English-born Australian actress and singer Olivia Newton-John
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Olivia Newton-John was an English-born Australian singer and actress. Her recording career extended from the 1960′s into the early 2000′s. She co-starred with John Travolta in the musical motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most popular movie musicals ever made. From that film, two of her duets with Travolta, “You’re the One that I Want” and “Summer Nights,” became hits. Newton-John won a number of Grammy Awards for her music. She passed away on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.

Olivia Newton-John, left , and the American actor John Travolta, right , starred in the motion picture Grease (1978), one of the most successful musicals in Hollywood history.
Credit: © Paramount Pictures

Newton-John was born on Sept. 26, 1948, in Cambridge, England. She moved with her family to Australia at the age of 5. When she was 14 years old, she formed her own musical group in Melbourne. In 1966, she won the Johnny O’Keefe “Sing, Sing, Sing” talent quest. The prize was a trip to England, where she recorded her first single record. She remained in England and built her career as a singer and television performer. During the 1970′s, she worked in the United States, where she became a best-selling country singer. She won a Grammy Award as best female country vocalist for her first American album, Let Me Be There (1973).

Newton-John also starred in the motion-picture musical Xanadu (1980). She had a hit with “Magic” from that film. Her other hit recordings include ”If Not For You” (1971), “Let Me Be There” (1973), ”If You Love Me, Let Me Know” and “I Honestly Love You” (both 1974), “Have You Never Been Mellow” and “Please Mr. Please” (both 1975), “A Little More Love” (1978), “Physical” (1981), “Heart Attack” and “Twist of Fate” (both 1983), and “Livin’ in Desperate Times” (1984).

Her other films include Funny Things Happen Down Under (1965), Toomorrow (1970), Two of a Kind (1983), It’s My Party (1996), Sordid Lives (2000), Score: A Hockey Musical (2010), and A Few Best Men (2011). She also acted in a number of television series and made-for-television movies.

In 1979, Newton-John was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to the performing arts. In 2010, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her services to the entertainment industry and to the community through organizations supporting breast cancer treatment, education, training and research, and the environment. She was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, a higher degree in the order, in 2019. The Order of Australia is Australia’s highest award for service to the country or to humanity. In 2020, Newton-John was made a dame commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to charity, cancer research, and entertainment. She then became known as Dame Olivia Newton-John.

Australian tennis player Dylan Alcott competes at the 2022 Australian Open.
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July is Disability Pride Month. Behind the Headlines will feature people claiming their disability and excelling. Claiming disability means actively accepting their condition and integrating it into their identity.

Alcott has made a lot of racket in his career! Serving up matches and breaking records, Dylan Alcott became the first man to win the Golden Slam—all four major title tournaments and the Paralympic Games—in 2021. Alcott is a retired Australian wheelchair tennis player. He also played wheelchair basketball with the Australian Rollers national team. In 2022, Australia named Alcott Australian of the Year and an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Dylan Martin Alcott was born Dec. 4, 1990, in Melbourne. At birth, Alcott had a tumor wrapped around his spinal cord. Surgeons successfully removed the tumor. However, the surgery left him paraplegic—that is, paralyzed in the legs and lower body. He began playing wheelchair tennis in school, competing globally by the age of 16. Alcott started playing wheelchair basketball when he was 14 years old. He played with the Rollers in the 2006 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship. At the age of 17, Alcott won a gold medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, with the Rollers.

In 2009, Alcott began studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in the United States. He led the school’s wheelchair basketball team to win the college championship. After his first year, he returned to Australia to prepare for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England. Alcott and the Rollers won the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship for the first time in 2010 in Birmingham, England. In 2012, they won silver at the Paralympics.

Australian tennis star Dylan Alcott competes in the men’s quads wheelchair singles at the Wimbledon Championships.
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In 2012, Alcott suffered serious injuries to his hand and arm when someone tried to move him in his wheelchair. The injury made Alcott eligible to participate in the quad class of wheelchair tennis and spurred his return to that sport. The quad class is reserved for players that also have some impairment in their playing arm. In 2014, he won the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championship and the New Zealand Open. In 2015, Alcott won the quad wheelchair Australian Open title. Alcott was ranked number one in the world in 2015 after securing eight titles.

At the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Alcott won the men’s quad doubles gold medal with the Australian wheelchair tennis player Heath Davidson. The next day, he won the men’s quad singles gold medal. Alcott was named Australian Paralympian of the Year for his success at the games. In 2018, Alcott won the Wheelchair Tennis Masters title.

In 2021, Alcott became the third professional and the first man to complete the Golden Slam in a calendar year. He won the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the United States Open, and the singles gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (The games, originally scheduled for 2020, were postponed to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.) At the end of 2021, Alcott announced that the 2022 Australian Open would be his last professional competition. Alcott’s memoir Able: Gold Medals, Grand Slams and Smashing Glass Ceilings was published in 2018.