Love, marriage and movie stardom
By WAYNE DARWEN
POP superstar Olivia Newton-John is back in the arms of the boyfriend she broke up with nearly a year ago and they’re talking marriage
The fresh-faced singer kissed and made up with manager Lee Kramer after completing the filming of Grease, the rock ‘n roll blockbuster that is expected to turn 27-year-old Olivia into Hollywood’s new box office queen.
To celebrate their reunion, the couple recently flew down to Rio de Janeiro for a 10-day vacation. “The relationship between us hasn’t been better,” Kramer, 25, told THE STAR. And he admitted that the Rio trip was to get away from it all “and talk about getting married”
Olivia and Kramer split up last February, after a live-in romance that lasted five years. Lee moved out of Olivia’s mansion in Malibu Beach, Calif., into a house only a mile away.
During the filming of Grease. Olivia was romantically linked to co-star John Travolta, but she insisted that she and the handsome TV heartthrob were just “very good friends”. She added. The hand-holding and kissing are for the cameras only.”
She was seen in the company of other men during the year, including New York songwriter Jamie Carr, but now friends say Olivia is very happy being back with Kramer.
A close friend of the singer’s Stan Moress, told THE STAR this week. “The split was not as serious as everyone thought. I don’t consider them as ever having been apart.”
“Lee and Olivia are just like any other two people who have been together for a long time. Some people do have differences of opinion.”
“They are very happy the way things are at the moment. And marriage would be a decision that would be up to them. I like each one of them very much. I like them together. They are in love”
Another friend of the couple, Brian Margolies, said. “I’ve known Lee for years and have never seen him happier. He and Olivia have just returned from Brazil and had a marvelous time there.”
“They are definitely back to gether and very, very happy. It’s just like the old days.”
The reunion also means that Kramer is once again at the helm of Olivia’s career, which is expected to soar even higher when Grease is released later this year.
The Australian-born singer said recently that she was careful in choosing the movie to launch her film career. “I had two previous offers to do films but they didn’t feel right and the scripts had too much violence in them,” she said. “Also neither of them were musicals. Music is my ideal introduction the only thing I have to go on. Now if people don’t like my singing I hope they’ll like my acting”.
But she jumped at the chance to do Grease, the longest-running show in Breadway history, even though the script had to be altered for the starring role to be a visiting Australian schoolgirl.
“When I was first living here in the United States my accent was quite broad but now it has definitely softened,” she said. “In fact I had to emphasize my accent in the movie to sound more Australian.”
“But now I’ve been told that I no longer have to worry about my accent being a problem in πονies. What has been difficult was to make certain that my first American picture had to be top-rate. That’s why I waited three years before finally picking Grease.”
Olivia said she tried to keep her private life out of the spotlight, despite the rumors linking her with John Travolia.
“This was my first movie and I wanted it to be fantastically successful.” she said “John is a marvelous man and I admit there is a strong attraction.”
“That helped me show the love we must show for each other on camera but I have my own love life after work and that I try and keep out of the spotlight.”
But she admitted that a movie career might mean a big change in her wholesome image.
“My image is usually very vir ginal but it was fun being different,” she said.