TAKE FIVE: OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006 | 7:08 a.m.

Tickets: $55 to $77; (800) 557-7428

Where: Luxor Theater

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

What: Olivia Newton-John

Does anyone not remember Olivia Newton-John?

First she was a country singer (five top 10 hits), then a sexy pop star (another 15 hits), then a movie star (starring in 1978's classic "Grease" with John Travolta) and then a cancer survivor.

The 58-year-old Australian performs today through Saturday at the Luxor.

When "Let Me Be There" rose up the charts in 1973, the Academy of Country Music declared Newton-John "most promising female vocalist" and she won her first Grammy as Best Country Vocalist. In all, she has won four Grammys and several Country Music, American Music and Peoples Choice awards.

Her hit single, "Physical" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks from November 1981 until the end of January 1982.

Her latest recording, "Grace and Gratitude," a relaxation CD, was released in September to coincide with the launch of Newton-John's line of "body, heart and spirit" wellness products for women - including a breast cancer detection kit.

Newton-John, who maintains homes in Los Angeles and in Australia, actually was born in Cambridge, England. Here are five other facts about the Wonder From Down Under:

Her grand father, Max Born, was a close friend of Albert Einstein. Born, a Jew, fled his native Germany with his wife in the '30s and settled in England, where he was teaching when he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 - the same year that 5-year-old Olivia Newton-John moved with her family to Australia.

During World War II her father, Brin Newton-John, was with MI5, the United Kingdom's counterintelligence and security agency. He reportedly was the officer who took Rudolf Hess into custody when Hitler's chief deputy parachuted into Scotland in May 1941.

Newton-John helped found the National Tree Day organization in Australia more than 11 years ago. The group recently planted its 10 millionth tree.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, Newton-John became active in women's health issues. In 1994 she wrote and produced the album "Gaia: One Woman's Journey," which reflects upon her experiences with the disease. Gaia - after the Greek goddess of the Mother Earth - is the name of her health resort in New South Wales, Australia. The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre is part of the Austin & Repatriation Medical Centre in Melbourne.

"Some of my first dates there were at the Hilton. I opened for Charlie Rich, the Smothers Brothers, Don Rickles. I used to rent a house outside of town because I would take my dogs wherever I went. Now, I love shopping there. I like to go to Neiman's and shop and have lunch."