Dynamic actor and musician Olivia Newton-John, known for everything from her role as Sandy in the film Grease to have five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, has died. She was 73.
A statement from her husband, posted on her Instagram, said she died peacefully Monday morning at her ranch in Southern California.
“Olivia has been a symbol of triumph and hope for more than 30 years, sharing her journey with breast cancer,” wrote her husband, John Easterling. “Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation dedicated to plant medicine and cancer research.”
In addition to being a veteran actor and musician, Newton-John spent most of the latter half of his career as an advocate for cancer patients and survivors. Thirty years after her first breast cancer diagnosis in 1992, Newton-John still maintained a positive vibe when it came to dealing with cancer.
“A lot of people see it as a fight, and wherever you choose to see it, that’s your right,” she said. “I see it as part of my mission.
Reacting on Instagram to the news of her death, Grease actor John Travolta said that Newtown-John influenced him deeply. “My dear Olivia, you have made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible. I love you so much,” Travolta wrote. “I’ll see you down the road and we’ll all be together again.”
Newton-John was born in Cambridge, England, in 1948 to parents Brinley and Irene Helen Newton-John. The youngest of three children, she was the granddaughter of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born. Newton-John spent most of her schooling in Melbourne, Australia, where her family moved when she was 5 years old.
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