Read Olivia Online

Authors: Tim Ewbank

Olivia (35 page)

Olivia’s happiness was finally complete when, on 21 June, 2008, she wed John in Peru in a secret ceremony. A second, equally private, marriage ceremony followed a week later on Jupiter Island, Florida, and the newlyweds broke their happy news to family and friends at a barbecue held at Olivia’s Malibu home on 4 July.
Guests thought they were being invited to an American Independence Day party. Instead, they were asked to raise their glasses to John and Olivia, Mr and Mrs Easterling. Now cancer-free, fulfilled, in love and happy to become a bride again at the age of 59, it is an indication of how far Olivia has come on her life’s journey.
Filmography
1965:
Funny Things Happen Down Under
A group of children in the small village of Wallaby Creek in the Australian outback are set to lose the wool shed they meet to play in unless they can come up with $200 before Christmas. While trying to raise the cash they accidentally stumble across a formula which turns sheep’s wool different colours and they try to sell the formula to foreign buyers. Olivia has a small role and sings ‘Christmas Time Down Under’.
 
1970:
Toomorrow
Sci-fi musical centred around four students attending the London College of Arts and living in Chelsea, with Olivia as the ‘den mother’. To pay their way through college they form a pop band and create an original and stimulating musical sound, which subsequently brings them into close contact with alien visitors from a world called Alphoid. The dying aliens kidnap the group as they need the band’s ‘vibrations’ to survive. Co-stars included Roy Dotrice, Roy Marsden. With Karl Chambers, Vic Cooper and Ben Thomas as Olivia’s Toomorrow bandmates.
 
1972:
The Case
(TV)
A co-production between the BBC and the Swedish broadcasting authorities starring Cliff Richard in a comedy-drama about the singer trying to get rid of a stolen suitcase full of money he had inadvertently picked up on his way to Sweden. Olivia and comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor find themselves caught up in the caper.
 
1978:
Grease
John Travolta and Olivia star as Danny and Sandy, two teenagers who enjoy a summer holiday romance then meet again unexpectedly as students at Rydell High School. But true love runs far from smoothly for prim cheerleader Sandy and Danny, greasy leader of the college T-BIRDS gang, as they attempt to rekindle their romance. Co-stars in the most successful movie musical of all time included Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Eve Arden, Edd Byrnes, Frankie Avalon and Sid Caesar.
 
1980:
Xanadu
Olivia stars as Kira, a heavenly muse who comes down from Mount Olympus to Earth to inspire frustrated artist Sonny (Michael Beck) and an old-time jazz musician Danny (Gene Kelly) to follow their dreams to open a roller-skating disco and musical pleasure dome. But Sonny and Kira’s love for each other is complicated by her being only a temporary Earthling.
 
1983:
Two Of A Kind
Fantasy romantic comedy starring John Travolta as Zack, a bumbling, unsuccessful inventor who tries to rob a bank to pay off his debts and thereby avoid the thugs chasing him to pay up. Olivia plays the devious bank teller Debbie who, despite being held up at gunpoint, cleverly sends Zack away with a bag full of worthless paper and runs off with the real loot herself. Zack sets out to track her down and, when he finds her, the two villains have the chance to redeem themselves and an opportunity to save the world by embarking on a romance. Co-stars included Oliver Reed, Beatrice Straight and Charles Durning.
 
1990:
A Mom For Christmas
(TV)
A little girl called Jessie, whose mother died when she was three, and who is largely neglected by her workaholic father, wins a free wish in a department store. Her wish for a mother to be with her over the Christmas period is fulfilled when a shop mannequin called Amy (Olivia Newton-John) comes to life.
 
1994:
A Christmas Romance
Olivia stars as Julia, a single mum struggling to raise two daughters while living in the mountains surrounded by farm animals and good neighbours. A city banker (Gregory Harrison) brings the grim news that she will be forced out of her house unless she can pay the rent. But when he is caught in a snowstorm and forced to spend a few days with the family, he starts to appreciate their way of life and falls for Julia. Olivia’s daughter Chloe plays Deenie, one of Julia’s daughters.
 
