Annette Charles

Annette Cardona was born in Los Angeles to a Puerto Rican family and began dancing professionally as a teenager. She appeared on television shows including 'The Flying Nun', 'Gunsmoke', 'Bonanza', and 'The Bionic Woman'.

In 1978, Charles entered pop-culture immortality as Charlene 'Cha Cha' DiGregorio, 'the best dancer at St. Bernadette's', in the smash-hit musical 'Grease'. Her dynamic mambo dance-off with John Travolta to 'Born to Hand Jive' remains one of film's most electrifying musical sequences. She later earned a master's degree in social work and served as a professor of speech communications at California State University, Northridge.