Talk:Olivia Newton-John/Archive 1

Image
The image that shows who she played in Grease, the movie poster, or VHS or DVD cover would NOT be necessary. A movie screenshot would be the MOST necessary. --PJ Pete
 * Your screenshot sucks. The DVD cover is better. Please leave it alone -Nv8200p talk 04:49, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, which would be better, the new or old DVD cover? --PJ Pete::
 * In the proposed image, it is hard to see Olivia Newton-John. The image is about the DVD not Olivia. It would not qualify for fair-use in this article. It might in the "Grease" movie article, but not here -Nv8200p talk 15:06, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Another movie
isn't Olivia also in an american movie called something like 'Mum for christmas' it is a christmas movie when she is a manican that comes alive... Has anyone else see or heard of it??? 203.39.13.66 07:29, 12 October 2006 (UTC)josd

I found it! It is called 'A Mom for christmas' and she is a manniquin. It is a 1990 film and she sings in it as well.203.39.13.66 07:36, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

List removal & photo
User 66.47.30.188 removed all the lists for some strange reason. I restored them. I have a question about the photo in the article. Has it been released under the GFDL or is it public domain? If not, we'll have to remove it. We can't have any copyrighted images on the 'pedia. :-( &mdash;Frecklefoot 16:59, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I edited the list of singles to make the "Title" wider by 140 pixels, it makes the artical noticeably shorter (physically) even though the exact same into is still there. --Ferdia O&#39;Brien 12:08, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Resort owner?
I watched her biography on E! True Hollywood Story and one of the things I want to bring up is her eco-tourist resorts. Since she's an avid eco-activist really into environmental causes, Olivia Newton-John decided to launch a "natural" resort. I believe she had one in Victoria, Australia (or was it far south of New Zealand?), another one in South America (Chile?)...By coincidence, her only child/daughter's name Chloe (not spelled the same) sounds close to the country's name, then the TV special stated the namesake came from Newton-John's perfume brand in the 1980's. I'm glad to see she's not only a beautiful talented star, but smart enough to run a business and involved in saving the planet. The news press attacked her in the early 1990's when a tabloid front cover had a pic of Olivia Newton-John carried black trash bags on her lake (or beach) front property read "Caught! Environmentalist Olivia Newton-John dumps trash in her beach!" I think she sued them for libel and slander, and it happens that she's picking up litter from her own property, since it was a California beach as by state law, all beaches regardless of who lives by it, are open to the public. 63.3.14.1 08:15, 28 December 2006 (UTC)


 * The E! TV special on Newton John isn't the best source for wikipedia. Don't put web links to tabloid news stories that led to legal consequences, since Newton John was personally attacked by a falsely erroneous report. It's a freak coincidence for an island off Chile to be spelled Chloe. A name of former Florida governor Lawton Chiles came to mind, but I say it's coincidental. The only completely accurate edits was on her small businesses and environmental activism, Newton John has took part in demonstrations to raise public awareness on ecology issues like rainforest deforestation, the endangered species act, anti-fur animal rights legislation, concerns on ozone depletion and global warming debates. 63.3.14.2 09:51, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Timeline
This would need to be sourced, but I recall her saying in an interview once that the very day she got home from the clinic with the news of her breast cancer, she was told that her dad died and that she just started to laugh because it was so much to deal with. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.157.189.230 (talk) 01:50, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Marriage?
Is or has she ever been married and does she have kids?? Msjayhawk (talk) 04:56, 23 January 2009 (UTC)
 * She has been married twice (currently married to "Amazon John" Easterling) and has one kid (her daughter Chloe). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.164.75.132 (talk) 22:54, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Repeated deletion of historical events from this page
Dear Buzzin86

There are paragraphs of historical information from different editors that keeps getting deleted by you for no good reason.

With all due respect Buzzin86, these contributions to this page are cited and actual events that Olivia Newton-John was involved in so I am not sure why they keep getting deleted. The image in the deleted text is an original image of Newton-John performing at the Sydney State Theatre, September 2008. A cropped version of this picture has been placed in her Info box (by another editor) at the top of the page as her profile photo and it looks really great!

I would like to restore my contribution to this page along with the contributions of previous editors who also put in time and effort composing text and researching to supply citations, but do not want to get into a situation where I restore back contributions and you come along and delete these contributions again. Maybe we need an admin editor here to help us decide this.

Kind regards --Diane 21:01, 1 June 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by DianeSunshineCoast (talk • contribs)

A few days have passed now so I will now restore the deleted cited contributions as they were originally.

