Newton-John's Secret Self-Esteem
Olivia Newton-John is adept at dealing with difficult situations. Although she dropped out of school when she was 15, she’s professionally sophisticated.
Suddenly, at this interview in The Atrium in Chestnut Hill, where she opened her newest Koala Blue boutique, Newton-John’s support staff had some questions. Who would audit the conversation? I suggested one person was enough. Why couldn’t Pat Farrar, Newton-John’s business partner in the 55-unit chain with a projected 1991 volume of $35 million, be interviewed, too? I had confirmed a one-on-one interview with Newton-John and asked that the request be honored.
When the 41-year-old Newton-John was told that her promoters had confused the situation, she settled things quietly and pleasantly. She swept into the underground location that serves as Atrium management headquarters, sat down to a sumptuous three-course Italian repast provided for her by the new restaurant and handled herself with confidence and good humor.
“When I was 12 or 13, I was shy. I hated to wear a swimsuit in front of boys. In fact, that was why I refused to be on the swimming team. I was self-conscious. But I was lucky. I had people around who encouraged me. My sister’s husband had a coffee shop. I sang there. I had the courage to try. Courage is nothing more than taking a risk.”
“In London, I auditioned for a revue club. I got the job. There was a young girl swimming nearly nude in a fish tank. That should have told me something! But I went out in my cute little dress and sang my cute little songs. The next night the manager said, We won’t be needing you anymore. I was 19 going on 9. The revue club was actually a stripper club. The manager thought he had booked a stripper who could sing. I just burst out laughing and left.”
Newton-John, who has sold 77 million records and has 10 platinum and four gold albums, says her success as a singer-actress is based on being relaxed about her career. It’s a lesson she learned from her father, Brin Newton-John, a professor who really wanted to be an opera singer but was not relaxed about his musical ability. Incidentally, Newton-John is the granddaughter of the Nobel Prize- winning German physicist Max Born.
“I never heard my dad express regrets about not becoming an opera singer. Dad was a perfectionist. He did one recording when he was in his prime. There was one bad note on the whole record. He broke the record. Shattered it to bits. He said he wasn’t good enough. But I understood his love of music - not by what he said but by what he did. When I was growing up, he’d play records of all the operas and conduct the orchestra. He knew every note in every opera. Then, at Sunday school and at church, he sang the hymns louder than anybody. His voice was powerful. But I’d be cringing in the back row because I thought Dad was too loud.”
“But I came to understand that his voice was beautiful. I also came to understand what my dad didn’t understand: that nobody’s perfect. One of my managers always used to tell me that I wasn’t ambitious enough. He said I wasn’t anxious. I was really relaxed about my music. Being relaxed turned out to be a good thing.”
“People who grab at things discover that the things they want elude them. I adopted the attitude of having an open hand. Things just came to me. It all goes back to not feeling that I had to be perfect to succeed.”
Jessica Savitch, the late television newscaster, told me in the last interview I did with her: “Success brings success. Success does not bring happiness.” I heard that refrain again from Newton-John, who bridged the gap between pop and country music, who lives in a multimillion-dollar Malibu estate set high on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, who owns an 80-acre sugar cane farm in New South Wales. But to understand Newton-John, you’ve got to understand that her priority is her husband, actor-dancer Matt Lattanzi, 10 years her junior, and their daughter, Chloe, 4.
“Success is measured by the material things you own. I didn’t come from a family of wealth. We were comfortable. But there was a point in my career when I wanted to own things that money could buy. But things don’t bring you happiness. If you feel good about yourself, if you think you’ve done your best, that’s happiness. A sense of self-esteem is the basis of all happiness.”
“Having a baby changed my life completely. Suddenly there was someone more important than me. I was transformed. My daughter opened up a world that went beyond me: her world.”
“My parents were divorced when I was 10; I wasn’t happy all the time. I didn’t appear bothered on the surface. But, subconsciously, I was hurt. Wounded. I’ve always had a fear of loss in relationship. I didn’t get married until I was older.”
“When I left school at 15, my parents didn’t approve. But I asked a favorite teacher for an opinion. I was told: You can’t matriculate and pursue a singing career simultaneously. It’s one or the other. I chose singing. Music came easily. I never really felt that I fit in at school. What I want most for my daughter is that she grow up feeling secure. Security is what brings you happiness.”
Newton-John, who was born in Cambridge, England, but considers herself Australian, has grappled with doubts that go back to her childhood and her teen-age years. “I was terrified when Physical was released. A week before it was released, I told my manager: Maybe I should cancel the record! Maybe people won’t accept this from me! I never wanted to offend people. Then I thought about my father again. Then I realized, again, that nobody’s perfect. I realized that you can’t please everybody all the time.”
“My husband was with me when I recorded Physical. He said the project was fun. He kept on encouraging me. When I was young, I was drawn to arrogant men. What attracted me to my husband in the first place is that he gave me free rein. He never tried to keep me under his thumb.”
“My husband is younger. That’s an asset. He had no preconceived ideas about women based on bad relationships in his past. He is receptive to feminist concepts. We share our power. He struggles to get acting roles. I’ve helped him through the pain of that. I’m his support system.”
“I was very skeptical of marriage. My parents’ marriage didn’t work. I didn’t believe a relationship could last. But we wanted a child so we committed to marriage. He is my support system.”
Newton-John is a creature of free will. I was convinced of that when she settled the problems of the interview scene. But she reinforced her independence with reminiscences that tell a lot. “When I was 14, my mum took me to the best music teacher in town. I refused to go back for lessons. Mum asked: Why? I said: He’s trying to change my style. I already know my style. My godmother wanted me confirmed in her church, but when I asked a certain question about the Bible, the minister couldn’t seem to give me an answer. I refused to be confirmed there. I’ve always known my own mind.”
By Marian Christy