While in Britain, Newton-John missed her then-boyfriend, Ian Turpie, with whom she had co-starred in the Australian telefilm, Funny Things Happen Down Under. Newton-John recorded her first single, "Till You Say You'll Be Mine", in Britain for Decca Records in 1966. She was initially reluctant to use the prize she had won, a trip to Great Britain, but traveled there nearly a year later after her mother encouraged her to broaden her horizons. She entered and won a talent contest on the television program Sing, Sing, Sing, hosted by 1960s Australian icon Johnny O'Keefe, performing the songs "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses". She also appeared on The Go!! Show where she met future duet partner, singer Pat Carroll, and future music producer, John Farrar (Carroll and Farrar would later marry). ![]() She became a regular on local Australian radio and television shows including HSV-7's The Happy Show where she performed as "Lovely Livvy". She attended Christ Church Grammar School, and then University High School, near to Ormond College.Īt fourteen, Newton-John formed a short-lived all-girl group, Sol Four, with three classmates often performing in a coffee shop owned by her brother-in-law. In 1954, when Olivia was six, the Newton-Johns emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where her father worked as a professor of German and as Master of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne. Newton-John is the youngest of three children, following brother Hugh (1940-2019), a doctor, and sister Rona (1943–2013) (an actress who was married to Grease co-star Jeff Conaway from 1980 until their divorce in 1985). After the war he became Headmaster at Cambridgeshire High School for Boys and was in that role when Olivia was born. Newton-John's father was an MI5 officer on the Enigma project at Bletchley Park who took Rudolf Hess into custody during World War II. Her maternal great-grandfather was jurist Victor Ehrenberg and her matrilineal great-grandmother's father was jurist Rudolf von Jhering. She is a third cousin of comedian Ben Elton. ![]() Newton-John's maternal grandmother was of paternal Jewish ancestry as well. Her Jewish maternal grandfather, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born, fled with his family to England from Germany before World War II to escape the Nazi regime. Rest in song and mirth.Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England, to Welshman Brinley "Bryn" Newton-John (1914–1992) and Irene Helene (née Born) (1914–2003). Know that we are forever hopelessly devoted to you, Olivia. I trust she is now in the great Xanadu beyond. The actor George Takei posted on Twitter: “We have lost a great, iconic artist in Olivia Newton-John, gone too soon from us at age 73. Behind that iconic smile was a tenacious fighter. ![]() I will miss her enormously.”Īustralian singer John Farnham, who performed Dare to Dream alongside Newton-John at the opening ceremony for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said in a statement: “The Farnham family send love and sympathies to Olivia’s family. Olivia was the essence of summer - her sunniness, her warmth and her grace are what always come to mind when I think of her. Her Grease co-star Stockard Channing, who played Rizzo, said in a statement to THR: “I don’t know if I’ve known a lovelier human being. Olivia was exactly the way you imagined her. For over four decades of our friendship she exuded nothing but love to everyone she met. Grease director Randal Kleiser told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m heartbroken. ![]() 0G0tc0tauI- Anthony Albanese August 9, 2022 Above all she was a wonderful, generous person. From the moment we saw her, she was a warm, enduring presence and her voice became a big part of the Australian soundtrack.
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