Diane 20:46, 3 June 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by DianeSunshineCoast (talk • contribs)

Although these facts are referenced, are they relevant in the long-term? The administrators have already documented their concern that this article has become unwieldy. Newton-John has made countless concert appearances throughout her career. These are frankly not that historical in her career that they need to remain "Current Endeavors" in this biography. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Buzzin86 (talk • contribs) 16:34, 4 June 2009 (UTC)


 * The "too long" tag was not placed on the article by "the administrators".  It was added here by one editor.   It may or may not represent the community standard, but it is one edit by one editor.  (The same editor also says the intro is too short).   The length of the article is not in itself a problem - there are many articles including Featured Articles that are longer.   The real issue is content.   A couple of things to look at would be WP:RECENT and WP:TRIVIA, and this may help decide what to keep, what to remove and how to present the information that is retained.     Relevance changes over time, and there is no reason that something that is relevant now, can't be included until some time in the future when it becomes less relevant, and then is removed.   A lot of articles evolve in this manner and it's a perfectly valid way of editing.    The Sordid Lives comment is already in an earlier paragraph, so it is redundant and was correctly removed.     I think some of the other information was in a too-detailed form and perhaps a shortened version would be better than no inclusion at all.   The bushfire fundraiser is worth mentioning, in my opinion, but only in relation to Newton-John.   There was a lot of extra detail that belongs in the bushfire article.   I'm not convinced that "current endeavours" is a good idea as a seperate section.  I think the information should sit at the end of the later career section, and it can be updated depending on how relevant the information stays over time.   I think the image probably should go.   I cropped Olivia for the infobox and did not remove the larger image, but the only thing it shows extra is Guy Sebastian.  I like Guy, but there's no strong reason for keeping the second image here.  Rossrs (talk) 00:49, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi Rossrs

Thanks for clearing up the "too long" tag - I did wonder about that as there are longer pages here. I did read the links you supplied and that was helpful. I am a fairly new editor so I am still in the learning curve and the deletion of the work of others is something I have to come to understand better. I agree the content could have been condensed - anyways the contributions have been removed again so I will leave it be now. Thanks for explaining things.

Diane 00:29, 6 June 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by DianeSunshineCoast (talk • contribs)


 * You're welcome, Diane.  You did the right thing in bringing the discussion to the talk page.   That's always a good approach.   You're also welcome to send a message to my talk page if there's anything you need help with, and when you've been here a little longer you will probably feel more comfortable and will know who and how to contact with any questions.  Hope you're enjoying yourself here!  Also if you type ~ at the end of talk page comments, it will automatically create a signature with your name and the time and date of your post.   Rossrs (talk) 00:44, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

I am enjoying myself Rossrs - Wikipedia has always been a wonderful reference tool for me for work, study or at home to find out information and so it is cool that I am enjoying being an editor now! Thank you - I will now direct any requests for help to your talk page instead of here.

Diane 04:02, 6 June 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by DianeSunshineCoast (talk • contribs)

I really question the notion (by ONE editor) that this page too long. Maybe that editor's attention span isn't long enough? I came to this page to research the Toomorrow project and found that it was dismissed in a couple of lines. Quite simply, the more someone has done in their life, the longer you might expect a page to be :-) 621PWC (talk) 18:04, 5 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree. It appears that the consensus is that the article is not too long.  Also, the remedies would be either to delete information arbitrarily, or to artificially split the page.  I'm removing the tag. TJRC (talk) 18:18, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Which primary school and high school did Olivia Newton-John go to?
I'm doing a project on Olivia Newton-John and want to know which schools she went to when she arrived in Australia. (60.231.233.102 (talk) 09:42, 16 June 2009 (UTC))
 * University High School, Melbourne, I believe. Format (talk) 07:52, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Was she really born "Oliver John Newton"?
Is this vandalism or was she really born with a man's name? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.104.37.17 (talk) 20:50, 5 August 2009 (UTC)


 * No, it's just mindless, stupid, senseless, childish vandalism. I've fixed it.  --  JackofOz (talk) 21:06, 5 August 2009 (UTC)


 * More vandalism that snuck through. I was trying to figure out where the "Rona Newton-John was a stripper" bit came from, and it was the same vandal, just never reverted. Eauhomme (talk) 17:38, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Patrick McDermott alive and well?
FYI. The Daily Mail is reporting that Patrick McDermott has been found alive and well: I would anticipate many editors wanting to add something related to this. (Perhaps several already have?) Luckily, the article is already semi-protected. Justin W Smith talk/stalk 05:22, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Olivia Newton-John's missing man 'found alive and well, living in sleepy Mexican fishing village'

Koala Blue
Hello, does anyone know why the link to 'Koala Blue' just gets redirected back to this page? I don't know enough to track down the problem.Wodawik (talk) 00:08, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Jewish?
In the first paragraph there is a mention that her mother was Jewish. By Jewish religious law this makes her Jewish, even if she wasn't raised so, she is still ethnically Jewish by British, Australian and American laws today. There is no other mention of her religion in the rest of the article, except in the categories, where she seems to be in almost every 'Christian category possible: 'English Christians', 'Australian Christians', 'Christian Singers', 'Christian Hollywood Actors' etc.

