Hopelessly Devoted to Olivia Newton-John Quiz

Answer: United Kingdom

Olivia Newton-John was born in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Her father, Brinley "Bryn" Newton-John, was from Wales. Her mother, Irene Helene, was from Germany. She grew up in Australia after her father was offered a job as a dean at a university in Melbourne. They moved when she was only five.

Answer: New Faces

"New Faces" was an Australian talent show from 1963 to 1985. Frank Wilson hosted it until 1976, and Bert Newton took over for the rest of the run. Because Kevin Denis Motors sponsored it, it started with the title "Kevin Denis Auditions". The title was changed to "Kevin Denis New Faces", which was shortened to "New Faces".

Olivia was fifteen when she appeared on the show.

Answer: False

Olivia is the youngest of three children. Her oldest brother, Hugh, was a medical doctor and died in 2019. Her sister, Rona, was an actress and was once married to Jeff Conaway from 1980-1985. She passed away in 2013.

Answer: Hopelessly Devoted to You

According to "Grease" director Randal Kleiser, to get her to be in the movie, they promised her a song would be made just for her. He said it was one of the last things added in the film, and it was written by John Farrar, a friend of Olivia's who worked with her from 1971-1989 writing songs for her.

"Hopelessly Devoted to You" was nominated for an Oscar for best original song but lost to "Last Dance" from the movie "Thank God It's Friday".

Answer: Matt Lattanzi

Olivia Newton-John Met Matt Lattanzi when he was a featured dancer in the movie "Xanadu". She starred in the movie as Kira. They were married from 1984-1995. While Newton-John was in "Grease", Lattanzi was in "Grease 2". He played Brad - who was one of the Prep-Tones in the talent show.

Answer: Physical

Terry Shaddick and Steve Kipner wrote "Physical". The song was initially written for a male rock star, but Olivia's manager sent the demo to her. She didn't want to record it at first as she found it "too cheeky". The guitar solo was performed by Steve Lukather from the band Toto.

The song was well received and became her fifth and last number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. It was on the chart for ten weeks. She was nominated for a Grammy for best female pop vocal performance but lost to Bette Midler, who won for "The Rose".

Answer: A Christmas Romance

Chloe Lattanzi was born in Los Angeles, CA, on January 17, 1986. Like her mother, she is an actress and a singer.

"A Christmas Romance" was a 1994 made-for-tv movie. Olivia played Julia, a widow who lives in the mountain with her two girls, Deenie (played by Chloe) and Emily Rose (Stephanie Sawyer). Brian (Gregory Harrison) from the bank comes to inform her if she can't pay, she will lose the home. Julia tells him to leave because she still has time, but there is a terrible blizzard, and he has an accident when he slides on the road. Julia hears the accident and goes through the blizzard to help him get back to her house, where she takes care of his head.

They don't get along at first, and Deenie isn't fond of him either. Emily Rose loves him, however, as she believes he is "the Christmas stranger". But he starts to grow on Deenie after he helps them save a lamb born during the storm. Julia and Brian begin to fall for each other soon as well.

Answer: She was diagnosed with cancer that year.

Newton-John was planning to go on tour to promote her newest album. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after it came out. She was 44 when she received her first diagnosis and continued to have a 30-year battle.

Answer: He disappeared.

In 2005, Patrick McDermitt went on a fishing trip off the coast of Los Angeles. He never returned. Some people have claimed he faked his death and lives in Mexico, but in 2006 the Coast Guard Investigative Service closed the case concluding he was lost at sea with no suspect of suicide or foul play. In 2008, a different investigation by the United States Coast Guard closed in 2008, having determined he was lost at sea.

Losing McDermitt was very hard on Olivia Newton-John, but she did get married a second time, in 2008, to John Easterling. She was married to him until her death on August 8, 2022.

Answer: Australia

In February 2020, Olivia was one of the performers in a charity concert called "Fire Fight Australia." She performed a duet with John Farnham singing the song "Two Strong Hearts." She did not let having cancer stop her from helping the place she grew up raise money to help with all the fires.

Shortly before she died, she had talked to her niece in Australia on the phone. Her niece asked her if she was afraid to die. According to her niece, Oliva replied, "I'm not afraid. I've done more in my life than I could have ever imagined."