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Olivia Newton-John (born September 26 1948) is a
United Kingdom|British-born Australian singer and
actor|actress.

==Biography==
Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge,
Cambridgeshire, England, and is the granddaughter
of Max Born, a Germany|German Jewish Nobel
prize-winning physicist who fled from 1930's
Germany with his wife in order to avoid
persecution. In 1954, at the age of 5, Olivia, her
parents, Brin and Irene Newton-John, and her older
siblings, Hugh and Rona, relocated to Melbourne,
Australia, because her father had taken a job
there as the Dean of Ormond College. Her father
was originally from Wales and was a professor of
German language|German. Her parents divorced when
Olivia was 11 years old.

By the age of 15, she had formed an all-girl band
called Sol Four. By 1963, she was a regular on
local television and radio shows in Australia. She
won a talent contest on the television programme
Sing, Sing, Sing — the prize was a trip to
England. On this programme she sang two songs:
"Anyone Who Had A Heart" and "Everything's Coming
Up Roses".

Newton-John returned to live in England, with her
mother, when she was 16 years old, working as a
duo with her  friend, singer Pat Carroll (who
subsequently married Olivia's producer, John
Farrar). Newton-John cut her first single, "Till
You Say You'll Be Mine" b/w "Forever" for Decca
Records in England in 1966. Newton-John's first
album was titled Toomorrow sic, which was also the
name of the group of which Newton-John was a
member; it was the brainchild of American producer
Don Kirshner, creator of The Monkees. They starred
in the movie Toomorrow. Although the band and film
were commercially unsuccessful, Newton-John's solo
career started to take off with her first solo
album titled Olivia Newton-John which was released
in the UK on Pye Records.

In 1968 Newton-John met The Shadows
(band)|Shadows' guitarist, Bruce Welch to whom she
became engaged until 1972. She made appearances on
Cliff Richard's weekly show "It's Cliff Richard"
and starred with him in the tele-film The Case.
The public soon took notice of Newton-John's
talents and she quickly became one of Britain's
most popular singers, hence she was voted 'Best
British Female Vocalist' two years in a row by the
magazine 'Record Mirror'. Newton-John's first
international hit was a song written by Bob Dylan
called "If Not For You" which was produced by her
then fiance Bruce Welch and John Farrar. She
represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest
in 1974 and came in at 4th place. Later in the
year, the single I Honestly Love You was released
in the United States and became her first single
to chart at #1 across the Atlantic.

In 1975, encouraged by expatriate Australian
singer Helen Reddy, Newton-John left England and
moved to the United States|USA where she became a
hugely popular singer in both country
music|country and popular music|popular music. She
had five #1 hits, including the song Physical
(Olivia Newton-John song)|Physical, which stayed
at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks. She
has earned many awards and received four Grammy
Award|Grammys. She has also received an Order of
the British Empire|OBE (Officer of the Order of
the British Empire) from Elizabeth II of the
United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II in 1979. In 1981
Newton-John received a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame in recognition of her outstanding career.

In the country field, she was respected and loved
by fans as much as she was reviled by country
purists who believed her brand of music had no
place on country radio). In 1974, she won the
Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the
Year award, beating out such country heavyweights
as Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Anne Murray and
Tanya Tucker; another country icon, Tammy Wynette,
wasn't even nominated. Newton-John's win angered
many pure country artists and fans, and perhaps as
a direct result, some country artists and other
influential personalities became members of a
newly formed organization called the Association
of Country Entertainers.