Can someone clarify/ explain this please 195.212.29.92 (talk) 09:14, 14 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Good point. Let's remove her for all these cats. --BwB (talk) 11:39, 14 December 2010 (UTC)
 * Her maternal grandfather was Jewish. Her maternal grandmother was born to a Jewish father and a Lutheran mother (who was a sister of Hermann von Ihering and was descended from Martin Luther directly!). When her grandmother's father married her grandmother's mother, he converted to Christianity. Some time after marrying her grandmother, her grandfather also converted to Christianity. So her mother definitely wasn't raised Jewish. She isn't Jewish by Jewish law because her maternal line isn't Jewish (her mother's mother's mother wasn't Jewish). All Hallow&#39;s Wraith (talk) 20:32, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Her father's work
I saw a TV programme which claimed her father worked at bletchley park, which is quite possible if he was a professor of German. Anyone know if this is true?


 * The BBC Wales programme Coming Home on 1st March 2008 mentioned her father's work at Bletchley Park. He had joined the RAF and transferred to Bletchley Park because of his knowledge of German.  I don't understand the comment about him being in MI5 when he had joined the RAF and BP was part of the Foreign Office / MI6 rather than MI5.  When Rudolf Hess landed he was initially taken into custody my Home Guard Major Helm, he was then questioned by Chief Inspector Gray. MI5 had their own linguists so I cannot see they would need to borrow one from Bletchley Park (especially considering the relationship between MI5 and MI6)  --jmb (talk) 01:07, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

The paragraph about her family background contains this sentence: "Newton-John's father was an MI.5 officer on the Enigma project at Bletchley Park who took Rudolf Hess into custody during World War II.[5]". This sentence doesn't seem believable. I'm certainly no authority on Olivia Newton John, but I know a fair amount about World War 2, and something about code breaking (which was what Bletchley Park was focused on). For those who don't know, Rudolph Hess was a high-ranking Nazi official who flew to England shortly after the start of World War 2 with the intention of making peace with England. He was taken prisoner by the English and ultimately tried at Nuremberg and imprisoned. Enigma was a machine used by the Germans to encrypt messages. Bletchley Park was Britain's center for code breaking activities, and it was run by MI5, which is the UK's counterintelligence agency. So it's 100% believable that her father was with MI5 and worked on Engima at Bletchley Park. It's the Hess connection that doesn't make sense. To begin with the statement is factually wrong -- Hess parachuted out of a stolen fighter plane and was "taken into custody" by Scottish farmhand David Mclean (Bletchley Park is in England, nowhere near Scotland). The article on Rudolph Hess makes it clear that he was questioned by personnel from MI6 (the UK's intelligence agency), among them Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond). He was moved around to various places and spent most of the War at a military hospital in Wales. But he never had anything to do with codes or code breaking, and it doesn't make sense that somebody from the Enigma project or Bletchley Park would even be talking to him. They were specialists focused on code breaking -- a very demanding and important job.

Since the footnote is to a TV show, I don't have anyone of checking it to see if the author misinterpreted things or was just relying on gossip. If they were, Ms. Newton John would certainly not be the first person to have her family history embellished to make it more interesting. Darkstar8799 (talk) 19:26, 25 March 2011 (UTC)


 * This calls into question the reference to the TV show, and thus it calls into question the MI5/Bletchley/Enigma parts. A better source is needed. Binksternet (talk) 20:37, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Gay Icon Project
In my effort to merge the now-deleted list from the article Gay icon to the Gay icons category, I have added this page to the category. I engaged in this effort as a "human script", adding everyone from the list to the category, bypassing the fact-checking stage. That is what I am relying on you to do. Please check the article Gay icon and make a judgment as to whether this person or group fits the category. By distributing this task from the regular editors of one article to the regular editors of several articles, I believe that the task of fact-checking this information can be expedited. Thank you very much. Philwelch 21:47, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * There is nothing in the article, as it stands presently, which suggests that Olivia Newton-John is a "gay icon". As such, I have removed this article from Category:Gay icons for the time being.  If you could, please go ahead and WP:CITE a credible source or sources which identifies this individual as such.  Hall Monitor 21:53, 22 August 2005 (UTC)
 * I have placed the category back and gave reference to her gay icon status a couple days ago, however it seems that another reviewer has since (today) removed my entry. Unfortunately I am not a Wiki user who likes to continually revert edits so I am hoping others might be more helpful in making sure the Gay Icon reference is replaced back into the main article. Artemisboy 20:41, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Why does there have to be anything in the article to confirm categories, which are useful on their own? --Kstern999 16:51, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I remember that in the early 1980s there was a heavily circulated rumor that she was a lesbian- or at least bisexual- and that she confirmed as much on the Tonight Show (which I never saw). I even remember DJs talking about it when they played her songs.  As with Elton John (to whom she is not related) this rumor seriously damaged her career.  I'm not saying that she is gay or bisexual, but I think this rumor ought to be mentioned because it was a major story about her and had a heavy impact on how she was viewed in the US in the 1980s. It also puts her in the category of "Gay Icons." --belgrade18 21:24, 14 September 2008
 * In order for a person to be in a category, there has to be information in the article, backed by a reliable source, so that we know that the subject should be in a given cat. This cat has been deleted. Jim Michael (talk) 14:31, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

