We shared a love and a happiness I didn’t think was possible
Hubby’s tribute to Grease star Olivia
By Christopher Bucktin
The grieving husband of Dame Olivia Newton-John has told how every day with her was a “bit of magic”. John Easterling said the Grease star was “the most courageous and compassionate woman” he had ever met.
The US businessman, who was with the four-time Grammy winner when she died of cancer at 73 last August, reflected on her loss at an event on Saturday.
He told an audience in Los Angeles, which included singer Katy Perry and model Miranda Kerr: “We shared a love and a happiness on an order of magnitude that I didn’t even think was possible.
“Olivia and I unexpectedly, madly, deeply, forever fell in love in the Amazon rainforest.
“For the past 15 years, I’ve been blessed to share the depth and the passion of her being.” He added: “Every day with Olivia was a bit of magic. Every day with Olivia was supernatural.
“She was the most courageous and compassionate woman that I’ve ever known, with a calming capacity to genuinely care about other people.”
Olivia, who grew up in Melbourne, was being honoured at the annual G’Day USA Gala, which celebrates Australian excellence. Easterling told how she gave her name to cancer research centres both in Australia and the US.
He said: “There’s an old adage that like attracts like, and Olivia knew that her voice and her huge profile of talents were a gift. Her legacy continues as a joyful healing spirit who is continuously focused on moving things in her words, into the love and the light.’
Olivia married Easterling in June 2008. She was previously married to ex-dancer Matt Lattanzi, 63, with whom she had her only child, Chloe, who told the event she planned to “honour my mum’s mission and keep her dream alive”.
Olivia was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, and worked to increase awareness, as well as promote natural medicines. Chloe, 37, added: “She was curious and intuitive, and knew the power of plant medicine and ancient wisdom we have within us. She was powerful.”
Crocodile Dundee star Paul Hogan, 83, told how he met Olivia, who went on to become a “great friend”. He said: “We were doing a command performance at the Sydney Opera House. We were backstage and Livvy came over to me and said ‘have you had make-up yet?’ And I said, ‘oh, no. I don’t need it’. I was just doing a funny bit.
“She said, ‘sit down’ and took out an eyebrow pencil and gave me eyebrows because mine were all bleached out from the sun. She tried to do a few other pretty things too, but I didn’t let her.”
Olivia found fame in the 1970s as Sandy in the hit movie Grease and had top 10 hits including Physical.
“Every day with Olivia was a bit of magic. Every day with Olivia was supernatural” - John Easterling Olivia Newton-John’s Husband