The Shy Girl of Hollywood
THREE Great Danes and an Irish setter rush out to greet you when you ring the bell on the gate-set in the high electrified fence which surrounds the ranch in the hills behind Hollywood.
“They’re very friendly.” explains Olivia Newton-John. “I prefer dogs to people. They don’t ask for anything and they’re always pleased to see you. You can’t say the same about the folks in this town, can you?”
From which you will. gather that 29-year-old. Livvy, whose smash-hit success in the musical. “Grease” has made her one of the hottest properties on the movie scene, has some pretty down-to-earth views about stardom.
“I’m a realist,” she told me during a brief break In her jam-packed schedule of concerts, record sessions, and public appearances, “I found success in America, but I won’t stay here for ever”.
“One of these days I’ll go back home to Australia, settle down, marry, and have children. But it won’t be just yet.”
Which will make Hollywood film-makers breathe a sigh of relief. Since her current hit with “Grease” in which she co-stars with John Travolta, there are plans for another lavish Hollywood, musical.
And, of course, as an added bonus, the song John and Livry sing in “Grease” “You’re the one that want” is top of the pop charts in six countries.
It’s five years since Livvy left Britain and moved to America to become the biggest-selling Country singer of the mid-seventies But her one previous film, “Toomorrow,” turned out to be such a disaster that she swore she’d never make another movie,
It took fellow Australian impresario Robert Stigwood, to make her change her mind.
“Grease” is about the rock ‘n’ toll rave-up scene of the fifties. “I remember the fifties, but was too young to join”, Livvy told me. I did have a round skirt and I loved all those Elvis records”. In Australia there was a lot of rock ‘n’ roll around when I was a kid, but I never really did the dances. I had to learn them all for the film.”
In black, skin-type pants and off-the-shoulder blouse, Livvy takes off with Travolta in hectic dance routines and loved every moment of it…
And as John Travolta told me shortly before the premiere of “Grease” “Livvy really worked hard at the dances and she is staggeringly good. I had been In the Broadway version of the show and knew what to expect, but to her it was all new.”
Off-screen they became good friends, though both stressed there was absolutely no romance, John had just suffered the death of his long-time girlfriend actress Diana Hayland.
Romantic
“Livvy is a marvellous girl and was wonderful to me during those awful weeks after Diana died”, John remembered. “When I needed to get away, she would invite me to her house for weekends. We had a great time just relaxing, riding horses and taking things easily. It was just what I needed at that time.”
“Grease” had its European premiere in September, but already its reputation has preceded it to across the Atlantic. “The fifties was a great era,” says Livvy, “and I think we’ve really captured the feeling of them.”
“People weren’t necessarily more innocent, but because it wasn’t all out in the open romance and tension was actually romantic and tense.”
Pressure
Livvy says she took a lot of persuading to embark on second film. “I was very happy with my career as a singer,” (she’s won four gold and four platinum discs). Success as a Country and of Western star brought her the house, dogs, and six horses.
But she’s under no illusions about the price of such.
“The pressures here are enormous”, she admits. “People in Hollywood are is out for themselves. They love to stir up trouble. They can’t wait to tell you the bad news”.
But Livvy is determined to keep her private life private. There have been several traumatic partings from her boyfriend of five years, Londoner Lee Kramer, and all she will say is that at the moment she’s “not quite me sure of the situation”.
Novelty
At 29, Livvy might be mistaken for a teenager with her so trim figure and wide-eyed honesty. “I’m still very shy and introverted person,” she admits.
“I realise that right now I’m a novelty - a singer who has broken into the big time with her first major film. Before, I wasn’t usually written about, except in the musical papers”.
Now, whether she likes it or not, the shy girl of Hollywood has become a musical superstar. “If people don’t like my singing.” she says with typical defensiveness, “maybe they’ll like my acting.”
In fact, there’s ample evidence that millions are pretty crazy about both…
By Joanne Wills