File:Olivia Newton John and John Easterling in 2012.jpg
It's not John Easterling in this picture. It's the A Few Best Men director, Stephan Elliott. Aduadadhaudiud (talk) 08:08, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Categories
I see that there are a lot of cats having to do with England, and a lot for Australia. From what I can tell, she has lived in the US longer the UK and Aus. combined, so why would there not be any that are "American ___"? --Musdan77 (talk) 00:44, 13 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Because although she lives in the US, she's Anglo-Australian rather than American. Jim Michael (talk) 23:34, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

Should it be added that she is clinging to life?
Recently it was discovered that she is clinging to life after close friends said she has only weeks... Not months left until her unfortunate fate of cancer...

Her doctor has said that there are also signs of her body shutting down... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Planefam (talk • contribs) 08:08, 2 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Her publicist and her family have denied these stories, describing them as "sick rumour-mongering".--  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  10:25, 2 January 2019 (UTC)

Meeting Hank Williams
There is a story that in 1974, when she won the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year award, Newton-John released a statement that she wanted to come to Nashville to meet Hank Williams, thinking he was still alive, which brought many scathing responses. Does anybody know if this is true, and if so, should it be referenced and added to the article? Languagehat (talk) 21:02, 20 February 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure it's worth including. If it is, it would be maybe as a factoid in the paragraph about country music purists objecting to an Australian singer in the genre.  As far as sources: answers.com cites "Barry McCloud in Definitive Country" as a source.  That is apparently this book. See also, , and . TJRC (talk) 19:00, 21 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Yeah, I'm not sure it's worth including either; I was mainly curious whether it was believable or just random gossip. Sounds like it may actually have happened. Languagehat (talk) 23:01, 21 February 2012 (UTC)


 * ❌ -- You are correct, ("Not worthy") and a search shows it is not in the article. -- Narnia.Gate7 (talk) 00:55, 8 February 2015 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Olivia Newton-John
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Olivia Newton-John's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "AusCharts": From Highlights from The Main Event:  From ARIA Music Awards:  From John Farnham:  

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 10:39, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 3 one external links on Olivia Newton-John. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090202202748/http://www.merrymedia.co.uk:80/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2416&Itemid=62 to http://www.merrymedia.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2416&Itemid=62
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090213050252/http://www.ariaawards.com.au:80/history-by-artist.php?letter=J&artist=John%20Farnham to http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-artist.php?letter=J&artist=John%20Farnham
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20071127081021/http://www.allbusiness.com:80/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4608188-1.html to http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4608188-1.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 10:47, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

British or Australian?
How do you identify one's nationality? Where they were born? Where the grew up? Where they identify themselves with? She was born in Great Britain but I think there is no doubt that Newton-John identifies herself with Australia having lived there since age 5. --Nv8200p


 * I agree. Unfortunately, someone at a dynamic IP address (starting with 64.228.247) is having fun continually vandalizing this article.  I'm not an administrator, so I can't protect the page.  I'll just wait until he/she gets bored with vandalization and revert it to the last good version.  64.228.247.xx is not doubt trying to cause havoc.  Since they are at a dynamic IP address, we can't block them out.


 * By the way, sign your posts. You can do this with 3 or 4 tildes (  or ~ ). The former version signs your post, the latter also adds a timestamp. :-)   &mdash; Frecklefoot |Talk 19:58, Sep 16, 2004 (UTC)

Technically, by law... your nationality is determined by whichever country grants you a passport. Thus you may be dual, treble or quadrulple nationals. Bona Fides 20:12, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * More complicated than that. For example, you can be Scottish, and not have a Scottish passport. Wallie (talk) 20:23, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Maybe that's because there's no such thing as a "Scottish Passport". Kaiwhakahaere (talk) 22:47, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

As there is is no such thing as an English passport 621PWC (talk) 17:59, 5 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Pointing out the facts is not the same as 'flaming'. Please do not abuse definitions of internet 'jargon', and please do not abuse people who state facts.

