Mother, model was much more than 'Olivia's older sister' Rona Newton-John, left, with her younger sister Olivia. Olivia Newton-John's sister Rona - mother of singer Tottie Goldsmith and first wife of Melbourne nightclub king Brian Goldmsith - has died in the US. Rona, 70, a model and actress from Melbourne who left the city in the 1960s to find fame and fortune - only to live for decades in the shadow of her younger sister's global fame - was diagnosed with brain cancer last month. Olivia Newton-John was expected to issue a statement last night. Her sister married Jeff Conaway, Olivia's co-star in Grease in the role of Kenickie, in 1980. They had a son, Emerson Newton-John, now a professional racing driver. Announcing her sister's illness last month, Olivia Newton-John, whose name is on the Austin's Hospital's cancer centre which opened last year said: "As a cancer 'thriver' myself, as many people are, I am very aware of the importance of love, support and family during this journey she is about to begin." The singer postponed her residency at a Las Vegas casino last month to be with her sister. The Newton-John sisters are the daughters of former Master of Ormond College at Melbourne University, Brinley Newton-John, and his wife, the late Irene - who was the daughter of Max Born, a Nobel Prize winner for Physics and close friend of Albert Enstein.