After purchasing Olivia Newton-John’s black leather jacket she wore in Grease for $243,200, an anonymous man turned right around and gave the prop back to the legendary actress and singer. Recently, Newton-John had auctioned off the jacket for charity to raise money for her cancer center, and probably thought that was the last she’d see of it.
However, in a touching new video posted by the auction house Julien’s Auctions on Facebook, Olivia Newton-John is shown receiving the jacket as a gift from the buyer, much to her surprise.
“This jacket belongs to you and the collective soul of those who love you, those for whom you are the soundtrack of their lives. It should not sit in a billionaire’s closet for country club bragging rights,” says the man, whose face is blurred in the video as he chose to remain anonymous. “For this reason, I humbly and respectfully return it to its rightful owner, which is you,” the anonymous man goes on to explain.
For her part, Newton-John gets very emotional as she expresses her gratitude for the buyer’s extremely generous gift. Her profound joy is also evident when she removes the jacket from its gift box, surprised to see it again after likely assuming it was gone forever. “You’re the best, you’re the best, I am so grateful, thank you,” Newton-John tells the anonymous buyer. She adds: “It’s the most beautiful present, but maybe it’s your heart that I’m grateful for.”
Released in 1978, Olivia Newton-John starred alongside John Travolta in Grease. The hit musical tells the love story of transfer student Sandy Olsson and bad boy greaser Danny Zuko. Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci, Kelly Ward, Jamie Donnelly, Dinah Manoff, and Didi Conn also starred. A huge success critically and commercially, Grease remains one of the most popular musicals of all time. Featuring such hit songs as “You’re the One That I Want,” “Greased Lightnin’,” and “Summer Nights,” the soundtrack was also a tremendous hit, selling over 38 million copies worldwide.
This Grease jacket was one of more than 500 personal items from Newton-John’s career she had auctioned off for her cancer center. Other items relating to the movie include Newton-John’s original Grease script, her character’s Pink Ladies jacket, and a movie poster signed by the cast. The auction house was also asking auction winners to take photos of themselves or the props on display for a private scrapbook to be made for Newton-John, as the actress said she wanted to see where the items ended up. Altogether, the charity auction raised $2.4 million.
As for the black jacket, we now know for sure where this particular prop will find its new permanent home. Newton-John was also asked by the anonymous buyer if she plans to put the jacket on display in her cancer center, and the actress confirms that’s exactly what will happen. “Yes, it was always my dream to do that, so yes!” Newton-John exclaims in the video clip. This news comes to us from Julien’s Auctions on Facebook.
