Dark tragedies behind Olivia Newton-John’s sunny smile
Olivia Newton-John’s incredible talent and radiant beauty dazzled the world. But her life was marked by a series of tragic events.
Olivia Newton-John’s incredible talent and ethereal beauty dazzled the world.
But the legendary singer’s radiant smile masked a series of tragedies that beset her life before her death at the age of 73 following a lengthy cancer battle.
After her painful divorce from former husband Matt Lattanzi in 1995, Newton-John embarked on an on-off nine-year relationship with Hollywood cameraman Patrick McDermott.
The pair had reportedly ended their union when McDermott disappeared during a 2005 fishing trip off the coast of California and questions still remain about what really happened that night.
The keen fisherman was a passenger on the chartered boat Freedom, which left the San Pedro marina in LA on June 5 for San Clemente Island,
The boat returned as scheduled the next day, but it was discovered 10 days later that McDermott had not returned with the vessel.
The alarm was raised by his ex-wife, actress Yvette Nipar, when he failed to appear for a visitation scheduled with his son.
According to reports, no one had seen or heard from McDermott since the fishing trip.
Conspiracy theorists have long claimed that McDermott may have faked his own death.
The US Coast Guard investigated the disappearance and concluded that McDermott had fallen off the boat and likely drowned.
“He was lost at sea and nobody really knows what happened. It’s human to wonder, but … you have to accept and let go,” Newton-John said in a 2016 interview with 60 Minutes.
In her 2018 memoir Don’t Stop Believin’, Newton-John revealed how a 28-year family secret left her bereft.
In 1991, the star — then married to her Xanadu co-star Lattanzi — suffered the loss of her beloved five-year-old goddaughter Colette Chuda from cancer.
The daughter of one of Olivia’s closest friends Nancy Chuda, the little girl passed away from Wilms tumour, a rare form of kidney cancer.
“My hands shook and I couldn’t stop crying,” Olivia revealed in her 2018 memoir Don’t Stop Believin’.
“How could we live without our Colette? My heart took a long time to mend,” she said.
In 2013, the star’s beloved older sister, Rona Newton-John, died of brain cancer at the age of 70.
At the time of her death, Olivia paid a heartbreaking tribute to Rona, the mother of Melbourne-based singer Tottie Goldsmith.
On her Facebook page, Olivia wrote:“My beautiful sister Rona sadly passed on May 24th in Los Angeles.
“It was May 25th in Australia - which was our mother Irene’s birthday.
“Rona died of a very aggressive brain tumour and mercifully suffered no pain. She was surrounded by the love of her four children - Fiona, Brett,Tottie and Emerson and, her wonderful friends.
“I will miss her forever - my beautiful, smart, talented, funny, brave sister Rona.”
Rona, who was an actress in the 1960s and ‘70s, married Melbourne nightclub king Brian Goldsmith in 1959.
She was later married to Olivia’s Grease co-star Jeff Conaway from 1980 to 1985. Conaway, who played bad boy Kenickie in the iconic film and battled substance abuse issues throughout his life, died in 2011.
In 2020, Olivia broke down during an interview with 10 News in a joint interview when her daughter Chloe Lattanzi said she had found her “self-worth” again.
Oliva supported her daughter through a long battle with drug addiction, depression, anorexia and body dysmorphia.
During the news segment, Olivia held back tears while discussing Chloe’s performances on Dancing With The Stars.
“She’s doing things I never could have done. I never did anything ambitious as you are doing, darling,” Newton-John proudly told her only child.
Olivia also experienced tough financial times after Koala Blue sportswear line was hit hard by the recession in the 1990s.
Founded in 1982, the business ballooned from a successful flagship shop on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood to 49 locations across the globe, including stores in Australia, France, Japan, and Canada.
The company was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in 1991.
“We expanded too fast,” Newton-John told People magazine, “and when the recession hit, we really got hurt.”
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