Newton-John's film breakthrough came when she was
offered the female lead in the highly successful
movie Grease (movie)|Grease, after a chance
meeting with producer Allan Carr at a party at
Helen Reddy's house in Los Angeles. John Travolta
had desperately wanted Newton-John to be his
co-star in the film and had let his wishes be
known to Allan Carr and Randal Kleiser before
either of them had yet to meet Newton-John.
"You're The One That I Want" and "Summer Nights"
went to number one on international charts and
stood at the number one position for 9 and 7 weeks
respectively on the UK charts. This was followed
by the lead with Gene Kelly in the cult film,
Xanadu (film)|Xanadu. The soundtrack of Xanadu was
a collaborative effort with Electric Light
Orchestra and its singles were very successful.
Newton-John also starred in Two of a Kind
(film)|Two of a Kind which received little acclaim
but garnered hit songs. Newton-John has also
occasionally appeared in made-for-television
movies and series episodes. She starred in the
television movies "A Mom For Christmas" and "A
Christmas Romance" and appeared in an episode of
the CBS series Murphy Brown. She had a small role
in the independent film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204640/ Sordid Lives.
She has also appeared in sitcoms "Bette" and "Ned
and Stacey" and the made for TV film "The Wilde
Girls" which featured her daughter Chloe Rose
Lattanzi and actress Swoosie_Kurtz.

In 1983, Newton-John and Pat Farrar, a longtime
friend, founded Koala Blue, a chain of clothing
boutiques for women with the designs of the
apparel based on the unique style and colours of
Australia. The chain was successful for some time
but eventually went out of business. However,
Newton-John and Farrar have licensed the brand
name for a line of Australian produced wines,
confectionery and other items.

She was married to Matt Lattanzi from 1984 to
1995. There is one child from this marriage, Chloe
Rose Lattanzi, born in 1986. Since 1996, she has
been with boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, a
cameraman. In 1992, she underwent breast
cancer|breast-cancer surgery from which she
recovered. She actively promotes public awareness
of the importance of early detection of the
disease. In 1998, Newton-John, John Farnham and
Anthony Warlow formed a powerful trio on the "Main
Event" tour which travelled to all major
Australian capital cities, spawned a Top 10 CD
which won an ARIA (Australian Record Industry
Association) Award for Highest Selling Australian
CD.  She sang a duet "Dare to Dream" with John
Farnham at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney
Olympics and was the Olympic flame torch bearer
running the route around the Sydney Opera House.
In 2002, a duets album called (2) was released
(featuring singers such as Darren Hayes, Tina
Arena, Jimmy Little and Billy Thorpe as well as
heartfelt duet-tributes with Peter Allen and
Johnny O'Keefe) and went Top 5 in Australia and
was followed by a successful Australian tour. In
2002 Newton-John was also inducted into the ARIA
HAll of Fame. 2004 saw the death of her beloved
mother Irene and the release of "Indigo: Women of
Song", a tribute album covering songs by The
Carpenters, Minnie Ripperton, Doris Day, Nina
Simone, Joan Baez and many others dedicated to
Irene. In 2005 a compilation album "Gold" was
released: a double CD with many hits and some
rarities and later in the year "Stronger than
Before" a CD promoting breast cancer awareness
will also be released. Another rumoured project is
"The Hotel Sessions" a dance music CD produced by
Newton-John's nephew, Brett Goldsmith.

Her niece is singer and entertainer Tottie
Goldsmith.

==Billboard Hot 100 placements==

Only Top Ten hits from the Billboard Hot 100 are
included in this list.

