10 Little Known Facts About Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John is a singer and actress who is beloved by devoted fans all over the world. Born on September 26, 1948, Olivia Newton-John, who has long been seen as being Australian, was born in England. When she was still a small child, her family moved to Australia, where her father worked as a college professor. Although her parents divorced when she 10, she remained close to both. Her career began as a teenager, and it's been going strong ever since. Here are 10 things you just may not know about the superstar.

1. Despite a dynamic music career that featured her pushing boundaries before Madonna (think "Physical" of the early 1980s), Olivia began her career as a teenager on an Australian TV show for children, HSV-7's The Happy Show, where she played "Lovely Livvy."

2. Most people think that "Grease" was Olivia's movie musical debut ,but she was actually in two musicals before "Grease." She starred in Australian's "Funny Things Happen Down Under" and England's "Toomorrow," which was named after the name of a band of the same name. (Yes, tomorrow was deliberately misspelled for the band name.)

3. Although she was offered the role of Sandy in "Grease" up front, Olivia herself insisted on a screen test for the role, as she wanted to make sure that she would be great in the role. The screen test was much, and new fans now discover Olivia through "Grease" every day.

4. Olivia did a revision of her classic hit, "Physical," (which was originally banned in Utah) on the hit show "Glee." Sue Sylvester, who plays the gym teacher, was lucky enough to duet with her on the song. The honor isn't lost on Sue, who referred to the experience as the highlight of her life.

5. Olivia performed a concert of her "Grace and Gratitude" album in full for the first time in March 2010. Having only done concerts of her hits previously, the show was well received among fans of the mellow and beautiful healing album.

6. Olivia is also a businesswoman. She famously held the Koala Blue stores in the 1980s, but Olivia has come back since that store went bankrupt in the early 1990s. She helps her husband John Easterling in his endeavors with the Amazon Herb Company, including the Zamu health drink. She also helps others with her LivKit, to help women with the needed monthly ritual of checking for lumps. She also owns a luxury spa in Australia called Gaia.

7. Olivia is the granddaughter of Max Born, Nobel-prize winning physicist and Albert Einstein confidante. He was instrumental in the development of quantum physics.

8. Olivia has starred in two made-for-television movies alongside her only child, daughter Chloe Lattanzi. "The Wilde Girls" and "Christmas Romance" star the two lovely ladies as mother and daughter on-screen as well.

9. Before the MTV music video explosion, Olivia was among the first artists to make music videos for the songs on her albums. In fact, Olivia made a music video for every song off her album "Physical" that debuted on major network television to celebrate her album's debut.

10. "Grease " was not the only movie to star John Travolta alongside Olivia Newton-John. They also starred in "Two of a Kind," and the soundtrack featured a duet by the two screen icons, "Take a Chance."

Sources cited:

http://www.olivianewton-john.info
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20113234,00.html
http://www.olivianewton-john.com