New bio charts the career, love life and philanthropy of Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John’s light, airy soprano dominated the radio airwaves in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and she became a global sensation with her star turn in the 1978 cinematic smash hit “Grease.”
Born in England and raised in Australia, she earned dozens of accolades, including four Grammys, a CMA Vocalist of the Year award and a Golden Globe nomination. She was appointed a Dame by Queen Elizabeth, the female equivalent of being knighted, for her charitable work.
But according to Georgia Tech history professor Matthew Hild, author of “A Little More Love: The Life and Legacy of Olivia Newton-John” (Bloomsbury Academic, $30), the media is more interested in her relationships with “Grease” costar John Travolta and Patrick McDermott, her former boyfriend who disappeared off the coast of California in 2005, than her accomplishments.
“People still want to discuss the gossipy details about the men in her life. It’s the very first question anyone wants to ask, which is ironic because in many ways she really did break down doors that Shania Twain and Faith Hill followed 20 years later, that Taylor Swift followed a generation after that,” said Hild.
“If anything, one of the lessons of Olivia Newton-John’s life is that on the one hand a woman can be genuinely kind and good and fit that girl-next-door image … but she wasn’t this pushover either. And she didn’t spend her life being pushed around by men. She stood up for herself if it was something that was important to her, and she proved that time and time again.”
Drawing heavily upon archival broadcasts and articles, as well as interviews with Newton-John’s associates, Hild’s detailed account of the singer’s highs and lows leaves no stone unturned as he charts her career in music, film and TV, as well as her love life, health struggles and philanthropy.
Despite her sweet, sunny public persona, Newton-John was unwaveringly ambitious and she endured a tremendous amount of heartache and pain. Her close friendship with Karen Carpenter ended when Carpenter died from anorexia in 1983. Newton-John’s first marriage ended in divorce, and she endured three bouts of breast cancer, the last one taking her life in 2022.
“She wasn’t always this Miss Pleasant. She could be strong and tough,” said Hild. “Some of the relationships she was in, she ended them. For example, Lee Kramer who was her manager and boyfriend, which is kind of a conflict of interest, in the end she both dumped him and fired him. She had to deal with stalkers, and she didn’t let it stop her from going on stage. In terms of this image that she was always sweet and demure, no, she could be tough as nails, especially later in her career.”
Hild, who has written books about the farm labor movement and the Gilded Age, seems like an unlikely candidate to write a biography of a pop icon. He credits the pandemic pivot for altering his professional path.
“At that time, I was working on an academic book with a friend of mine about Gwinnett County — a regular history book. The pandemic slowed everything down because we couldn’t go to the archives because they were all basically closed for a year.”
When a friend who knew pop star Andy Gibb suggested he would make a good subject for a book, Hild wrote and published “Arrow Through the Heart: The Biography of Andy Gibb.”
“That was my entrée into writing a biography on pop stars,” he said. “I wasn’t necessarily planning to do another one, but a lot of people who knew Andy Gibb also knew and worked with Olivia Newton-John.”
One of the biggest revelations he had while researching his subject was how much she accomplished outside of her entertainment career. After her only child was born in 1986, followed by her first cancer diagnosis in 1992, Newton-John stepped back from show business and focused on philanthropy, said Hild.
“She thought her biggest legacy would be the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre outside Melbourne, Australia. … That cancer center has become one of the most important in the world now,” he said. “And she was also involved in so many other good causes (including) animal rights, like her advocacy for the rights of dolphins. She helped form an organization called One Tree Per Child that helps children all over the world plant a tree before they finish school. She was a champion of LGBTQ rights 20 years ago at a time when celebrities weren’t championing LGBTQ rights. She used her power and fame to try to help people.”
Suzanne Van Atten is a columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
About the Author
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
