Olivia Newton-John: A Fond Farewell to a Beloved Legend

By Behind the Scenes in Hollywood Archives
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A collective sigh of disbelief was heard around the globe earlier this week with the sad news of Olivia Newton-John’s passing. To say the star was beloved and an influence on many is an understatement. Olivia was love. Her perpetual sunny disposition was infectious. Even while facing multiple recurrences of breast cancer over the last 30 years, her disposition never wavered. She entertained us with song and dance, both on the big and small screen for more than 50 years, notably in the 1978 blockbuster Grease, opposite John Travolta, which remains one of the most successful films (and soundtracks) of all time, along with the 1980 cult classic Xanadu, which also produced an incredible soundtrack.

Grease and her Grammy Awards certainly put her on the map, but Newton-John also had a long history with television. Born in Cambridge, England, her family relocated to Australia when she was six years old. By 16 she had become a familiar face on Australian television with appearances on The Happy Show and The Go!! Show, singing alongside her friend Pat Carroll. She also appeared in the movie Funny Things Happen Down Under. However, winning a TV talent contest on Sing, Sing, Sing awarded her the grand prize of a (return) trip to England. Eventually, Carroll would join her in the U.K. As a duo, they performed at nightclubs around Europe before eventually landing their own Australian TV special in 1967.

Newton-John returned to the U.K. to work on a number of solo projects. Had it been successful, one in particular might have changed her career trajectory forever.

Following a far from an amicable break-up with The Monkees, a band he’d worked with on the NBC television show of the same name, producer Don Kirshner (also of The Archies fame) set his sights on Britain, hoping to emulate the success of The Monkees with a new band on the big screen. At 21, Newton-John found herself a member of the four-piece band Toomorrow, an outfit with international appeal thanks to having an Australian, a Brit and two Americans. To launch the band, they appeared in the sci-fi fantasy film Toomorrow, in which a group of college students are abducted by an alien to help teach his people the secrets of a vibrating sound machine they’d created to enhance their sound. The movie was far from successful. In fact, it was so poorly received that Kirshner completely distanced himself from the project, vowing it would never see the light of day while he was alive.

 

One positive to emerge from the project was the film’s soundtrack. Already released in anticipation of the film (which ended up in storage for 40 years), its groovy pop/psychedelic sound would later become a collector’s item, along with two singles releases by the band. Had that project been the success everyone hoped for, and been parlayed into a TV series, Newton-John’s career might have taken a very different turn. Today the soundtrack is a notable time capsule of her career, and following Kirshner’s passing, both the soundtrack, and movie, received CD and DVD releases.

Newton-John did rise from the ashes of Toomorrow. Internationally she scored a string of solo country/pop hits, and a 1973 Grammy Award. She represented England in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest performing Long Live Love; however, ABBA emerged victorious that year with Waterloo. Her international success continued as American record buyers embraced her. However, her inclusion in the "country" genre was met with disdain by purists who believed not having authentic country roots made her ineligible to win awards like the Country Music Association Female Artist of the Year (1974). She eventually won over those detractors and garnered the attention of ABC, which green-lit the variety special A Special Olivia Newton-John that aired in November of 1976. (She would also land a U.K. TV special, Only Olivia, in 1977).

 

During the mid-'70s, variety specials -- always loaded with special guests -- were television programming gold, and this one was no exception. The hour-long special pokes fun at the singer’s wholesome image, as through skits she attempts to enlist a host of ABC talent at the time -- like Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man), Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) and Ron Howard and Tom Bosley (Happy Days) to name a few -- to perform with her. Hot on the heels of Grease,in 1978 ABC aired Olivia, only this time she didn’t need to pretend to enlist guests -- she had ABBA and Andy Gibb on hand to provide a starburst of talent and duets!

 

ABC would air two more Olivia specials. In 1980 Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights featured another stellar array of stars, including Karen Carpenter, Elton John, Tina Turner, (her Xanadu co-star) Gene Kelly, Andy Gibb and Toni Tennille; and Let’s Get Physical, an expanded version of the video-album of the same name. HBO would later pick up the torch lit by ABC with their specials, Olivia in Concert (1982) and Olivia Down Under (1988). Her life story would be told in the 2019 biopic Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You,starring Delta Goodrem,that aired on Lifetime.

Throughout her long career Newton-John sold over 100 million albums and become one of the most successful artists of all time. Her groundbreaking Cancer and Wellness Center in Australia has helped save the lives of many.

The current outpouring of love, affection and sadness on social media indicates the extent to which Newton-John endeared herself to everyone she worked with, not to mention her fans. "My dearest Olivia," wrote her longtime friend John Travolta on Instagram. "You made all of our lives so much better. I love you so much. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!"

"I am crushed to hear that my friend Olivia has died," wrote Lynda Carter. "She was a true light in this world, and I loved all the times we worked together. My love goes out to her family and her friends. What a beautiful human."

"What do you feel, what do you say when the nicest, kindest and most loving woman leaves us to travel somewhere else?" shared ABBA's Anni-Frid Lyngstad. "The heart aches to know Olivia's brave fight against an, in her case, invincible enemy. That she never gave up, or complained about her situation, but instead told us her story so that we would understand and want to help others. I am grateful to have known a person like you, Olivia, and you will always be in my heart. With love, your friend Frida."

Those words were echoed by ABBA bandmate Agnetha Fältskog. "So sad to hear of Olivia's passing ... A fine person has left us -- and there are many of us who mourn her now. My thoughts go out to the family, and her music and personality will always remain in memory."

Olivia Newton-John was 73.

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