ACTOR
Olivia Newton-John
- Known for
- Xanadu (1980), Dancing with the Stars (2005), A Few Best Men (2011)
60 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Olivia Newton-John is an actor best known for Xanadu, Dancing with the Stars and A Few Best Men.
All facts (60)
- #001
On 30 June 2005, Newton-John's partner at the time, cameraman Patrick McDermott, disappeared after a one-night fishing trip in San Pedro, California. The US Coast Guard later concluded that he had probably been lost at sea.
- #002
She was a close friend of Karen Carpenter.
- #003
Newton-John insisted on doing a screen test for the role of Sandy Olsson in Grease (1978), worried that she did not have the acting skills and that she would look too old to play a high school student (she was 29 during filming and was playing a character who was supposed to be 18). She did the screen test and won the role, which had initially been intended for actress Susan Dey (who played Laurie Partridge on The Partridge Family (1970) but turned the role down on her manager's advice). Dey was four years younger than Newton-John.
- #004
Her father was a British intelligence officer who worked at Bletchley Park on the Enigma Project during World War II. Speaking Hochdeutsch (high or perfect German), he interrogated high-ranking Nazi officers, including Rudolf Hess. After the war, he was master of King's College, Cambridge, before taking up the mastership of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne.
- #005
She sang backing vocals on John Denver's song "Fly Away".
- #006
While living with metastatic breast cancer, Newton-John became a spokesperson for "The Liv," a heart-shaped self-examination device designed to help women detect breast lumps.
- #007
For her role as Sandy Olsson in Grease (1978), she was ranked 89th on Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
- #008
Her song "Physical" was banned by a radio station in Provo, Utah, because of its "suggestive" lyrics. She still had a concert filmed for the video at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.
- #009
She grew up in both England and Australia. In 1954 (when she was 5), her family moved to Australia, but more than ten years later she returned to live in England after winning a talent contest.
- #010
The most precious item in her wardrobe was a beautiful opal and diamond ring her mother left her.
- #011
She was named one of the world's 50 most beautiful people by People magazine.
- #012
Her biggest hit was "Physical", which sold more than two million copies and stayed at number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks (from 21 November 1981).
- #013
On her mother's side, she was the granddaughter of the German physicist and mathematician Max Born. Her grandfather was Jewish and converted to Lutheranism as an adult. His wife Hedwig was Jewish on her father's side and of Lutheran origin on her mother's side, and was descended from the religious reformer Martin Luther, founder of Lutheranism, the main faith of Germany and Scandinavia.
- #014
On 13 May 2017, it was reported that she had cancelled her concerts due to complications from sciatica and was undergoing treatment in the middle of the tour for her new inspirational album LIV ON. On 30 May, it was also reported that her back pain was in fact caused by a recurrence of the breast cancer she had beaten twice, in 1992 and 2013, and that it had now metastasized to her sacrum, reaching stage IV.
- #015
She would never leave the house without her passport and lipstick.
- #016
She had surgery for breast cancer in 1992 and was treated for a recurrence of the same disease in 2013, and she died of the disease in 2022.
- #017
She had surgery for breast cancer, announced that she was bankrupt, and her father died of liver cancer.
- #018
As a young girl she lived in Cambridge, England. In her mid-teens, shortly after leaving Melbourne University High School, she returned to London, England. She had taken her favourite teacher's advice to pursue her dream of becoming a singer. She later moved to Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1970s and lived there until her death.
- #019
On 26 June 2012, the Australian government issued a semi-postal stamp to help raise funds for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal. The stamp's value was 60¢. It was sold in sheets of ten for 8 dollars, with 2 dollars going to the appeal.
- #020
She was named after screen legend Olivia de Havilland.
- #021
Olivia Newton-John was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in Queen Elizabeth II's 2020 New Year Honours for her services to charity, cancer research and entertainment.
- #022
Olivia Newton-John received honours from Queen Elizabeth II for her charitable work and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). She received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th Annual ARIA Awards on 15 October 2002.
- #023
On 5 August 1981, Olivia Newton-John was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, in the Recording category.
- #024
Olivia Newton-John is the sister of actress Rona Newton-John and of Dr. Hugh Newton-John, an infectious disease specialist and medical doctor who invented the first portable iron lung. Her former brother-in-law was Jeff Conaway, who co-starred with her in Grease (1978). She is a first cousin of Satyricon (1969) actor Max Born.
- #025
Olivia Newton-John has one daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, born in 1986.
- #026
Olivia Newton-John loves cosmetics and always does her own makeup for photo shoots.
- #027
Olivia Newton-John was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to the entertainment industry as a singer and actress and to the community through organisations supporting breast cancer treatment, education, training and research, and the environment.
- #028
Olivia Newton-John suffered three miscarriages during her marriage to Matt Lattanzi.
- #029
Olivia Newton-John's first husband, Matt Lattanzi, appeared in Grease 2 (1982).