Nationality is determined by law, not by a celebrity's opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.17.78.152 (talk) 03:25, 10 April 2011 (UTC)


 * No one said there was. Stop flaming Wikipedia and do something useful today. Guv2006 (talk) 06:12, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Australian of British birth is more like it
She was born in Britain and lived all but 10 years of her first 27 years of life in England before moving to the U.S., so to state that her nationality is British would be accurate, regardless of the nationality that a person decides that they'd like to be seen as. She has been known to comment in the past that it's been rumoured that she is Australian but that she really is English. Her birth certificate would state that she is British.


 * Using other Wikipedia articles as precedent (Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwarzenegger I am changing to ". . .British-born Australian. . ." I cannot find any "comments" on the Internet that she considers herself "really English." Please cite any references you may have. Nv8200p 14:57, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * You're using the internet as your sole referencing tool? You wouldn't get very far if you tried that academically. Guv2006 (talk) 06:15, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

No one's trying to cause havoc, if so, then someone must be counter havocing. We were just stating a fact. There's no harm in using the word British to describe Newton-John's actual nationality, it's not terrible to be British, she has possibly long disassociated herself with the 'Britsh' implication, but it is the truth. She's not only lived in England from birth to 5 1/2 years old but also from part of her teenage years to well into adulthood. Billions of people identify with their adopted country and yet have no difficulty in being proud of hailing from their actual native country, despite how little time that was spent living their native land and\or how long ago they've left it. The ones who previously changed nationality to British and added other information 23 Sept 2004


 * I agree with describing Olivia as a British-born Australian. To just call her Australian is to create the impression that she was born in Australia, which is not true. Arno 08:57, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * I agree with Arno. To just call her Australian implies that she was born in Australia. She is British and so to call her a British-Australian is suitable because she was born in the UK, was a permanent resident of UK for 15 or 16 years (her father was British; mother,German), Olivia even wanted to and did represent the UK in a song contest in the 1970s. She was an IMMMIGRANT of Australia and was a permanent resident for only 10 years. She didn't become an Australian citizen till 1994 and has been living in America for last 25+ years. Even John Farnham who's actually British didn't become an Australian Citizen till 1988 which allowed him to become eligible for the "Australian Of The Year" award which he won. This discussion leads me to wonder which famous 'Australians' are actually Australian-born and bred. I would imagine that Australia must have a fair amount of famous and respected true Australian-born and raised personalities who are known around the world. wikilook 19:30, Dec 19, 2004

There is a disease which afflicts {this country's} mass media. The main symptom of this disease ...is marked by the afflicted’s persistence in assuming that all moderately famous people who have ties to {this country} must ipso facto be {a native of this country}. This sort of thing is to be expected, perhaps, from a nation which constantly worries about how and why one might be {a native of this country}.We’ll take whoever we can get is the prevailing message, a sort of desperate plea to seem important. Potential celebrities, take note! If you merely sneeze in {this country} before becoming famous, you can coast on the benefits of being “{a real native of this country}” for the rest of eternity. {This country} has plenty of people who have achieved great things, but too often {we} are guilty of ignoring people until the rest of the world notices. It’s time we looked more closely at the talented people who actually live and work here and figured out what some actual {real natives of this country} are doing... I thought that this disease, which has irked me for some time, was largely limited to the media, but it is now clear that it is contagious and has spread to “the masses” who digest media.


 * What's with all the (incorrect) bracketing? You might also want to inform us which country "this country" is. Guv2006 (talk) 06:19, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Guess which country fits in all the above brackets too.

Response: What I find interesting about this behaviour, from an Australian perspective, is that it sounds so, well, Australian: we’re past masters at (our version of) this kind of thing, viz: Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John: British. Mel Gibson: American... Russell Crowe: ...New Zealand. It must be one of those centre-periphery things, and is (I’m just guessing now) probably quite common. It’s still annoying, though.

-- from the "attaboy" website excluding words in { }. Tair

I understand that she still travels on her British passport which she still keeps.This is very sensible.I believe that Australia intends to become an independent republic when the present Queen dies-probably in about twenty five years.That wont actually happen because all Australia -at that time will be only about half the size of Beijing and will therefore become part of the great Chinese empire-so no wonder she keeps her British roots alive        .s annoying, maybe one day it'll change. Who knows? On the other hand, find a country that is not also in some way guilty of this. Having read through the Newton-John article again (and I haven't bothered rereading the others) I think her Australian identity is mentioned appropriately. It's not dwelt upon, or made the central focus of the article. It's just mentioned - and for this particular individual it would be wrong not to mention it. It should be mentioned of Mel Gibson too - he moved to Australia at age 10, I think, starting acted in, owns property in, has family in Australia, describes himself as Australia. Should he be called an American born Australian. Yes, absolutely. That's not desperately trying to claim someone just because they are famous, it's just a fact. He's Australian, and he was born in America. Newton-John is Australian. She was born in England. Can't see a problem there. I disagree with the comment that we ignore our own celebrities until they're appreciated elsewhere - that was once the case, certainly in for example Helen Reddy's time, or the 50's and 60s when the Bee Gees were starting out, or even Newton-John's career beginning, but given that we treat "Home and Away" teen aged cast members, and Australian idol contestants as, well, idols, I can't see that we're still guilty of ignoring those celebrities that are known exclusively in Australia. Rossrs 12:09, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * You forgot to mention Phar Lap (New Zealand) and Pavlova (Russia). Australia seems to call them "Australian" too. Wallie (talk) 10:44, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

