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Dame Olivia Newton-John, the Cambridge, England-born Australian singer and actress has died from cancer at the age of 73 - a career lasting half a century, and as an actress and a singer, she was perfect to star in musical films. Yes, she was English by birth, and yes, my avatar features her on it in an abstract way.
It is indeed a fitting coincidence that my avatar for the past few months happened to be John Travolta and, indeed, Dame Olivia (from a certain angle at least) performing You're the One That I Want from the musical film Grease; a song which was at number five in the UK charts in the week that I was born. This is probably what I mostly associate Newton-John for in her acting career; her portrayal of 17 year old Sandy (in the days when teenage girls used to look in their mid 20s back then, in what we now call the "Hollyoaks" factor since the mid 1990s), even though she was around 28-29 when she had played her. I only out about Sandy's age relatively recently as I thought that she was supposed to be around 25-26 - certainly she wouldn't have needed ID to purchase alcohol in a local British off-licence if she had looked like that now!
My favourite musical film (or at least one of them) was Grease, probably because of Dame ONJ's memorable appearance - the excitement of Dame ONJ wearing tight black trousers (yes!!!), which were specially made for her, while Sandy was walking up some steps at an American fairground seductively strutting her stuff against her co-number Danny played by Travolta (cue my avatar image at that point); a scene from the 1978 movie that will always be associated with the entire film. Lycra-wise, no cyclist could ever rival that. I have seen two different performances of Grease the musical in the past five years at Milton Keynes and Leicester, and I have always assumed that actresses such as Danielle Hope who have played Sandy in the theatre productions were heavily influenced in Newton-John's role in the original film. Even a Shape yoghurt advert from early 1996 had an actress doing a parody of ONJ doing the famous hit, albeit not with the Lycra trousers. (I'll see if I can find one of my Grease the Musical t-shirts and wear it as a tribute).
Prior to Grease, she moved to California in 1975 and I suppose that had helped with the American settings that she was to appear in. Her singing career started in 1971 with If Not For You; incidentally the first year when Grease had been performed. She also flied the Union Jack for her native UK for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with Long Live Love, missing out to ABBA's Waterloo that year. Newton-John's hit Sam made it to the post-Silver Jubilee charts during the summer of 1977 and was followed by a composition of songs from Grease, many duetting with Travolta, and her solo hit for the movie, Hopelessly Devoted to You. In 1980 she helped the Electric Light Orchestra with their only number one with Xanadu (not to be confused with the Dace Dee, Dozy, Beaky Mick and Tich song of 12 years previously). The ELO deserved to have a number one hit as their music was ahead of their time, and they finally got one thanks to Dame Olivia
By the early 1980s, keep-fit, legwarmers and leggings were all the craze, and if Irene Cara wasn't getting the Mad Lizzie generation going with exercise first thing in the morning, then it was Dame Olivia Newton-John had her own keep-fit hit Physical during late 1981 - many years later, she revived her performance of Physical for the musical series Glee, working with regular cast member Jane Lynch. After a number 18 hit in 1982, her chart career in Great Britain petered out, around the time that the second Grease film was made.
In later years, Newton-John announced that she first had breast cancer in 2017, revealing that it was actually her third bout with the illness, and something which we now know. She was engaged to Bruce Welcch in 1968; married Matt Lattanzi in December 1984, divorcing 11 years later - their daughter Chloe Rose was born in 1986. Newton-John then married John Easterling in June 2008. Ironically enough, on the same day between Christmas and New Year in 2019 when I saw Grease on one of the movie channels, the news was announced that she had become a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 New Years Honours List - an absolutely fitting tribute. She was the one that I want, as we mourn her passing during these hot Summer Nights, to coin a phrase...
RIP Dame Olivia Newton-John. Thank you for your portrayal of Sandy - we will all miss you and love you.
It is indeed a fitting coincidence that my avatar for the past few months happened to be John Travolta and, indeed, Dame Olivia (from a certain angle at least) performing You're the One That I Want from the musical film Grease; a song which was at number five in the UK charts in the week that I was born. This is probably what I mostly associate Newton-John for in her acting career; her portrayal of 17 year old Sandy (in the days when teenage girls used to look in their mid 20s back then, in what we now call the "Hollyoaks" factor since the mid 1990s), even though she was around 28-29 when she had played her. I only out about Sandy's age relatively recently as I thought that she was supposed to be around 25-26 - certainly she wouldn't have needed ID to purchase alcohol in a local British off-licence if she had looked like that now!
My favourite musical film (or at least one of them) was Grease, probably because of Dame ONJ's memorable appearance - the excitement of Dame ONJ wearing tight black trousers (yes!!!), which were specially made for her, while Sandy was walking up some steps at an American fairground seductively strutting her stuff against her co-number Danny played by Travolta (cue my avatar image at that point); a scene from the 1978 movie that will always be associated with the entire film. Lycra-wise, no cyclist could ever rival that. I have seen two different performances of Grease the musical in the past five years at Milton Keynes and Leicester, and I have always assumed that actresses such as Danielle Hope who have played Sandy in the theatre productions were heavily influenced in Newton-John's role in the original film. Even a Shape yoghurt advert from early 1996 had an actress doing a parody of ONJ doing the famous hit, albeit not with the Lycra trousers. (I'll see if I can find one of my Grease the Musical t-shirts and wear it as a tribute).
Prior to Grease, she moved to California in 1975 and I suppose that had helped with the American settings that she was to appear in. Her singing career started in 1971 with If Not For You; incidentally the first year when Grease had been performed. She also flied the Union Jack for her native UK for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with Long Live Love, missing out to ABBA's Waterloo that year. Newton-John's hit Sam made it to the post-Silver Jubilee charts during the summer of 1977 and was followed by a composition of songs from Grease, many duetting with Travolta, and her solo hit for the movie, Hopelessly Devoted to You. In 1980 she helped the Electric Light Orchestra with their only number one with Xanadu (not to be confused with the Dace Dee, Dozy, Beaky Mick and Tich song of 12 years previously). The ELO deserved to have a number one hit as their music was ahead of their time, and they finally got one thanks to Dame Olivia
By the early 1980s, keep-fit, legwarmers and leggings were all the craze, and if Irene Cara wasn't getting the Mad Lizzie generation going with exercise first thing in the morning, then it was Dame Olivia Newton-John had her own keep-fit hit Physical during late 1981 - many years later, she revived her performance of Physical for the musical series Glee, working with regular cast member Jane Lynch. After a number 18 hit in 1982, her chart career in Great Britain petered out, around the time that the second Grease film was made.
In later years, Newton-John announced that she first had breast cancer in 2017, revealing that it was actually her third bout with the illness, and something which we now know. She was engaged to Bruce Welcch in 1968; married Matt Lattanzi in December 1984, divorcing 11 years later - their daughter Chloe Rose was born in 1986. Newton-John then married John Easterling in June 2008. Ironically enough, on the same day between Christmas and New Year in 2019 when I saw Grease on one of the movie channels, the news was announced that she had become a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 New Years Honours List - an absolutely fitting tribute. She was the one that I want, as we mourn her passing during these hot Summer Nights, to coin a phrase...
RIP Dame Olivia Newton-John. Thank you for your portrayal of Sandy - we will all miss you and love you.
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