‘Grease’ star Olivia Newton-John dies aged 73

AFP
4 Min Read
Published by
AFP
Olivia Newton-John, who was best known for her role in high school musical โ€˜Greaseโ€™ has died, aged 73

Los Angeles (AFP) โ€“ Singer Olivia Newton-John, who gained worldwide fame as the high school sweetheart Sandy in the hit movie โ€œGreaseโ€, died on Monday after a 30-year battle with cancer. She was 73.

Newton-John โ€œpassed away peacefully at her ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends,โ€ said a statement from her husband John Easterling posted on her official social media accounts.

The entertainer, whose career spanned more than five decades, devoted much of her time and celebrity to charities after first being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992.

The British-born and Australian-raised star dedicated a number of albums and concerts to raise funds for research and early detection of the disease, including the construction of a health centre named after her in her adopted home Melbourne.ย 

โ€œI donโ€™t like to say โ€˜battledโ€™,โ€ a defiant Newton-John told Australiaโ€™s Channel Seven TV in September 2018 after revealing she had been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.ย 

โ€œI like to say โ€˜win overโ€™, because โ€˜battledโ€™ sets up this anger and inflammation that you donโ€™t want.โ€

โ€˜Youโ€™re the one that I wantโ€™

Newton-John is best-known for starring in the 1978 musical โ€œGreaseโ€ alongside John Travolta, as the-girl-next-door Sandy, who trades her ankle-length skirt and prim and proper hair for skin-tight blackย pants and a perm.

The high school sweetheart-turned-bad girl resonated with audiences worldwide, and continues to capture hearts decades after the movie was released.ย 

โ€œMaking it was fun but you never know with movies if audiences are going to go with it or not, even if you love it,โ€ she said in a Forbes interview in 2018.ย 

โ€œIt is incredible that it is still going but itโ€™s not even just that, itโ€™s showing no signs of stopping. You say โ€œSandy andย Dannyโ€ and people instantly know what youโ€™re talking about.โ€

Grease remained the highest-grossing musical for three decades, with Newton-John and Travolta maintaining a close relationship long after the film was made.

โ€œShe was my favourite thing about doing Grease,โ€ Travolta said in an interview to mark the filmโ€™s 40 anniversary in 2018.

There was no one else โ€œin the universeโ€ who could play Sandy, he said of Newton-John, who turned 29 during the making of Grease and later revealed she had to be convinced by Travolta to take up the role after self-doubts that she was too old to play a teenager.ย 

โ€œIf you were a young man in the 70sโ€ฆ, if you remember that album cover withย Olivia with that blue shirt on, with those big blue eyes staring at you,โ€ Travolta recalled.ย 

โ€œEvery boyโ€™s, every manโ€™s dream was: โ€˜oh I would love for that girl to be my girlfriendโ€™.โ€

Her career would span from singer and actor, to author and philanthropist in the coming decades, with her passion for cancer research at the forefront, championing natural therapies, including medicinal cannabis in the treatment of cancer.

She performed into her late 60s, until her latest diagnosis, including a two-year residency in Vegas, a 2015 tour with Australian music legend John Farnham and even recording a Clubย Dance track at 67 with her daughter Chloe Lattanzi.

โ€œI have done everything, and the icing on the cake as well,โ€ she said, reflecting on her career.ย 

โ€œSo I feel grateful for anything that happens now.โ€


  • Travis Kelce described himself as โ€œa guy that canโ€™t really read that wellโ€ [Celebitchy]
  • Andrew Scott is serving it in a cropped, sleeveless top. [Go Fug Yourself]
  • Nip/Tuck and Fantastic Four star Julian McMahon has passed away at 56. [Boy Culture]
  • The cable company founded by Dr. Evil, er, Dr. Phil, has filed for bankruptcy. [Pajiba]
  • Frankie Grande is set to perform at the 2025 Attitude PRIDE Awards Europe. [Kenneth in the 212]