Olivia Newton-John Biography

(One of the Best-selling Artists, Who Starred in the Musical 'Grease')

Birthday: September 26, 1948 (Libra)

Born In: Cambridge, England, US

Olivia Newton-John was an Australian singer-songwriter and actress, who won four Grammy Awards in her career. She was one of the biggest pop stars of the 1970s, and is remembered for the blockbuster movie Grease. She was also an entrepreneur and activist for environmental and animal rights issues. She also advocated for health awareness and was involved with various charities as well. Born in England, she initially performed in clubs and TV shows. She reached stardom after her Grammy Award-winning hits I Honestly Love You and Physical. She sold around 100 million records worldwide, and was one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. Her acting career began with a supporting role in Funny Things Happen Down Under. Years later, she played the lead role in the musical film Grease. The film’s soundtrack is one of the most successful ones in history. In 1992, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went into remission following the treatment and then suffered a relapse in 2017. She was an advocate for breast cancer awareness and raised a significant amount of funds to establish the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne. She died of breast cancer on August 8, 2022.

Quick Facts

Australian Celebrities Born In September, British Celebrities Born In September

Also Known As: Dame Olivia Newton-John

Died At Age: 73

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: John Easterling (m. 2008), Matt Lattanzi (m. 1984–1995)

father: Brinley Newton-John

mother: Irene Born

siblings: Hugh Newton-John, Rona Newton-John

children: Chloe Rose Lattanzi

Born Country: England

Actresses Musicians

Died on: August 8, 2022

place of death: Santa Ynez Valley, California, US

Ancestry: English Australian

City: Cambridge, England

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Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England, on September 26, 1948. Her parents were Brinley Newton-John and Irene Helene. She was the granddaughter of Max Born, a Jewish Nobel Prize-winning physicist, who had fled with his family to England from Germany to escape the Nazi regime. Her father was an MI5 officer during World War II. After the war, he served as a headmaster at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys.

Olivia was the youngest of three children. Her brother, Hugh, became a doctor, while her sister, Rona, became an actress. When she was six, the family migrated to Melbourne, Australia, where her father worked as a professor of German at the University of Melbourne.

Olivia Newton-John attended the Christ Church Grammar School, and later the University High School. She formed a short-lived girl group at the age of fourteen and they often performed in a coffee shop which was owned by her brother-in-law.

Eventually, she started performing on radio and TV shows. Her first single was Till You Say You’ll be Mine, which was recorded in Britain for Decca Records in 1964. The next year, she made her acting debut in the Australian TV film Funny Things Happen Down Under.

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Olivia Newton-John released her first album, If Not for You, in 1971. The album stood at the 158th position on the US Billboard 200, and at the 14th position on the Australian Albums Chart. Her next album Olivia, which was released the next year, didn’t do well commercially.

She found success with her third album, Let Me Be There, which stood at the 54th position on the US Billboard 200. The lead song of the same name earned huge popularity and success. It won Olivia her first Grammy Award in the Best Female Country Vocalist category. The song stood at the 6th position on the US Hot 100 chart and at the 11th position on the Australian charts.

In 1974, she released her next album Long Live Love. The song I Honestly Love You won her the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It also topped the Australian Kent Music Report and the US Billboard Hot 100.

She continued to release several successful albums over the years. Some of them being If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974), Have You Never Been Mellow (1975), Totally Hot (1978), Physical (1981) and The Rumour (1988). She won her fourth Grammy Award for her video collection Olivia Physical, which featured videos of her songs from the album Physical.

She released around thirty albums in her entire career. Her recent albums include Two Strong Hearts Live (2015) and Friends for Christmas (2016). Both the albums stood at the first position on the Australian Albums Chart.

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After her role in Funny Things Happen Down Under, Olivia Newton-John played the lead role in the 1970 film Toomorrow.

She found massive success in the 1978 musical romantic film Grease. Directed by Randal Kleiser, the film was a huge success. It earned nearly $400 million on a $6 million budget. The movie’s soundtrack became very popular and earned an Oscar nomination in addition to multiple other awards and nominations. The film was also praised by critics.

She continued to appear in several other films, such as Xanadu (1980), She’s Having a Baby (1988) and It’s My Party (1996). She was last seen in the 2011 Australian-British comedy film A Few Best Men, which was directed by Dean Craig. It was met with negative reviews.

She also appeared in several TV shows, including American Idol, Sordid Lives: The Series, and Dancing with the Stars.

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The album Long Live Love is one of Olivia Newton-John’s most successful albums. The album stood at the 40th position on the UK Albums Chart. The song I Honestly Love You was a huge success, topping several charts. It won the Grammy Award for Female Pop Vocal Performance and for ‘Record of the Year’. Other singles in the album included God Only Knows, Country Girl and Have Love Will Travel.

The musical romantic comedy film Grease, which was based on the musical of the same name, is one of the most important acting works in Olivia Newton-John’s career. The film was a huge success commercially and critically. It earned $395 million on a $6 million budget. The film also won several awards and nominations which included an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Original Song for Hopelessly Devoted to You.

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Olivia Newton-John was married twice. She married actor Matt Lattanzi in 1984. They had one daughter named Chloe Rose Lattazi. The couple divorced in 1995.

She later married John Easterling in 2008. He is the founder of Amazon Herb Company.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, and went through a grueling treatment regime. She had to get a partial mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy. She recovered and was cancer-free for several years before her breast cancer relapsed in 2017.

After the 2017 relapse, the cancer had spread to Olivia's bones and went to stage IV. She suffered a lot of pain due to its spread to bones. Olivia Newton-John died of cancer on August 8, 2022, She was 73.

She was a long-time activist for environmental causes and animal rights issues. She also promoted health awareness and was an advocate for breast cancer research.

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