The Golden Singer - Superflash

Exact date unknown - issue number 189

Translation from Italian:

Famous for years in Australia, where she lived most of her life, queen of country in America, where she moved to climb the ladder of success, today, Olivia Newton John, in addition to being an internationally renowned singer, is also one of the most sought-after and popular actresses in the world.

Olivia Newton-John isn't just an accomplished actress; she's also an internationally renowned singer. The soundtracks to her films, Grease and Xanadu, have been incredibly successful worldwide.

Today, Olivia returns to her audiences with another soundtrack, Two of a Kind, which once again stars her opposite John Travolta. This film marks Olivia's first non-musical role, as she plays Debbie, an aspiring actress who romantically falls in love with John Travolta.

We can certainly say that the career of this delightful blonde is studded with positive results. But her talent as a singer is not a recent discovery.

Olivia was born in Cambridge, where her father taught at the University. Hers is a family of geniuses, all scientists, all professors. Her grandfather was a Nobel Prize winner in physics, and her father was the rector of the University of Melbourne. After this, the family moved to Australia.

At sixteen, Olivia, after winning a singing competition, returned to England and took part in Cliff Richard's TV show, the number one singer of that period in England.

Her fleeting appearance on TV struck a chord with the public, so much so that in 1974 Olivia represented Great Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest.

After gaining some popularity in England, she moved to America. There she threw herself into the fray, choosing a typically American musical genre: country.

She took part in the Nashville festival, and was an instant success! Gold records followed platinum ones.

Olivia, however, had never considered film, and when they offered her the chance to star in Grease with Travolta, she was astonished. The film also launched her as an actress and made her famous throughout the world.

After Grease,Olivia decided to go on her first major tour, visiting all of Europe and Australia. She then returned to the United States to film Xanadu, another musical, which earned her a platinum record with Magic.

Despite becoming a major star, Olivia Newton John hasn't lost her simplicity. She's still the sweet girl.

She's a simple, clean woman, and hasn't yet adopted the typical diva attitude. She doesn't drink, smoke, or take drugs. She simply lives in her villa on Malibu Beach or on her ranch in Colorado, where she's set up two small personal zoos.

She adores animals, from parrots to lions to cats to horses, which she considers her truest and most sincere friends.

Olivia has now conquered audiences all over the world, with the exception of Japan. But the strange attitude of hostility on the part of the Japanese toward her has a strange tang of spite.

The Japanese, in fact, have been angry with her ever since, to protest the systematic and continuous slaughter of dolphins by Japanese fishermen, Olivia canceled a tour she had planned with a Tokyo impresario.

A recent statistic estimates that this girl's records have sold more than 50 million copies, and that the film Grease is the highest-grossing film of the last ten years.

It seems Olivia Newton-John is a goldmine.