- #030
Olivia Newton-John represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Brighton Dome in England, with the song "Long Live Love", finishing fourth behind ABBA, who won with "Waterloo".
- #031
Olivia Newton-John broke her coccyx while filming the "Suddenly" dance scene in the film Xanadu (1980).
- #032
At the age of 14, Olivia Newton-John formed a singing group called Sol Four, in which she and three classmates performed at a café usually owned by her brother-in-law.
- #033
In 2019, Olivia Newton-John and her Grease (1978) co-star John Travolta revived their roles as "Sandy" and "Danny" at a Meet n' Grease event in West Palm Beach, Florida. Olivia appeared in a costume paying tribute to Sandy before the character became part of the "greaser" gang.
- #034
In 1988, Olivia Newton-John visited Australia to make a television programme titled Olivia Down Under (1988), timed to coincide with the Bicentenary. She and Cliff Richard performed, and King Charles III and Princess Diana were also present.
- #035
In 1975, Olivia Newton-John moved to the United States, where she had already firmly established herself as a pop and country singer.
- #036
In the 1970s, Olivia Newton-John appeared in a television documentary with cheetah conservationist Laurie Marker, in which they brought domesticated cheetahs from the United States and relocated them to the wild in Namibia.
- #037
Olivia Newton-John was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Queen Elizabeth II's 1979 New Year Honours for her services to the performing arts.
- #038
Olivia Newton-John appeared on the first official pop cover of People Weekly magazine on 24 February 1975.
- #039
In 1992, after battling breast cancer, Olivia Newton-John returned to New South Wales, Australia, to recover.
- #040
Olivia Newton-John co-wrote the screenplay for The Perfect Specimen with Nancy Chuda. Universal favored the script, but the project was later cancelled after John Hughes made She's Having a Baby (1988), which had a similar plot.
- #041
Olivia Newton-John was the younger daughter of Brinley Newton-John and Irene (née Born). Her paternal grandparents, Oliver John and Daisy Newton, were Welsh. Her maternal grandfather was the German Jewish physicist and mathematician Max Born (son of the author and histologist Gustav Jacob Born). Her maternal grandmother, Hedwig Ehrenberg, was of German Jewish descent through her father (the jurist Victor Ehrenberg) and of German descent through her own mother (Elise Marie von Jhering). Elise's father, the legal historian Rudolf von Jhering, was Olivia's great-great-great-grandfather. Through her grandmother's father, Olivia was a third cousin of the British comedian Ben Elton.
- #042
In November 2019, Newton-John sold more than 500 items, including the tight black trousers she wore in Grease (1978). The auction was held by Julien's Auction House in Beverly Hills, and part of the proceeds went to her Australia-based cancer treatment centre.
- #043
She ranked 95th on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll.
- #044
She auditioned for Tootsie (1982) and Yanks (1979).
- #045
On The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) in November 1976, Olivia said she mostly had an English accent and only a slight Australian one. Before moving to America, she had returned to her native England, where she lived for several more years. (This also explains her English accent in Grease (1978), which she began filming in 1977.)
- #046
She attended University High School in Melbourne, Australia.
- #047
She was considered for the role of Catherine Beddows in To the Devil a Daughter (1976), which ultimately went to Nastassja Kinski.
- #048
Athol Guy, bassist and singer of The Seekers, suggested that Newton-John tour as a duo with her friend Pat Carroll while she was living in England.
- #049
She is pictured on a 60-cent Australian commemorative postage stamp issued on 18 January 2013 as part of the "Living Legends" series. Other artists honoured in that issue included John Farnham, Paul Kelly, Ian 'Molly' Meldrum, Kylie Minogue, AC/DC, Cold Chisel, INXS, Men at Work and The Seekers.
- #050
Her song "Physical" was referenced in the episode She of Little Faith (2001) as a fictional group called "Let's Get Fiscal Financial Planning Services".
- #051
She was a mentor, idol and good friend to Delta Goodrem.
- #052
Olivia Newton-John's great-great-great-grandfather was the legal historian Rudolf von Jhering.
- #053
The fashion photographer Helmut Newton was a close friend of Olivia's father.
- #054
Her first manager in the United Kingdom, Peter Gormley, represented Pat and Olivia, Cliff Richard, Frank Ifield, The Seekers, Hank B. Marvin, Bruce Welch and John Farrar, known as Marvin, Welch and Farrar. He also founded Festival Records, which released Olivia's albums in Australia.
- #055
She ranked 92nd on VH1's list of the 100 Sexiest Artists.
- #056
She was the great-aunt of Layla Lee-Curtis.
- #057
She was the aunt of the actress Tottie Goldsmith.
- #058
Olivia Newton-John met her first husband, Matt Lattanzi, during the filming of Grease (1978).
- #059
Olivia Newton-John was born at 6:00 a.m. GMT.
- #060
Olivia Newton-John's grandfather Max won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954.
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