assembly. After Buddy's speech, Miss. McGee called Jane to the stage for her candidacy, but Jane told McGee her desire to withdraw. Someone called her a slut from the crowd and Jane started to go back to her seat when she turned to the podium to give a speech about Rydell. It wasn't fun for everyone before. They didn't have to just survive high school, they could have fun. McGee began to talk Jane off the stage as she reminded her that she withdrew moments before.
Olivia shouted her endorsement from the side of the auditorium. Susan corrected that Olivia couldn't endorse her if she wasn't running. Cynthia seconded the endorsement as she thought Jane should run for something. Nancy thirded the movement and the four girls stood on stage together. The crowd booed and called them tramps. McGee threatened to give them all detention if they didn't stop. Jane decided to run for president. Most of the crowd booed, though for the theater kids, outcasts, nerds, and Dot, until Susan corrected her, clapped for Jane. Cynthia shouted “Vote for Jane!” and then mooned the audience. Nancy, Olivia, and Jane, followed Cynthia's gesture. Susan shouted it was indecent, a gay student said it was fantastic, Potato developed a sudden interest in politics, and Gil wanted to register. The girls gave parting words as they fled the stage with everyone in pursuit.
In "Too Pure to Be Pink", Susan asked Buddy if he liked the voting posters she hung for him. Dot invited them to a party at her house after school. She ran into a student and slipped, but Potato caught her and bestowed sweet words. Rosemary and Lucille yelled him off then ushered Dot away. Susan told Buddy to pick her up at 8 for the party, but he worried people would get the wrong idea since they weren't back together.
Jane broke into Buddy's locker and found a letter addressed to herself. She read it to the Pink Ladies and they learned Buddy had sex with Susan the previous year when they were together. They planned to blackmail Buddy with the letter at the Socs party that evening.
That night, the Socs party was crashed by the T-Birds and the four girls. Dot allowed them to stay and gave the house rules to everyone. The party drudged on so Olivia encouraged Jane to talk with Buddy. Neil called for everyone to gather to spin the bottle. Cynthia took control of the game as the game master. Different people kissed with varied degrees of intensity. Jane spun and it landed on both Buddy and Richie, so Cynthia ruled Chef's choice. She picked Buddy for seven minutes in heaven, which angered Susan, but Cynthia allowed it.
After a heated conversation with Buddy, Jane stormed into the living room just as Wally and Rosemary emerged with a crass remark from Fred, followed by a boy and Peg who were timed, then Neil and a drunk Susan. Jane opened the letter but saw the girls that were mocked for their exploits, which included Susan and decided not to go through with it. Olivia and Nancy chased after Jane. She couldn't expose the bastard because he wouldn't go down, it'd be Susan.
The next day, Susan tried to scrub “Vote Pink” graffiti off Buddy's poster, but he assured her that she didn't need to do that. He heard about the punch incident last night and thought the guys were jerks. She called him one of the good ones. He wasn't in the place for a girlfriend but asked her to be his campaign manager. The hall doors opened and Susan's mouth dropped, followed by shocked murmurs from the student body. Jane, Olivia, Nancy, and Cynthia strutted down the hall in their pink jackets. Everyone watched the girls strut down the hall, their new name visible on the backs - The Pink Ladies.
Personality[]
Physical Appearance[]
Susan is a young teenager of tall height, a slim build, oval-shaped face, and big blue eyes. Her light blonde hair sits at her shoulders, usually styled away from her face in curls. She comes from affluent family, and her status is reflected in her clothing, accessories, and makeup.
Notes and Trivia[]
- In episode 8 her quiet abortion is heavily implied by her mother who wants her daughter to come clean to Buddy about it.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ As revealed in The Rydell Review promotional image for episode five.