According to the copy of the Encarta World English Dictionary I have in my possession, Olivia Newton-John is an Australian singer and actor. There is no mention of her place of birth at all. The entry for Mel Gibson says he is a US-born Australian actor. Is the Encarta dictionary incorrect on these matters? I'd tend to back the Encarta version over some of the nonsense I'm reading on this discussion page. You could be forgiven for thinking that Newton-John has only a trifling connection to Australia if some of the comments on this page are to be believed. However, if the associated Wikipedia article is correct then it would appear the Newton-John did in fact spend her formative years in Australia. Hence that she might identify as Australian is hardly surprising. I've not followed her career very closely, but from what I have seen it would appear that she is presented as Australian in the media, and interviews I've seen of her would appear to confirm the correctness of such a presentation. The opening line of her Wikipedia article is pretty weak really, her Welsh and German ancestry hardly merits such prominence, particularly as it is mentioned later in the article anyway. Ernest the Sheep (talk) 08:00, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Her British/Australian dual-nationality
Although Gibson grew up in Australia, he was born in the United States and lived there until he was 12 when his father moved him and his nine siblings to Sydney. The actor says he now feels as much American as he does Australian and likes to think that he is part of both countries. He said, "I don't think of myself as either American or Australian really, I'm a true hybrid. It's a good thing for me because both of them are really good countries." The Bee Gees are also British and they seemed fine with being British from what I've gathered. Olivia Newton-John has referred to herself as being English before and also more English than Australian back in the day - her comments can be found on older chat shows and old magazines despite what she says now. Of course no one would say she's also American although she's been living in the United States for most of her life rather than Britain or Australia. She's still technically a British person. Australia is as guilty sometimes as some other countries in looking pass the home-born and reared people in preference of a claiming tightly to famous people such as Newton-John as the representer of Australia. I'd probably decide to only pledge my undying allegiance to the country that worships me as their symbol too. I do think she's a fine singer and there are plenty of British entertainers like Newton-John that I like too. If we do not have enough confidence to show the world our people that do through and through share our nationality without any doubt from anyone, then I call it inferiority complex. Everyone is not naive about everyone's background. In the case of Oz, let the many real Aussies stand up and be noticed too by the world. They have talent to be proud of too. Anyway, each of us will most likely stick to our own opinion of a person's nationality no matter what each other's point of view. Net-Surfer 02:47, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Britain is pretty guilty too. Claiming that Indian singer Freddy Mercury is British. 2001:8003:421D:9600:3424:2817:459C:B31E (talk) 02:22, 5 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Hey! This talk page discussion is famous! Onion AV Club Article - Richfife (talk) 06:35, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Does anyone know how she currently self-identifies in regard to her nationality? There does not appear to be any evidence that she has given up her British citizenship, hence she is both British and Australian. Jim Michael (talk) 20:23, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

During the introduction to The Seekers 25 year anniversary video, she claims that they are both "from Australia" and in an interview with Rove she refers to herself as a "proud Australian". 2001:8003:421D:9600:3424:2817:459C:B31E (talk) 02:34, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

If she doesn't concider herself British and doesn't feel like it's her home country, why disrespect her wishes? She always refers to herself as an Australian. Where are these quotes you've claimed that she referred to herself as being English? That's like saying Bruce Willis is German, Emma Watkins is French, Keanu Keeves in Lebanese, Freddie Mercury is Indian, Martin Lawrence in German, etc. She probably feels more affinity for Australia and that's her choice. Since she has citizenship, she has every right to call herself Australian, not British, if that's what she wants.101.189.36.154 (talk) 00:02, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

Origin
Without wishing to re-ignite this long thread, the InfoBox assertion of "Origin: Melbourne, Australia" seems anomalous? Somersetlevels (talk) 10:18, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
 * In the musical artist infobox, origin means where the subject began his / her musical career. Jim Michael (talk) 23:34, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

Patrick McDermott - dead or alive?
An anon changed it to say that the Coast Guard had identified his body. A Google News search shows nothing of the sort, and until the death is actually cited on a legitimate news site, we should leave it as-is. ral 315  21:41, August 22, 2005 (UTC)

