Talk:Olivia Newton-John
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[edit] 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. :-( —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'Brien 12:08, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] 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. :-) — 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)
[edit] 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)
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.
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
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- It's interesting, it's sometimes 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" teenaged 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)
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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 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)
[edit] 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. ral315 21:41, August 22, 2005 (UTC)
[edit] 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?
[edit] How Can Olivia Be Made A Dame?
Since Olivia Newton-John is well-known British singer and actress who has done many wonderful things she would be all the more eligible to be made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth. Does anyone know how one can go about to get her the honour of being made a Dame? Leali 02:57, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] 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 ses 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)
[edit] 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)
Olivia Newton-John does NOT like to be famous for dumb movies, although John Travolta has been famous dumb ones, such as Be Cool. --PJ Pete
[edit] 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)
[edit] She's not related to Elton John!
In case anyone had an urge to ask...is she related to Elton John, himself also a British Australian? Nope...the article is clear on this often asked question. Same would go to the Bee Gees whom are British, but came to Australia, and all three Australian (and global) superstars preceeded the 1980's "Aussie" pop culture wave when it swept to the North America and western Europe. She (Olivia) and other famous Australians in movies, TV shows, music, fashion, sports, politics and economics helped put the large vast country (but literally called "the smallest continent") on the map. 63.3.14.1 08:21, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
