Olivia Newton-John

Acting

Olivia Newton-John

Born 1948-09-26 · Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Dame Olivia Newton-John AC, DBE (September 26, 1948 – August 8, 2022) was an English-born, Australian-raised singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles (including two platinum) and 14 of her albums (including two platinum and four double platinum) have been certified gold by the RIAA. She has sold an estimated over 100 million albums worldwide. In 1978, she co-starred with John Travolta in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Grease, which became one of the most successful films and movie soundtracks in Hollywood history. It features two major hit duets with co-star John Travolta: "You're the One That I Want"—which is one of the best-selling singles of all time—and "Summer Nights". She became the second woman (after Linda Ronstadt in 1977) to have two singles – "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Summer Nights" – in the Billboard top 5 simultaneously. Her performance earned her a People's Choice Award for Favorite Film Actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Musical and performed the Oscar-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted to You" at the 1979 Academy Awards. In 1980, she starred with Gene Kelly and Michael Beck in the musical fantasy film Xanadu. Although it was a critical failure, its soundtrack was certified double platinum and scored five top 20 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. She charted with "Magic", "Suddenly" with Cliff Richard, and the title song "Xanadu" with the Electric Light Orchestra. "Magic" was Newton-John's biggest pop hit to that point and still ranks as the biggest AC hit of her career. The film has since become a cult classic and the basis for a Broadway show that ran for more than 500 performances beginning in 2007 and was nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Musical. She helped pioneer the music video industry by recording a video album for Physical, featuring videos of all the album's tracks and three of her older hits. The video album earned her a fourth Grammy and was aired as an ABC prime-time special, Let's Get Physical, becoming a top-10 Nielsen hit. She teamed up with Travolta again in 1983 for the critically and commercially unsuccessful movie Two of a Kind, redeemed by its platinum soundtrack featuring "Twist of Fate", and a new duet with Travolta, "Take a Chance"Iowa.  In 2002, she was inducted into Australia's ARIA Hall of Fame and, in 2015, she was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame. In recognition for "her work as an entertainer and philanthropist", she was bestowed Australia's highest honor, the Companion of the Order of Australia, in June 2019. In 2008, she raised funds to help build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She led a three-week, 228 km walk along the Great Wall of China, joined by various celebrities and cancer survivors throughout her trek. The walk symbolised the steps cancer patients must take on their road to recovery. She was a a long-time activist for environmental and animal rights issues. She battled breast cancer three times and was an advocate for breast cancer research and health awareness. Her business ventures included launching several product lines for Koala Blue and co-owning the Gaia Retreat & Spa in Australia.

Acting credits

Grease poster
7.4

Australian good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance despite their eccentric friends?

Grease

1978

Xanadu poster
5.7

Kira, a Greek muse incarnated on Earth to inspire people, helps Dan McGuire and an artist named Sonny Malone to meet. She inspires them to build a huge disco roller rink called Xanadu.

Xanadu

1980

Sharknado 5: Global Swarming poster
4.7

Fin and his wife April travel around the world to save their young son who's trapped inside a sharknado.

Sharknado 5: Global Swarming

2017

She's Having a Baby poster
5.9

Jake and Kristy Briggs are newlyweds. Being young, they are perhaps a bit unprepared for the full reality of marriage and all that it (and their parents) expect from them. Do they want babies? Their parents certainly want them to. Is married life all that there is? Things certainly aren't helped by Jake's friend Davis, who always seems to turn up just in time to put a spanner in the works.

She's Having a Baby

1988

Madonna: Truth or Dare poster
6.2

From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.

Madonna: Truth or Dare

1991

No artwork available
NR

Hosted by Jane Fonda and Robert Wagner, this TV special celebrates the XXIIIrd Olympiad with all-star guests at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles.

Olympic Gala

1984

A Few Best Men poster
5.7

A groom and his three best men travel to the Australian outback for a wedding.

A Few Best Men

2012

Two of a Kind poster
5.8

God has had enough of the bad behavior and attitude of humankind, and has decided to start it all over. It is up to a struggling inventor and a bank teller, both with very amateur criminal minds, to save the world by falling in love.

Two of a Kind

1983

The Fabulous Allan Carr poster
5.0

Armed with a limitless Rolodex and a Benedict Canyon enclave with its own disco, Allan Carr threw the Hollywood parties that defined the 1970s. A producer, manager, and marketing genius, Carr built his bombastic reputation amid a series of successes including the mega-hit musical film "Grease," until it all came crashing down after he produced the 1989 Academy Awards, a notorious debacle.

The Fabulous Allan Carr

2017

The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's poster
4.0

A look back at the people, events, music, and trends of the 1970s.

The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's

1980

Olivia poster
6.5

This one hour special, aired May 17, 1978, features Olivia singing many of her hits with special guests Andy Gibb, ABBA, the Southern Californian Community Choir, and Gary Frank.

