Olivia making the world aware
Life has changed dramatically for superstar Olivia Newton-John since she became a mother .. and now a devoted conservationist determined to save the planet from self-destruction. Olivia wanted a baby so much that when her longed-for daughter Chloe came along, she felt totally fulfilled. But she and husband Matt Lattanzi felt that as parents they had felt an enormous responsibility to ensure Chloe would grow up to be healthy and happy in the best of all possible worlds. So it was up to them to play their part in preserving this planet.
What is important now for everyone’s future, Olivia believes, is “to create a cleaner and better earth by the year 2000”. Says Olivia: “To make people around the world more aware, we must strive to make this world a better place for our children. It’s something I have been deeply involved in with Chloe. My life has changed so much since I had Chloe. My whole focus has changed.”
At 41, there is little left for Olivia to achieve in her chosen career. A string of hit records, Grammy awards, films, TV specials and a multi-million-dollar empire in the Koala Blue stores she started and runs with her best friend Pat Farrar, have made her secure for life. With the latest Koala Blue store opening recently in the trendy shopping belt of South Yarra in Melbourne, there are now a total of 55 stores around the world, including the US, Canada, Mexico, France and Japan, with more stores set to open in Paris, London, Milan and Rome. But Olivia maintains when she looks back on her life: “I won’t be thinking about the gold records, I’ll be thinking about my family. Chloe is my greatest achievement.”
And perhaps the only thing that could add to Olivia’s happiness would be if she and Matt were to have a baby sister or brother for four-year-old Chloe. In the security of their 2ha property nestled in a canyon at Malibu California’s celebrated stretch of seaside paradise favored by the rich and famous Olivia, Matt and Chloe enjoy an idyllic life. They employ a full-time nanny and live-in secretary, as well as stable hands who care for the family’s horses.
“Chloe has brought a dimension to my life I didn’t know was there,” Olivia says happily. Olivia says she grew up with a firm set of values instilled in her and is determined to do the same for Chloe. “I just hope we can teach Chloe what’s really important.” And what is “really important” to the expatriate Australian is the environment.
Olivia has been made honorary ambassador for the United Nations environment program. She recently joined forces in Washington with fellow stars Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Bette Midler and Meryl Streep for an elaborate Earth Day celebration. Then she teamed up with John Denver, Audrey Hepburn, Debbie Gibson and Julio Iglesias for Earth 90, an international telecast of songs and music with a message that will be shown to an estimated audience of more than one billion people in 100 countries. Australia’s Seven network will screen the special on June 9.
This ambitious project was staged by the same company which put on the acclaimed 1985 Live Aid concerts. The program features an appearance by Olivia in France, where she introduces Austrian pop star Falco, the Vienna Children’s Choir and Richard Marx, who dedicates his version of The Beatles hit Help from Berlin. It also features Prince Charles, Japanese new-age composer Kitaro, Jean Michel Cousteau, Crosby, Stills And Nash, Dennis Weaver and Knots Landing star Donna Mills. “I’m a great believer in what this show is trying to do,” Olivia says enthusiastically.
She is now working on a video to teach children how they can contribute to the enormous task of saving our planet. It was Chloe who inspired the children’s album Warm And Tender which Olivia recorded last year at the Victorian Arts Centre with the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra. Olivia included on the album cover 10 suggestions on how children can practise conservation in the home. Also last year, Olivia and Matt endured rugged conditions while travelling along the Amazon River filming a TV special on the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest. “I was overwhelmed by the beauty I saw there,” Olivia says.
She has insisted that all the packaging in her Koala Blue stores around the world be recycled, and has banned disposable cups. If all this attention is taking Olivia away from her recording, she is not the least concerned. “I haven’t stopped anything,” she says. “I’m just focusing my attention on what I feel is important right now. This is a beginning, not an end.”