Olivia’s big Grease auction
Ailing Olivia Newton-John has auctioned off movie memorabilia to support her cancer research centre
IT’S one of the most iconic movie outfits of all time: the black leather jacket and skintight black pants that Sandy wears in Grease signalling her transition from good girl to hot biker babe. Just as famous as the sizzling ensemble is the singer/actress who poured herself into it, Australianborn beauty Olivia Newton-John. Yet while the 71-year-old star can still fit into the clothes more than 40 years after the 1978 film became a global phenomenon, she recently decided to part with them. The all-black getup was put up for auction along with several other items at a Grease memorabilia auction in Beverly Hills, California. The outfit, which Sandy wears in the closing sequence of the film when she and Danny belt out You’re the One That I Want, fetched a whopping $405 700 (R6,08 million), according to Julien’s Auctions. The leather jacket sold for $243 200 (R3,64 million) and the pants, which the actress famously revealed she’d had to be sewn into, went for $162 500 (R2,43 million).
Also included was the Pink Ladies jacket, which sold for $50 000 (R750 000), and a poster signed by Olivia, John Travolta (who played Danny), director Randal Kleiser and producer/songwriter John Farrar, which fetched $64 000 (R960 000).
The pink dress Olivia wore to the Grease premiere also went under the hammer, selling for $18 750 (R281 250).
The auction raised a total of $2,4 million (R36 million) and a portion of the proceeds go to Olivia’s Cancer & Wellness Research Centre in Australia.
“I kept thinking it would be a wonderful idea to auction off my Grease jacket and pants to raise money for my centre,” she told CNBC. “Somebody mentioned
they’d raise a lot of money and I thought, ‘Well I have them for goodness sake’ – what a great idea.”
Olivia is undergoing treatment for stage 4 breast cancer after the disease returned for a third time this year.
Sara Blakely (48), founder of shaping underwear company Spanx, was the proud buyer of the black leggings and Pink Ladies jacket.
The US billionaire, who calls herself a lifelong fan of both the movie and its blonde star, says she plans to display the pants in her company’s headquarters in Atlanta.
During an appearance on CBS’ morning show, Sara received a prerecorded thank you from Olivia.
“I’m so delighted, Sara, that you have my pants. I couldn’t think of anybody better to have them because they’re the original Spanx, right?”
OLIVIA describes the auction as a “grand-scale garage sale” that was all about simplifying life. She wanted to shed some of the 200 items she’s collected over the course of a five-decade career that’s seen her win four Grammys and sell more than 100 million records.
It seems the much-loved star is ready to close the door on showbiz and focus on her own wellbeing and helping others. Rather than let her cancer diagnosis get her down, she continues to project positivity – a sign of the inner strength that’s seen her go into remission twice in the past.
“I’m happy, I’m lucky, I’m grateful. I have much to live for and I intend to keep on living it,” she told talk-show host Gayle King earlier this year.
She says she’s never felt angry about the recurring illness.
“‘Why me?’ has never been a part of it. I never felt victimised.”
Instead she’s focused on how to deal with it and ignored the statistics. “I don’t buy into them because I think they can make you really nervous. I’m, like, but I’m going to live longer than that. I’ve made that decision.”
That doesn’t mean she shies away from the issue of death, she adds. “You have to think about it – I mean, it’s part of life. And of course, if you have a cancer diagnosis, your death is kind of there. But I try not to think about it too much. I try to meditate and be peaceful about it.”
JOHN Easterling (67), her husband of 11 years, has been a pillar of support throughout her cancer journey. An advocate of plantbased medicine and founder of the Amazon Herb Company, he introduced her to cannabis to help with pain relief – something she really needed in 2017 after doctors discovered her cancer had spread to her back.
A tumour caused a sacral fracture, leaving her in “months and months of excruciating, sleep-deprived, crying-outloud pain”.
She was wheelchair-bound for a long time but willed herself to walk again, progressing to a walker and finally standing and being able to walk unaided.
Her approach to the disease is inspirational, and every year thousands flock to Melbourne to join her in her annual Wellness Walk and Research Run to raise funds for people living with cancer.
This year she walked with her husband and daughter, singer and actress Chloe Lattanzi (33), whose father was Olivia’s first husband, Matt Lattanzi.
Despite her challenges, Olivia says if she could have her life over again she wouldn’t change a thing.
“Everything that may not have appeared to be good for me was a learning experience, and difficulties are part of your growth. I wouldn’t have swopped them for anything.”