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Stockard Channing, 82, Says She’s ‘Happy Being a Recluse’ in London

The ‘Grease’ actor reflects on grief, living alone and the quieter life she has built for herself

Donna Freydkin,

AARP

Published August 11, 2026

stockard channing, steated during an interview

Stockard Channing, seen here in London on June 30, 2026, says she has embraced a quieter life and is happy living alone.

Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

Key takeaways

Stockard Channing said the death of her longtime partner had a delayed impact that changed the pattern of her life.
Channing said she keeps a simple daily routine.
She returns to the screen in Practical Magic 2, which opens in September.

Stockard Channing is comfortable with the quiet life she has built in London.

The actor, 82, known to generations as Rizzo in Grease and first lady Abbey Bartlet on The West Wing, described herself as happy being alone in a recent Sunday Times piece about grief, loss and the rhythms of her daily life.

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She moved to London several years after the 2014 death of her longtime partner, cinematographer Daniel Gillham.

“Since just before COVID, I’ve been living in London. My partner, Daniel, died in 2014, and it was more devastating than I realized; it had a lag effect,” Channing wrote. “The pattern of my life shifted, so I shifted my life from Maine.”

Channing said she is comfortable living on her own.

“I’ve lived alone since I lost Daniel, and I’m happy being a recluse,” she wrote. “I was married four times before Daniel, and they all represent epochs of me.”

In a 2025 interview with the Times, Channing said she had spent months at a time in London before making it her permanent home and had maintained friendships there. People, reporting on that interview, quoted her as saying she was happy and not looking for another romantic partner.

“I’m very happy with the friends I have. No. Life is good. Life is very good,” she said.

In the most recent Times piece, Channing also reflected on not having children.

“Children were thought about and, yeah, I think about them now because it’d be great to have someone taking care of me,” she wrote. “But hey, children can be just as selfish as everybody else out there.”

Living alone, as Channing does, does not necessarily mean feeling isolated. A 2025 AARP survey of 503 solo agers age 50 and older found that 59 percent said they felt at ease living alone, and 56 percent said they felt in control. More than a third, 35 percent, said freedom and autonomy were the best parts of living alone. Many also reported active, connected lives: 63 percent found joy in spending time with friends, 59 percent in hobbies and interests, and 57 percent in family time.

Prefer a quieter social life?

You don’t need a packed calendar to stay connected. Here are seven expert-backed ways introverts can build and maintain meaningful social ties.

But enjoying solitude does not mean rejecting connection. Separate AARP research published in 2026 found that 95 percent of adults said friends are essential to a happy and healthy life.

Channing herself describes a life that includes time alone, longtime friendships and continued work. In 2025, Channing appeared on the London stage in Elektra. This year, she is also returning to the screen in Practical Magic 2, reprising her role as Aunt Franny Owens alongside Dianne Wiest, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The film opens on Sept. 11, 2026.

And when she’s not working, wrote Channing, “Pottering is my meditation; moving things from that pile to that pile. I may read and fall asleep around 11. If I can’t sleep, it’s probably just my subconscious clearing out stuff. Do I ever feel anxious? Sure, but that’s the price you pay for getting rid of the garbage.”

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Donna Freydkin has spent 10-plus years interviewing celebrities for major publications, and has written for a variety of outlets such as USA Today, Allure, Yahoo! and CNN covering topics such as films, family and favorite meals.