While the pair never officially dated, the pair have made no secret of their feelings for one another. “I think we love each other and when you love someone you stay in touch,” Travolta said of his co-star.
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta never got physical while filming "Grease," and instead went on to share a 44-year friendship that remained platonic. They are pictured at left in 2020. The longtime pals are seen top right on the set of "Grease" in 1978, and bottom right in 1983.
We left the making out to Sandy and Danny, but the deep feeling of sisterly love I have for John continues to this day," she writes, per The Sunday Post. Decades after they shot the film, Newton-John said "Grease" benefited from the fact that the actors never got together in real life.
What is the age difference between John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John?
Olivia Newton-John was five years older than John Travolta
He was born on February 18, 1954, according to his IMDb page, while Olivia Newton-John was 28 years old, having been born on September 26, 1948. Despite Travolta's youth, he was the more experienced on-screen performer.
The late Olivia Newton-John, who costarred as Sandy, was 29 at the time Grease was filmed; Stockard Channing, who played Rizzo, was the principal cast's oldest member at 33 during filming, according to a 2016 Vanity Fair article about the production.
Olivia Newton John and John Travolta - Their love through the years
Why did they cast adults in Grease?
In a recently published oral history of Grease, Thurm, 80, has admitted the reason why a decision to cast older actors was made. “People might say the cast is too old, but Grease is not a documentary; it's a fantasy,” he told The Guardian. “It's a non-PC fairytale that is better for the cast not being teens.
Before the final scene, Sandy is only shown as a prim and proper person. She actively dislikes the macho masculine side of Danny Zuko and just wants the loving caring guy that she met during the summer. She changes herself to fit in.
"Greased Lightnin'" is a song from the 1971 musical Grease which was also adapted into the 1978 film Grease. A soundtrack recording from the film version, with John Travolta on lead vocals, peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.
Later, Danny takes Sandy to a drive-in movie. Danny tries to remove the class ring he is wearing to give it to her, but in doing so he accidentally elbows Sandy in the chest. Danny gives Sandy the ring and she kisses him on the cheek, saying she realizes now he respects her.
Frenchy was played by Didi Conn, who was 26 while filming during the summer of 1977. Conn had appeared in multiple TV shows and movies before hitting it big with "Grease."
How old was John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever?
"In a star-making turn at the young age of 23, Travolta transforms his character's street swagger and self-assuredness, seemingly meritless at first view, into the stuff of legend each time he struts onto the dance floor and showcases his natural dancing ability," reads the auction listing for the suit.
In addition, the shop teacher aiding the T-Birds sets up the twist, saying that, "if it were in any better condition, it would fly." Still, while the flying car is a departure for Grease, it serves as a symbol that Danny and Sandy are quite literally flying into the sunset for their happy ending.
What is the meaning of the ending of the movie Grease?
In an interview with TMZ, Jim Jacobs, who co-wrote the original Grease musical, expressed that "whoever made up the theory must have been on acid" and that "Sandy was very much alive." That demonstrates the production team intended to use the closing scene to signify Sandy's transformation, alongside her and Danny " ...
Why Do They Call in Grease? The 1978 hit movie Grease got that title from the word “greasers.” Greasers were young guys of the '50s often with greased back hairstyles. The movie Grease is based on the musical with the same name, which had its first performance in 1971.
As part of a three-picture deal with Stigwood, Travolta was given the lead role after Henry Winkler turned down the role for fear of being typecast as a greaser, having been playing the similar bad-boy greaser Arthur Fonzarelli on Happy Days since 1974. (Winkler would later regret the decision.)
The answer? Yes. John, now 64, sang alongside Olivia Newton-John and the rest of the cast in the iconic blockbuster. However, he wasn't always supposed to sing “Greased Lightnin'.” According to a recent article written by Variety, John stole the part from one of his co-stars.
New PEOPLE Special Edition: Olivia Newton-John on Why She Initially Turned Down 'Grease' Newton-John hadn't wanted to play high schooler Sandy, telling producers: “I'm not American, I can't do an American accent. I'm 29, how can be 18?" Read what changed her mind in an excerpt from PEOPLE's new tribute issue.
Once in high school, Frenchy joined the gang that her sister started four years earlier, the Pink Ladies. When she saw the new girl Sandy Olsson, Frenchy instantly befriended her and made sure she felt welcome in Rydell. Something that not even Betty did for Frenchy when she moved to Rydell.
Grease takes place in and around Rydell High, which was based in part on Radnor High School in Delaware County, as director Randal Kleiser told the Inquirer in 1998.
While it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Sandy, Marie Osmond actually turned the gig down, according to Vanity Fair contributing editor, Michael Callahan. "She didn't foresee how big a turn Sandy was going to take at the end in that spandex outfit, and that just wasn't her image," Callahan told ET.
At the end of the school year, a carnival is held; Rizzo is seen on a Ferris wheel, revealing to Kenickie that she isn't pregnant. Thrilled with the news, they make up, kissing passionately, and Kenickie proposed, "If that's a line, I ain't bitin'. / That's a bona fide offer."
Following complications with his knee, Swayze sought out a lower-impact role. He auditioned for and won the part of Danny Zuko in Broadway's Grease, which had previously been played by John Travolta.
However, Jim Jacobs, who wrote the original book and musical with Warren Casey, quickly dismissed the creative conspiracy that Sandy was dead for the entire film, telling TMZ: “Whoever made up the theory must have been on acid. Sandy was very much alive.”
