In Step With Olivia Newton-John
Breast cancer survivor Olivia Newton-John talks about her new CD to raise money for research.
By James Brady
HER GRANDFATHER WAS A PHYSICIST WHO won the Nobel Prize, but four-time Grammy-winner and movie star Olivia Newton-John has an impressive reacutesumeacute of her own.
She sang at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II, was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth and opened the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Can she rate these in order of excitement? “I can’t,” she said. “They were all so exciting, all so different.”
Thirteen years ago, Ms. Newton-John was stricken with breast cancer. As a survivor, she has hurled her name and energies into fund-raising. One recipient is the new cancer center in Melbourne, which was named for her. “I’m very proud of that,” Olivia told me.
But her latest effort is a CD called Stronger Than Before, featuring other cancer survivors, such as Diahann Carroll. Patti Labelle, whose three sisters died from cancer, also sings. “It was important to be writing and working with these women,” Olivia said. “I came up with the concept and wrote some of the songs. It was challenging.”
The CD is available through Oct. 31, only at Hallmark’s Gold Crown Stores, and benefits the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
In 2001, Olivia made a Showtime mov-ie called The Wilde Giris with her daughter, Chloe, now 19, who is also a singer and an actress. “She just finished her first album,” said Chloe’s proud mom.
And Olivia still performs herself. “I just did 10 days on the road with my band,” said the youthful-looking star, who has a home in Australia and another in Malibu, Calif.
“In October and November, I’ll do some concerts and the talk shows-talking about the music and about breast cancer. The work is there whenever I want it. I’m very, very lucky.”
Brady's Bits
Olivia’s father was the head of King’s College at Cambridge, and her mother was the daughter of famed physicist Max Born. When Olivia was 5, the family moved to Australia. Olivia had her own all-girl group and was performing on TV at 15.
In 1971, she made her U.S. debut with the hit tune “If Not for You.” But it was the film Grease in 1978 that made her a superstar.
Besides showbiz, Olivia is quite a businesswoman. She markets Australian wines under the Koala Blue label.
Does she drink her own wine? “Oh, yes,” said Olivia. “But just a glass. I’m a cheap date.”
Sadly, as we went to press, Olivia’s longtime love, cameraman Patrick McDermott, was reported missing while on a fishing trip.
Personal
Born Sept. 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England. Married to Matt Lattanzi 1985-95; one daughter, Chloe Rose, 19. With Patrick McDermott since 1996.
Films
Include Funny Things Happen Down Under, 1965; Tomorrow, 1970; Grease, 1978; Xanadu, 1980; Two of a Kind, 1983; It’s My Party, 1996, Sordid Lives, 2000.
Albums
Include If Not for You, 1971; Let Me Be There, 1973; If You Love Me, Let Me Know, 1974; Have You Never Been Mellow, 1975; Clearly Love, 1975; Come on Over, 1976; Don’t Stop Believin’, 1976; Making a Good Thing Better, 1977; Grease, 1978; Totally Hot, 1978; Xanadu, 1980; Physical, 1981; Two of a Kind, 1983; Soul Kiss, 1985; The Rumour, 1988; Warm and Tender, 1989; Back With a Heart, 1998; Two, 2002; Indigo-Women of Song, 2004; Stronger Than Before, 2005.