Australia's Sweetheart: Olivia Newton-John's legacy of compassion and entertainment will keep on shining
She was Australia's sweetheart.
Olivia always did her best by us.
Through song, and stage, we grew up with her.
She entertained generations of us for more than 50 years.
She sold 100 million records, making her one of the world's best selling artists.
Olivia Newton-John with her family. Nine
Olivia married twice. First to Matt Lattanzi, with whom she had a daughter Chloe.
There was mystery over her next partner, Patrick McDermott, who disappeared on a fishing trip.
And more recently she married businessman John Easterling, who cared and loved her through her most trying years.
Olivia was actually born in England, and came to Australia with her family at age six.
And what a family. Her grandfather was a Nobel Prize winning physicist.
Comedian Ben Elton is a third cousin.
Olivia Newton-John started performing aged 14, after her family emigrated from the UK to Australia. Nine
And her father was an MI5 officer who worked on the Enigma project and took Nazi Rudolf Hess into custody during WW2.
She started in the business at just 14 years of age.
If Not For You was her first international hit, followed by another, I Honestly Love You.
But it was THAT movie, we most remember her for.
Goody goody Sandy, transformed to... oh la la!
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"It was my fortune that I was in that movie because it is still collecting fans," she said of Grease.
But fortune turned in 1992 when Olivia was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"I was in shock, I was in kind of shock," she said.
It was Grease which she will always be remembered most for. Nine
She then wanted to help others facing the same battle as her, and raised funds and gave her name and support for a cancer treatment centre in Melbourne.
"If you had told me 12, 15 years ago that I would be talking about breasts on a regular basis I would have said you were crazy. I was quite shy about those things in a public forum," she said.
She never let get her illness get the better of her.
READ MORE: 'I want to see an end to cancer': Tracy Grimshaw's interview with Olivia Newton-John
But in 2017 she announced her breast cancer had returned, and was now also in her lower back.
"We know we are going to die at some point," she said.
This was her third bout - she kept the second secret.
In recent times she told 60 Minutes the disease had progressed to stage 4.
She was selling her properties and precious items such as those sexy Grease pants for cancer research in Australia.
Olivia sold her Grease pants for her cancer charity. Nine
"And now I kiss them goodbye and their value can help a lot of people going through cancer," she said.
She showed strength and courage to the very end.
And a legacy of compassion and entertainment for generations to come.
"As much as it's been terrible, it's been wonderful because I've learnt so much about myself, the people I love, the people in my life," she said of her illness.
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