Matthew Vincent Lattanzi (born February 1, 1959) is an American former actor and dancer. He is most commonly recognized as the first husband of singer and actress Dame Olivia Newton-John, and for his acting in films such as ''

My Tutor ''My Tutor'' is a 1983 American sex comedy film directed by George Bowers. The film focuses on high school graduates (including Matt Lattanzi and Crispin Glover) as they attempt to lose their virginity during the summer vacation before college, ...

'' and the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

Paradise Beach ''Paradise Beach'' is an Australian television series made by Village Roadshow Pictures. It was made in association with America's Genesis Entertainment which later merged with New World Television for the Nine Network, and aired between 199 ...

''.

Personal life

Olivia Newton-John and Matt Lattanzi (crop)

Lattanzi was born and raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, the son of Jeanette (née Slowikowski) and Charles Paul Lattanzi."To Have and Hold". ''People''. January 7, 1985.
Accessed 2013-08-26. His father was a maintenance foreman
Accessed 2013-08-26. of Italian descent, while his mother is of Polish ancestry.Hart, Marla. "Matt Lattanzi Sees Sunnier Days Ahead For 'Paradise'". ''Chicago Tribune''. July 29, 1993.
Accessed 2013-08-26. He graduated from

Benson Polytechnic High School Benson Polytechnic High School is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. It is temporarily located in Portland's Lents neighborhood while a renovation project is underway at its campus in the Central Eastside ...

in 1977. While filming '' Xanadu'' (1980), Lattanzi met

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one s ...

, whom he married in 1984. The couple had one daughter,

Chloe Rose Lattanzi Chloe Rose Lattanzi (born January 17, 1986) is an American-Australian singer and actress. Biography Personal life Lattanzi was born on January 17, 1986, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of the lat ...

, born on January 17, 1986. By 1993, his acting career was largely over, and he took a job as a contractor for a homebuilding company in California. Lattanzi and Newton-John moved to their farm in Australia in 1993 so that he could audition for the soap opera, ''

''. He won a six-month contract for the show. On April 24, 1995, Lattanzi and Newton-John announced their divorce. A year later, Olivia Newton-John would be in a relationship with Patrick Kim McDermott. From 1997 to 2007, Lattanzi was in a relationship with Cindy Jessup. In 2008, Lattanzi briefly appeared in the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

reality series ''

Rock the Cradle ''Rock the Cradle'' is an MTV reality show in which the offspring of R&B, pop, and rock stars from the 1980s and 1990s vie in a six-week singing competition. The show debuted on April 3, 2008, and ended on May 8 of the same year. Personnel T ...

'', supporting his daughter Chloe (a contestant on the show). That same year, Lattanzi—a lifelong

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

—was reported to be living off the grid near

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...

. He now resides in Portland, Oregon.Byrne, Fiona. "Matt Lattanzi: Looking for Love in Australia". ''Sunday Herald Sun''. July 6, 2008.
Accessed 2013-08-26.

Career

Lattanzi's feature film debut was as a dancer in the 1980 movie '' Xanadu''. Lattanzi's career consists mostly of small movie parts, though he did have a starring role in 1983's ''

''. Other film credits include '' Rich and Famous'', '' Grease 2'', ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...

'', '' Roxanne'', '' Catch Me If You Can'', and '' Diving In''. Lattanzi also had a significant role in the Australian

, ''

'',Groves, Seli. "Matt Lattanzi: A Message from Paradise". ''The Spokane Spokesman-Review''. July 27, 1993.
Accessed 2013-08-26. and he appeared in four of Newton-John's music videos: "

Landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environmen ...

", "

Soul Kiss ''Soul Kiss'' is the twelfth studio album by English-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on 25 October 1985 by Mercury Records in Europe, by Festival Records in Australia, and by MCA Records in the United States. It reached 11 ...

", "Toughen Up" and "Can't We Talk It Over in Bed".

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lattanzi, Matt 1959 births Male actors from Portland, Oregon American male film actors American male television actors American people of Italian descent American people of Polish descent Living people Benson Polytechnic High School alumni