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An icon is gone. Olivia Newton-John, who shot to superstardom in the ’70s and remains a global icon for decades after, died on August 8 at the age of 73. After a three-decade battle with breast cancer, the musician and actress died peacefully at her home, surrounded by family and friends. She was perhaps best known worldwide as Sandy from Cool, the 1978 movie musical that made her a household name. After her passing, those who worked with her on the film paid sweet tributes to their co-star and friend
John Travolta
They will always be known as Danny and Sandy, who John Travolta played Olivia’s lovesick summer romance in the hit ’78 film. Shortly after her passing, John took to Instagram to say goodbye to his friend of nearly 50 years. “My dear Olivia,” he wrote, “you made all of our lives so much better. Your influence was incredible. I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the beginning moment I saw you and forever! Your Danny, your John!”
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing, now 78, played sassy rebel Betty Rizzo in the film. Her rep delivered HollywoodLife with her statement about Olivia’s passing. “I don’t know if I’ve known a more beautiful person,” she said. “Olivia was the essence of summer – her sunshine, her warmth and her grace are what always come to mind when I think of her. I will miss her tremendously.”
Barry Pearl
Barry, 72, played Frenchie’s boyfriend in the iconic film and was nothing short of devastated in an interview aired on Today, about Daily Mail. “I had just texted Olivia, it was about a week or so ago,” he said, breaking down in tears as he remembered her as a “light”. Barry, who has since appeared in Criminal minds and Baywatchand then indicated that he had been told “it wouldn’t be long” before Olivia passed away.
Then he said, “I took it upon myself to write to her as we occasionally shared emails— [with] the other Grease-ers are friends too. She would always sign her emails, ‘With love and light, Olivia’. And I wrote her—basically, if you read between the lines, she’d be able to tell that I knew something was up—and I basically said, ‘On your journey forward, just know that you, Olivia, are the love and the light”, he continued.
“She just always radiated that positivity,” Barry concluded. “Just the way she handled this journey with grace. Her heart was so big.”
Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough did not appear in the 1978 original Cool – but she has the distinction of taking on the iconic role of Sandy in the 2016 TV movie Grease Live! And she has made no secret of the fact that she had the highest respect for Olivia. That Footless star took to Instagram to share her tribute with her 5M followers.
“Like so many, Olivia has always been my hero,” she captioned a pictorial of photos on Aug. 8, including several with Olivia herself. “Discovering her magnetic energy as an artist and actor came first, but it was her heart that truly captured mine. Forever an icon and legend!”
Julianne followed up the post with a video clip of her song “Hopelessly Devoted” in the remake. “Forever honored to have been able to sing this song,” she captioned the clip along with a heart emoji.