They were great friends in the iconic film and in real life. Now Didi Conn, who played Sandy’s friend Frenchy in Grease, has paid a tearful tribute to Olivia Newton-John.
Her voice faltering with emotion, Didi, 71, said: “It’s so hard to talk about Olivia’s death - it’s so fresh. We knew it was coming but we didn’t want to believe it. I spoke with Olivia just a few weeks ago and we’d been in touch a lot.
“My husband called me and when I was at a doctor’s appointment and when I saw the phone ringing repeatedly I thought, uh oh. And I got scared. When I answered he asked me to sit down and told me.
“Last time I was in contact with Olivia was by text and I said, ‘I hope you know you’re in my heart, always’. And she wrote back, ‘And you are in mine’. That was our last message on July 5th.
“Olivia’s death feels so personal to me and so many other people because she cared so much. Her heart was so big.”
Olivia, who leaves behind a daughter Chloe, 36, and husband John Easterling, 70, was first diagnosed with cancer 30 years ago. Didi, who lives in New York, recently endured a spell of ill health and said it was typical of selfless Olivia to show more concern for her friend’s health than her own by frequently calling to check on her.
Didi says: “I had been ill this year. Olivia didn’t know and one of our Grease friends told her about it. She was angry with me for not telling her. She said, ‘You’ve always been such a good friend to me, why didn’t you let me know?’. The next day I received the most gorgeous orchid plant. That was a few months ago.
“There have been no flowers on it, then on Friday a bud appeared. I thought, ‘that’s a sign that something’s going to happen’. I spent that whole night thinking about her. And a few days later I heard the news.
“Now two more buds have appeared so I’m calling them Olivia, Chloe and John.”
Olivia, who was born in Cambridge, last saw Didi during the 40th anniversary of Grease in Hollywood in August 2018.
Didi says: “It was a wonderful celebration. In fact - and this is really quite something - it was the first time her husband John saw the movie.
“Olivia had just stopped performing right around that time. She had a Las Vegas residency and I’d seen her there right before the anniversary but the cancer had moved to her pelvis. Olivia did perform, but had to wear flat shoes and had these glitzy sneakers. And she couldn’t jump and dance around like she always did. Still, she was giving her all and invited me to see her.
“When I was in the audience she’d say, ‘Some of us make friends that we keep our whole lives and I have a friend like that, who I met 40 years. Didi, are you there?’. I’d go, ‘Yeah, I’m here’ and the audience would go crazy. Then she’d have me on stage and put a leather jacket around me and we’d do a set of Grease songs.
“But the most touching thing for me was, after I’d perform with her like that and get to be a little rock star with that beautiful, talented, gorgeous person, I would stand off-stage and watch her do her finale and encore when she always sung I Honestly Love You. She would put her arms up and keep her arms out to the audience and the love was coming straight from her heart: she was receiving all the love in the world and giving it back. And that’s how I will always remember her.”
Olivia frequently called Didi while she was recovering from what she says doctors believe was a bad reaction to a booster injection. “At my worst I was seeing double and I couldn’t walk or talk for over six weeks. A lesion formed right on my brain stem where they couldn’t operate. In February I was in hospital for a month then I had three weeks in rehab hospital. But last week I graduated myself. It’s resolved - I’m taking and walking, thank God. And I’m fine. Olivia regularly called to check up on me as soon as she heard.”
For now, Didi is comforted by her happy memories of her dear friend. She says: “Olivia was always so sincere. The transformation she made in Grease was something she was chomping at the bit to do in her pop life. She was known to be so sweet - and she was. But there was a side to her, the hot Sandy, and she was able to let it out. After that she released Physical - she really allowed herself to be her true self, 100% who she was not just the sweet side.
“I remember when we were filming the drive-in scene and it was the first time she tried on that black outfit and nobody recognised her. And she loved it. Her hair, the tight pants, the red shoes - she loved that she could trot around like that and everyone was drooling. All the guys went nuts.
“Frenchy always wanted Sandy to look good and felt bad when she didn’t know about Danny. So I think that protectiveness continued. At the end of the movie Sandy decides she doesn’t want to be so goody goody any more and she says, ‘Will you help me?’ and Frenchy says, ‘Sure!’. It was like the first makeover show.”
“I lived down the road from her in Malibu so after filming Id go up to her estate and we’d play tennis or go horse riding.”
Didi includes herself among Olivia’s fans who adored her. “I’ve always been in awe of her beauty, generosity, resilience and strength. She was a wonderful friend and devoted mother.
“She loved a good laugh and we were silly together sometimes. John Travolta always made her laugh - they had such chemistry.
“She laughed all the time. And that’s how I like to imagine her.”