Olivia

1978

And the Winner Isn't poster
6.3

A satirical documentary charting Geoffrey Moore and his daughter Ambra’s journey through Hollywood, as the pair track down celebrities and industry insiders in their bid to find out what it takes to become an Academy Award winner.

And the Winner Isn't

2017

The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee poster
4.7

Paul Hogan is reluctantly thrust back into the spotlight as he desperately attempts to restore his sullied reputation on the eve of being knighted.

The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee

2020

No artwork available
NR

Bob's favorite memories and funniest moments on TV The biggest Stars! ... The biggest laughs! On DVD for the first time, this special 90 minute collection proves that laughter is the universal language with a sidesplitting salute to slapstick, satire, sketch comedy and zingers. Featuring Bob's funniest moments on television, this tribute includes a virtual who's who of legendary entertainers like Bing Crosby, Jackie Gleason, Roy Rogers, Ingrid Bergman, Bob Newhart, Lucille Ball, Ann-Margret, Jack Benny, Angie Dickinson, Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, Danny Thomas, Don Rickles, Milton Berle, Redd Foxx, Dorothy Lamour, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Dyan Cannon, Debbie Reynolds, Lassie and more.

Bob Hope's World of Comedy

1976

Night of 100 Stars III poster
4.3

A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.

Night of 100 Stars III

1990

Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs poster
3.0

Ekchart Schmidt examines the machinery behind the dream factory; the Hollywood myth is unmasked. How does the studio industry work? What role does marketing and the hype surrounding the stars play?

Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs

1998

A Special: Olivia Newton-John poster
7.7

In her first variety special, Olivia Newton-John performs with guests including Elliott Gould, Lynda Carter, Tom Bosley, Ron Howard and Lee Majors.

A Special: Olivia Newton-John

1976

Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights poster
8.0

In this variety special, Olivia shares the evening with Andy Gibb, Elton John, Ted Knight, Gene Kelly and Toni Tennille. The special included songs from Grease and the Totally Hot album as well as some other artists' covers : the Eagles, Bob Seger, Elton John and Buddy Holly. Olivia also performed a parody of the jazz/blues classic Makin' Whoopee with Gene Kelly, changing the lyrics to Makin' Movies and dealing with Olivia's dream of producing a musical. The show was aired internationally and did very well in the ratings, as did her two previous US television specials on the same network. It is to be noted that Tina Turner's appearance on Olivia's special helped her sign a contract with then Olivia's manager Roger Davies, who ultimately helped her to go back into the spotlight.

Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights

1980

It's My Party poster
6.3

Nick, a gay, HIV-positive architect, begins to display severe symptoms of AIDS and makes preparations to kill himself before he is unable to function normally. He arranges a party to reconnect and say goodbye to his closest friends and his confused parents. But when his ex-partner, Brandon, a television director who left Nick when he was diagnosed with HIV, shows up, what was supposed to be a celebratory event becomes much more difficult for everyone.

It's My Party

1996

John Travolta, le miraculé d'Hollywood poster
7.1

The gripping story of legendary American actor John Travolta: his rise to stardom in the 1970s; his agonizing fall in disgrace in the 1980s; and his stunning artistic rebirth in the 1990s.

John Travolta, le miraculé d'Hollywood

2017

Bee Gees: One Night Only poster
8.1

The brothers Gibb perform their greatest hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's including many songs written for and made hits by other artists but never recorded by the Bee Gees themselves.

Bee Gees: One Night Only

1998

Grease Day USA poster
8.3

The star-studded premiere party for "Grease," featuring numerous unrelated musical performances.

Grease Day USA

1978

Neil Diamond : Live At the Greek Theatre 1976 poster
10.0

Neil Diamond gives a powerful and memorable performance at the packed Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in 1976, perhaps one of Neil’s great years. The show takes us back to a memorable time in pop music and in Neil Diamond’s career - while also giving us music that is as fresh and timeless today as it was then. The early hits are here, in rousing and intimate interpretations: ‘Cherry, Cherry,’ ‘Song Sung Blue,’ ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘I Am...I Said,’ ‘Cracklin’ Rosie,’ and more. But Neil also introduces songs from what was then his new album - and is now considered a classic - the benchmark ‘Beautiful Noise,’ produced by rocker Robbie Robertson. And Neil gets across the footlights, bringing the big audience to its feet, inciting clapping and singing along, and pulling two of the best-known stars of the era, singer Helen Reddy and the actor Henry Winkler (then an icon as TV’s ‘Fonzie’) up on stage to sing with him. An amazing trip back in time with one of our most enduring singers.

Neil Diamond : Live At the Greek Theatre 1976

1977

The A-Z of Eurovision poster
2.0

Rylan Clark-Neal narrates a guide to all things Eurovision and takes a sideways look at the greatest singing contest on the planet. The A-Z of Eurovision features all the disasters, the costume changes and memorable musical moments from 65 years of Eurovision.

The A-Z of Eurovision

2020