PEOPLE

 

FUN & GAMES

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN HAND-JIVES INTO HOLLYWOOD’S HEART WITH GREASE

• People (USA)
• 28 Jul 2025

From People’s July 31, 1978, issue: The Versailles Room of the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas is in pandemonium. 

Anglo-australian Olivia Newton-john is winding up her cabaret act when, suddenly, right there onstage is John Travolta ! 

Olivia and J.T. boogie through their No. 1 Grease single, “You’re the One That I Want,” and then harmonize on “Summer Nights.” Grease has grossed $58 million in its first month and become the box office smash of the summer. It also marks the metamorphosis of Olivia from the ingenue category into a tough-minded, 29-year-old career woman. “It’s always been in the back of my mind to do films,” says Liv, who insisted on a screen test with Travolta and wasn’t bashful about demanding rewrites of the script. “I was playing a naive girl, but I didn’t want her to be sickly. I kept trying to give her a little strength. John,” she goes on, “gave me a lot of confidence.”