Rich and beautiful
Olivia Newton-John
RICH & BEAUTIFUL: How the world's most eligible women juggle their lives and loves
Every three months or so, the talk starts about Olivia Newton-John’s impending marriage. The British song-bird sat out the recent spate of rumors in a hospital bed, recuperating from a bout of hepatitis.
“Don’t worry, it was benign,” she advises. “I didn’t go yellow or anything.” But she does worry about the marriage talk. “I don’t know where that stuff starts,” she groans, “and it usually gets back to my mother in Australia.”
At 30, beautiful and undeniably rich (her percentage from Grease alone is more than $10 million so far), Newton-John is obviously a hot catch, and it’s evident from the flood of mash notes she receives as well as a few mailed-in marriage proposals. “I am eligible,” she admits - “at least, technically.”
Ever since “Liv,” as her mates call her, came to America from England nearly five years ago, the man in her life has been Lee Kramer, who is also her manager. During that time, Newton-John and Kramer have had fights and even separations, including one three-month period when they severed their management contract. In her off periods with Kramer, Newton-John has gone out with other men. But none has ever amounted to a serious romance.
Today, Kramer is back in Newton-John’s five-acre spread in a Malibu canyon in California. “We are very happy at the moment,” “But we’re not any closer to marriage.” she says.
This summer, slowed down by her illness, Newton-John will read movie scripts and select a movie to replace Discoland, which she had planned to do for Grease producer Allan Carr. “I’ve just thrown her off my next $12 million picture because of her excessive demands,” Carr fumes. “Her demands now are what Streisand’s were after Funny Girl, and she ain’t no Streisand.”
“He’s had a real go at me, which shocks me,” counters Newton-John. “I thought we were friends. But business is not really in my jurisdiction, so it’s better for me not to say anything.”
Newton-John is far more comfortable talking about the seven horses she keeps. Recently, she went riding for the first time in more than a month. “I wasn’t supposed to jiggle my liver for a while,” she explains. “But I didn’t want my horse to forget about me and think, ‘Who is this lady?’”
One day, Newton-John dreams of being self-sufficient on her spread - “self-sufficient and single” could be her motto.
“But I don’t really think of myself as available,” she says. “What Lee and I have is a commitment.”
By Robert Windeler