Do we like Olivia Newton-John?
Our score: 10 out of 10. She backed marriage equality before it was easy, played Pride stages, campaigned for animals and trees for decades and raised serious money for others.
Born in Cambridge in 1948, she moved to Melbourne at age six and was singing on local TV as a teenager. A talent-quest win took her to Britain, then a pop duo, then solo fame with If Not For You, a 1972 Grammy and a 1974 Eurovision turn for the UK. Grease in 1978 made her a global name.
On scandal, the record is thin, and that is the whole list. Searches found no court cases against her that she lost and no misconduct allegations from an established outlet. The only real grumble is that Grease gets called sexist now. She brushed that off in 2020, calling it “a fun love story” set in the 50s.
The harm check comes back clean, and then some. In 2012 she backed Australian marriage equality when it was still a fight, saying simply “Love is love.” In a 2017 interview she called the progress fantastic. She played Los Angeles Pride, Sydney Mardi Gras and a New York Pride event.
Her screen work backs it up. Her 1981 Physical clip showed same-sex couples holding hands, which she noted was bold at the time. She also played a lesbian ex-convict in Sordid Lives. For gay fans she was an ally who showed up on stage and on screen as well as in interviews.
On the planet, she was in early and stayed. In 1977 she went to Namibia with conservationist Dr Laurie Marker to film a segment on cheetahs. In 1990 she became the first Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Program. In 1996 she co-founded National Tree Day with Jon Dee, and she backed efforts to free captive bears in Asia.