Matthew Vincent Lattanzi (born February 1, 1959) is an American former actor and dancer. He is most commonly recognized as the ex-husband of singer and actress

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

, 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 ''

Paradise Beach ''Paradise Beach'' is an Australian television series created by Rick Maier, Wayne Doyle and Bevan Lee and made by Village Roadshow Pictures. It was made in association with America's Genesis Entertainment which later merged with New World Te ...

''.

Personal life

Lattanzi was born and raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, 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 (BHS) is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. Its campus is located in the Central Eastside commercial area of Portland, Oregon, United States. Students are given a special em ...

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

, whom he married in 1984. The couple had one daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, born on January 17, 1986. By 1994, his acting career was largely over, and he worked 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 had a six-month contract on 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. McDermott disappeared in 2005, and was subsequently declared by the United States Coast Guard to have been lost at sea. From 1997 to 2007, Lattanzi was in a relationship with Cindy Jessup, who had been his and Newton-John's babysitter. In 2008, Lattanzi briefly appeared in the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

reality series ''

Rock the Cradle ''Rock the Cradle'' is an MTV reality show in which the offspring of rhythm and blues, R&B, popular music, 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 ...

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

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

—was reported to be living off the grid near

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. 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 ''Grease 2'' is a 1982 American Musical film, musical romantic comedy film, and a standalone sequel to the Grease (film), 1978 film ''Grease'', adapted from the 1971 Grease (musical), musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Orig ...

'', ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving between 10,000 and 15,000 letters a week. The series was broadcast on BBC1 for 21 yea ...

'', '' Roxanne'', ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in ...

'', and ''

Diving In ''Diving In'' is a 1990 American film directed by former music video director Strathford Hamilton, starring Matt Adler and Kristy Swanson. Background ''Diving In'' was the first film from the Indianapolis-based production company Maurer/Shaw ...

''. Lattanzi also had a significant role in the Australian soap opera ''

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

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

", " Soul Kiss", "Toughen Up", "It’s Always Australia For Me", and "Can't We Talk It Over in Bed".

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

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