The Calgary Herald published an article on April 2, 2010 advising he has been found in Mexico. "Philip Klein, who was hired by a U.S. current affairs show, said Thursday he had 'concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. McDermott is alive.'" Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Olivia+Newton+John+vanished+found+alive/2755312/story.html#ixzz0kC6jER9x

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Olivia+Newton+John+vanished+found+alive/2755312/story.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.247.34.137 (talk) 03:51, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/03/21/report-olivia-newton-johns-boyfriend-who-vanished-11-years-ago-seen-in-mexico/

Majinsnake (talk) 11:42, 22 March 2016 (UTC)

Deletion discussion
Talk:'Tis the Season (Vince Gill and Olivia Newton-John album) In ictu oculi (talk) 10:20, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Presumptuous language
Presumptuous language: I find it to be presumptuous (and not just in this article) to see such language as:
 * John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (No. 119 Pop) made minimal chart impact

Please give me a break! Also, in American slang, we call such phrases "highfalutin" and "hoity-toity", as well as "overwrought", in case this helps you understand what I mean. Please do not write absurdities like this one.47.215.180.7 (talk) 22:32, 19 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Well, currently no, but in 10-1000 years. Yup. If the Internet dies (or shutdown down). Let's not nuke the fridge. Captain Harrison.--Jack Upland (talk) 10:56, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

"changed their contracts"
The following paragraph makes it sound as though records companies dictate contract terms. However, contracts are by definition negotiated. The company and the artist agree on a set of terms. The paragraph should be revised to reflect this fact.

Paragraph: As a result of the lawsuit, record companies changed their contracts to be based on a set number of albums recorded by a musician and not a specific number of years. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.84.83.38 (talk) 19:47, July 24, 2021 (UTC)

Death
I recommend putting this page on a watch as Olivia has recently died. SummersetIsles (talk) 19:32, 8 August 2022 (UTC)


 * User:EvergreenFir This is a crucial time, the death of a well known celebrity and you’re preventing information from being distributed. I added a source yet you failed to use your eyes and reverted it — Preceding unsigned comment added by CAROLlNE (talk • contribs) 19:35, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
 * You added a source from some local news agency. We finally got one from a better outlet (Parade)... I'll replace it when something better comes along.
 * Please remember, Wikipedia is not a news outlet. We do not care about being the first to break news on a celebrity death. We care about accurate info.  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) 19:46, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Washington Post has a long obit up now. ---Lilach5 (לילך5) discuss 19:51, 8 August 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 August 2022
add date of death 2A04:4A43:4BAF:CB51:0:0:B16:7E2F (talk) 20:02, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Pictogram voting wait.svg Already done - Date of death is already present multiple times in the article. MadGuy7023 (talk) 20:04, 8 August 2022 (UTC)

Chart positions
The constant inclusions of positions on multiple different charts in one particular North American country make for a very frustrating read. It would be better, IMO, with fewer US chart positions, and noting when singles do especially well in Aus, UK or the US (e.g. noting that Xanadu was a UK number one instead of a US Top 10 hit). EuroAgurbash (talk) 23:23, 8 August 2022 (UTC)

Max Born
Olivia Newton John's maternal grandfather is Max born. He won the Nobel prize for physics. 2601:3C0:C103:5B70:0:0:0:6C20 (talk) 23:38, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Max Born is already mentioned in the article. Cullen328 (talk) 00:13, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

If You Love Me Let Me Know
Including the single in the hit single quote I honestly love you” which was huge for a living in Jon. How is it possible that you completely left this off the list? 2600:4040:2155:3E00:8FC:D61:3D9D:B4E6 (talk) 02:50, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Both singles ("If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" and "I Honestly Love You") are mentioned prominently in the second paragraph of the lead, and at Olivia Newton-John singles discography. Perhaps you should read the article again.  General Ization  Talk  02:55, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

Should we change the profile picture of Olivia Newton John to when she was at her " peak " ?
Do we have any photos of her from the 1970s ? 2601:204:CF01:1840:F0C0:DFE3:49BD:3976 (talk) 22:09, 8 August 2022 (UTC) The freely licensed photos from the 1970s are all black and white. This is probably the best of them. Cullen328 (talk) 22:25, 8 August 2022 (UTC)

I agree. If we could crop it then I think that would be best. Dancingtudorqueen (talk) 03:27, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
 * There is a nice 1980 one in colour that we could crop, she's on the far left and can be cut out. [[File:Royal Charity Concert 1980 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh meet Australian entertainers who performed in a Royal Charity Concert at the Sydney Opera House [in 1980]. Performers include (from left): pianist Roger Woodward, comedian Paul Hogan and singer Olivia Newton-John.]] ---Lilach5 (לילך5) discuss 04:12, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