1996:
It’s My Party
Eric Roberts stars as a gay man facing death who gathers all his friends together for a final farewell party, before engaging a medical professional to help him end his days with dignity. Olivia plays Lina Bingham, one of the dying man’s friends and a woman who is in the throes of divorce and with a son who is coming out. Co-stars include George Segal, Roddy McDowall, Lee Grant, Sally Kellerman and Marlee Matlin.
 
2000:
Sordid Lives
Black comedy about white trash in a Texan town, based on Del Shores’s hit play. An eccentric cast of characters includes Beau Bridges as a love rat Vietnam vet with wooden legs, Bonnie Bedelia as a mother in denial over her gay son, Delta Burke as a bitter, gun-toting, cheated wife out for revenge, and Olivia as Bitsy-Mae Harling, a tattooed lesbian ex-con. Olivia reprises the role in a spin-off
Sordid Lives
TV series.
 
2001:
The Wilde Girls
Family film with Olivia starring as Jasmine Wilde, a single mother living quietly in a small town in Georgia. Jasmine is desperate to keep secret the fact that she was once a famous singer, but her secret past is revealed when her daughter Izzy (Chloe Lattanzi) herself shows special singing talent and attracts the interest of a Los Angeles record producer.
Discography
ALBUMS
1970:
Toomorrow
(soundtrack)
1971:
Olivia Newton-John
1972:
Olivia
1974:
Music Makes My Day
1974:
Long Live Love
1974:
If You Love Me Let Me Know
1975:
Have You Never Been Mellow
1975: Clearly Love
1976:
Come On Over
1976:
Don’t Stop Believin’
1977:
Making A Good Thing Better
1977:
Greatest Hits
1978:
Grease
(soundtrack)
1978:
Totally Hot
1980:
Xanadu
(soundtrack)
1981:
Love Performance - Olivia Live In Japan
1981:
Physical
1982:
Greatest Hits Volume II
1983:
Two Of A Kind
(soundtrack)
1985:
Soul Kiss
1988:
The Rumour
1989:
Warm And Tender
1992:
Back To Basics: The Essential Collection
1994:
Gaia: One Woman’s Journey
1998:
Back With A Heart
2000:
One Woman’s Live Journey
2001:
Sordid Lives
(soundtrack)
2001:
The Christmas Collection
2002:
2
2005:
Indigo: Women Of Song
2005:
Stronger Than Before
2006:
Grace And Gratitude
2008:
Olivia’s Live Hits
2008:
The Great Walk to Beijing: A Celebration in Song
 
(Note: Some albums were released in different forms in different countries.)
 
SINGLES
Picture Credits
P. 1 © Robert Whittaker, Camera Press, London; p. 2 (
top left)
© Robert Whittaker, State Library of Australia (
top right
) Courtesy of University of Newcastle, Australia (
bottom
) The Herald & Weekly Times Limited/State Library of Victoria; p. 3 (
top
) The Herald & Weekly Times Limited/State Library of Victoria (bottom) State Library of New South Wales; p. 4 (
top
) © WireImage (
bottom
) © Monitor Picture Library/Retna; p. 5 (
top
) Lowndes Prods/The Kobal Collection (
bottom
) © Daily Mail; p. 6 (
top
) The Herald & Weekly Times Limited/State Library of Victoria (
bottom
) © Getty Images; p. 7 (
top
) © PA Photos (
bottom
) © PA Photos; p. 8 © Lichfield/Getty Images; p. 9 © Alan Pappe/Corbis; p. 10 (
top
) Paramount/The Kobal Collection (
bottom
) Paramount/The Kobal Collection; p. 11 (
top
) Universal/The Kobal Collection (
bottom
) Universal/The Kobal Collection; p. 12 (
top
) ©
www.scopefeatures.com
(
bottom
) © Lisa O’Connor/ZUMA/Corbis; p. 13 (
top
) © Corbis (
bottom left
)
Photos12.com
(
bottom right
) © Wenn; p. 14 (
top
) London Features International (
middle
) Eddie
Sanderson/scopefeatures.com
(
bottom
) Douglas Kirkland/Corbis; p. 15 (
top
) WireImage (
bottom left
) Alpha (
bottom right
) Alpha; p. 16 (
top
) Photoshot (
bottom
) Reinhard Krause/Reuters/Corbis
 
Every effort has been made to identify and acknowledge the copyright holders. Any errors or omissions will be rectified in future editions provided that written notification is made to the publishers.

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