* "Let Me Be There" - (1973) - (# 6; Country #7;
Adult Contemporary # 3 and a Grammy winner for
Best Country Vocal Performance, Female; from the
album "Let Me Be There")
* "If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" - (1974) - (# 5;
Country # 2; Adult Contemporary # 2 from the album
of the same name)
* "I Honestly Love You" - (1974) - (# 1, 2 Weeks;
Country # 6; Adult Contemporary #1 (3 weeks) and a
Grammy winner for Pop Vocal Performance, Female,
and Record of the Year; from the album "If You
Love Me, Let Me Know")
* "Have You Never Been Mellow" - (1975) - (# 1, 1
Week; also Adult Contemporary #1 (1 week); Country
# 3 from the album of the same name)
* "Please Mr. Please" - (1975) - (# 3; also Adult
Contemporary #1 (3 weeks); Country # 5 from the
album "Have You Never Been Mellow")
* "You're The One That I Want" - (1978; duet with
John Travolta) - (# 1, 1 Week; Adult Contemporary
# 23 from the "Grease" soundtrack)
* "Hopelessly Devoted To You" - (1978) - (# 3;
Adult Contemporary # 7; Country # 20, from the
"Grease" soundtrack)
* "Summer Nights" - (1978; duet with John
Travolta) - (# 5; Adult Contemporary # 21 from the
"Grease" soundtrack)
* "A Little More Love" - (1978) - (# 3; Adult
Contemporary # 4; Country # 94 from the album
"Totally Hot")
* "Magic" - (1980) - (# 1, 4 Weeks; also Adult
Contemporary #1 (5 weeks); from the "Xanadu"
soundtrack)
* "Xanadu" - (1980) - (# 8, Adult Contemporary # 2
in America but a massive #1 in the U.K.; the movie
title song featuring the Electric Light Orchestra)
* "Physical" - (1981) - (# 1, 10 Weeks; Adult
Contemporary # 29 from the album "Physical")
* "Make A Move On Me" - (1982) - (# 5; Adult
Contemporary # 6 from the album "Physical")
* "Heart Attack" - (1982) - (# 3; from the album
"Olivia's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2")
* "Twist Of Fate" - (1983) - (# 5; from the "Two
of a Kind" soundtrack)

==Albums==

* Indigo: Women of Song (2004)
*  '2'  (Duet album) (2002)
* The Christmas Collection (2001)
* Sordid Lives (Soundtrack) (2001)
* Tis The Season (Christmas) (2000)
* One Woman's Live Journey (2000)
* The Main Event (1998)
* Back With A Heart (1998)
* Heathcliff (Cliff Richard) (1995)
* Gaia: One Woman's Journey (1994)
* Back To Basics: The Essential Collection 1971 -
1992 (1992)
* Warm And Tender (1990)
* The Rumour (1988)
* Soul Kiss (1985)
* Two Of A Kind (Soundtrack) (1983)
* Physical (1981)
* Love Perfomance In Japan (1981)
* Xanadu (Soundtrack) (1980)
* Totally Hot (1978)
* Grease (Soundtrack) (1978)
* Making A Good Thing Better (1977)
* Don't Stop Believin'  (1976)
* Come On Over (1976)
* Clearly Love (1975)
* Have You Never Been Mellow (1975)
* If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974)
* Long Live Love (1974)
* Let Me Be There (1973)
* Olivia (1972)
* Olivia Newton-John (1971)
* If Not For You (1971)
* Toomorrow (1970)

==Filmography==
*Funny Things Happen Down Under (1965)
*The Case (1972)
*Toomorrow (1970)
*Grease (movie)|Grease (1978)
*Xanadu (film)|Xanadu (1980)
*Two of a Kind (film)|Two of a Kind (1983)
*She's Having a Baby (1988) (Cameo)
*Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) (documentary)
*It's My Party (1996)
*Michael Jackson: History On Film Volume 2 (1997)
*Cliff Richard: The Making of Heathcliff (1997)
*Sordid Lives (2000)
*Best of Bob Hope: Hope For The Holidays (2004)

== See also ==
*List of Oceanian Jews
*List of British Jews
*List of best-selling music artists

== External links ==
*
http://www.bl3nder.com/music/rhapsody/playlists/ON
J.rpl ONJ on Rhapsody
* http://www.olivia-newtonjohn.com/ Olivia Newton
John
* imdb name|id=0000556|name=Olivia Newton-John
* http://olivianewton-john.com/ The Official
Olivia Newton-John website
* http://www.onlyolivia.com/ Only Olivia fan club
* http://members.aol.com/Shakesp95/olivia.htm
Music Connection entry on Newton-John
* http://www.olivia-newtonjohn.com/community/
Olivia Newton-John Community Forums
* http://www.olivia-newtonjohn.com/topsites/
Olivia Newton-John Top Sites