Real or only a rumor? in the '70s
In the 1970s (or '80s), there was a claim that she was gay/homosexual or perhaps bisexual. Was this topic ever addressed by her? Skimming the section on relationships, I saw none, and saw nothing in the article that mentions this at all. Thank you! Misty MH (talk) 20:49, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
 * look at this interview: "Question: I came across a video of you acknowledging lesbian rumors that were circulating about you in the ’80s. I had no idea people ever thought you were a lesbian. Answer: Yeah, I remember that. It was very odd. I couldn’t figure out why, but it didn’t do me any harm, obviously. (Laughs) ---Lilach5 (לילך5) discuss 20:55, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you! Misty MH (talk) 00:10, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
 * It's far too trivial to include in the article. It's insignificant, had no effect & is the sort of unsubstantiated claim that's said of hundreds of celebs. Jim Michael 2 (talk) 21:01, 8 August 2022 (UTC)

Apparently her video "Physical" was huge for many in the gay communities. The interview (above) was published by "Pride Source Media Group, LLC. ... PSMG produces the award-winning biweekly LGBTQ+ print publication..."; and in it the interviewer says that her video "Physical" was "groundbreaking" for the gay community because it had a couple of gay people holding hands in it. And it says the gay community was a huge fan of hers. More below about the details of the video, but first...

Here's the more-complete interview discussion (partly quoted above by another editor) related to the rumors, asked of her in the interview:

"[Interviewer] I came across a video of you acknowledging lesbian rumors that were circulating about you in the ’80s. I had no idea people ever thought you were a lesbian. [Newton-John] Yeah, I remember that. It was very odd. I couldn’t figure out why, but it didn’t do me any harm, obviously. (Laughs) [Interviewer] Actually, I think it might’ve benefited you. [Newton-John] I think it was probably a good rumor! It was a nice rumor, not a mean rumor. [Interviewer] Do mean rumors about Olivia Newton-John actually exist? [Newton-John] I’m sure there have been some! I try not to tune in to negativity. I tune that stuff out, so I don’t know."

And a bit more about the video (and there is more at the link): "[Interviewer] Like many gay men of my generation, my introduction to you was the “Physical” video. I remember being surprised seeing two gay men walking out of the gym together, holding hands. Considering being gay was more taboo during that time, how do you reflect on that groundbreaking moment when it comes to gay inclusivity? [Newton-John] You know what, I don’t think I even realized it at the time. ..."

I would say that "groundbreaking" would be pretty notable. :)

Misty MH (talk) 00:10, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
 * there may be a case to say she was an icon for the LGBT community, if we gather more sources, but I'd leave the false rumour out. ---Lilach5 (לילך5) discuss 04:06, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, if her being a LGBT icon is backed by RS, include that in this article. Reactions to Physical should be in that article rather than this one. Jim Michael 2 (talk) 14:20, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

Sciatica
"Her back pains had initially been misdiagnosed as sciatica." She likely had a metastasis to her low back that caused her to experience sciatica. The diagnosis of sciatica was likely correct, but the cause of that sciatica (the met) was missed. Pgemmell2 (talk) 02:57, 9 August 2022 (UTC)


 * We do not speculate on health conditions  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) 20:27, 9 August 2022 (UTC)


 * I changed it from "misdiagnosed" to "diagnosed" as the source used doesn't call it a misdiagnosis. User:Pgemmell2 made a good point here. ---Lilach5 (לילך5) discuss 20:39, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
 * I read that entirely wrong. Sorry about that and thank you for the correction.  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) 20:45, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 August 2022 (2)
When Olivia Newton-John was 16 she signed with Crest Records, an Australian-victorian based record company. Around this time her father cheated on her mother and the consequences of this relationship left Olivia "uncontrollable" according to her mother in a conversation to the head of Crest Records, Marcus Herman. Olivia then met [|Ian Turpie] and ran away with him, breaking off the contract with Crest illegally. Crest decided not to pursue this with their solicitor as she and her mother were "so lovely". Purple goddess (talk) 04:31, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate.  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) 06:11, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

Edit request
Please can someone put husband Matt Lattanzi back in the infobox. He has been removed by a disruptive editor. 196.251.5.36 (talk) 196.251.5.36 (talk) 13:18, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅  Eve rgr een Fir  (talk) 16:14, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 August 2022
The caption date under Olivia's main photo is definitely not correct. This photo does not depict her in 1978. It's from the 2000s, possibly 2008? 2600:1700:BBC0:A150:A868:269A:6502:4298 (talk) 01:14, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Semi-protection-unlocked.svg Not done: The page's protection level has changed since this request was placed. You should now be able to edit the page yourself. If you still seem to be unable to, please reopen the request with further details. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 20:06, 10 August 2022 (UTC)