She had all the right moves in one of the biggest movies of the 1970s and then was the title character of her own TV sitcom. Can you guess who this 69-year-old actress is?
- DailyMail.com spotted this actress during lunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday
- She starred in one of the biggest films of the 1970s before appearing in a slew of other shows, including three daytime soaps and even The Sopranos.
- Now she's reunited with the star of that film for a cameo appearance in a credit card Christmas commercial. So, who is it?
She seems a world away from the 23-year-old who starred as a gifted dancer who becomes a victim of sexual abuse in a film that took the world by storm.
Now she's back in the spotlight thanks to a Christmas ad for a credit card opposite the man who shot to fame thanks to his starring role in that film.
In the intervening years, she landed the title role in a short-lived sitcom and played the first lesbian on a soap opera among dozens of other roles. She even appeared as a gangster's wife in the very last episode of The Sopranos.
So who is the actress spotted having lunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday? Can you tell?
The actress looked completely unrecognizable from her days as a disco queen on the silver screen
She was spotted heading out to lunch in Beverly Hills on Sunday
The actress was cast as the first lesbian to appear on a daytime soap opera. In real life, she has been married to advertising executive Arnold Zelonka for 36 years
She has appeared over the years on the daytime soaps All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital
It's Donna Pescow – Annette in Saturday Night Fever!
Donna, who went incognito in sunglasses and a Purple Haze hat, rose to fame overnight thanks to her role opposite John Travolta in the classic 1977 film.
Her character loses out to Karen Lynn Gorney's Stephanie as Travolta's dance partner and is then attacked by two of his friends in the back of a car.
But Pescow couldn't turn her role in the disco film into the same kind of international success as Travolta.
She had her own show Angie, which ran for a few seasons, and also starred in another sitcom, Even Stevens.
But they were roles in daytime soaps – including the gay Dr. Lynn Carson on All My Children – which kept her acting career alive. She also appeared on One Life to Live and General Hospital.
On The Sopranos, she played Patsy Parisi's wife Donna in the series finale.
Now she has a cameo appearance in Capital One's Christmas ad, in which Travolta, 69, transforms into Santa Claus and recreates his iconic dance moves from both Fever and its 1983 sequel Staying Alive.
In the ad, Travolta can be seen walking down the street as Santa Claus celebrates Christmas wonders before talking to a shopkeeper – played by Pescow.
Donna was initially considered too beautiful to play Annette. She had to gain weight for the role and relearn her Brooklyn accent, which she had worked hard to lose in drama school
Donna couldn't parlay her fame from her biggest film role into the kind of worldwide fame that costar Travolta enjoyed
Wow: John Travolta transformed into Santa Claus and recreated his incredible 1977 Saturday Night Fever dance for a new Capital One ad
Donna has a cameo in the new Capital One ad as a shopkeeper who asks Travolta's Santa where he's been. He answers 'The North Pole'
Donna had her own ABC sitcom, Angie, which ran for two seasons. She played opposite Robert Hayes
Based on Nik Cohn's article 'Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night', Saturday Night Fever was a critical and commercial hit upon its release in 1977, and has since come to define the grittier side of the disco era.
The musical tells the story of Travolta's Tony Manero, a 19-year-old who escapes the grind of life as a paint store clerk in Brooklyn by spending his weekends as the king of the local disco.
He agrees to be Annette's partner in a dancing competition, but then dumps her for Stephanie
Saturday Night Fever was produced by the late Australian producer Robert Stigwood and spawned one of the best-selling movie soundtracks of all time featuring the Bee Gees with songs such as Stayin' Alive, More Than a Woman, How Deep is Your Love and Night Fever.
Travolta, who was already famous for playing Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter when he landed the role in Saturday Night Fever, has gone on to star in films like Grease, Urban Cowboy, Look Who's Talking, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty and Face/ Off.