Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John, AO, OBEis an English-Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five number-one and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles, and two number-one Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singlesand fourteen of her albumshave been certified gold by the RIAA. She has sold an estimated 100 million records, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists of all time. She starred in Grease, which featured one of...
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth26 September 1948
CityCambridge, England
It feels really good to give back. I'm opening the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness Centre in Australia.
I always suggest that when you're going through cancer to find something in your day that makes you feel centered and that makes you feel good.
When I was a young girl, I was so crazy about animals that I wanted to do something associated with them, and I thought of being a vet. But then again, I figured I had to go to medical school, and science wasn't a good subject for me, so I dropped the idea pretty soon and thought maybe I could be a vet's assistant.
I've always been aware of my health - when you are having to go on stage and perform, you need to be feeling good - but when I was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, I became really, really conscious of my health.
My memories are inside me - they're not things or a place - I can take them anywhere.
Professionally, when I did the Olympic games and sang for my country in Australia. It was a big moment, Sydney in 2000. It was just a brilliant moment in my life.
In June 1992, I discovered a lump in my breast. A subsequent mammogram, ultrasound and a needle biopsy proved negative. But my instinct said it still didn't feel right, so I had a lumpectomy. I then got the news that it was cancer.
My father was a headmaster in England and then the dean of a college in Australia. We moved there when I was about five, so my education was in Australia, and I always felt I was Australian even though my passport was British.
I still can't believe I danced with Gene Kelly. How lucky am I that I've been in movies where I've danced with two of the greatest dancers of all time - with Gene Kelly and John Travolta.
I'm so happy with 'Grease' and 'Xanadu,' particularly because of the music in both films.
I'm a very light sleeper. I get about six hours a night.
My father had the most amazing operatic voice, so I have a soft spot for that.
I've been through cancer, divorce, loss and bereavement, but they are things most humans go through.
Genetically, I'm like my mum, and she looked great right up until her death in 1989.