John Travolta

John Travolta

John Travolta in 2007
Born John Joseph Travolta
February 18, 1954 (1954-02-18) (age 56)
Englewood, New Jersey,
United States
Other names Johnny Travolta
Occupation Actor, singer, dancer, producer, writer
Years active 1969–present
Spouse Kelly Preston (1991–present)
Website
http://www.travolta.com

John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor, dancer and singer. He first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Travolta's career re-surged in the 1990s, with his role in Pulp Fiction, and he has since continued starring in Hollywood films, including Face/Off, Ladder 49 and Wild Hogs.

Travolta has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The first, for his role in Saturday Night Fever and the second for Pulp Fiction. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in Get Shorty.

Contents

Early life

Travolta, the youngest of six children,[1] was born and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, an inner-ring suburb of New York City. His father, Salvatore Travolta (November 1912 - May 1995),[2] was a semi-professional American football player turned tire salesman and partner in a tire company.[3] His mother, Helen Cecilia (née Burke, January 1912 - December 1978),[2] was an actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama and English teacher. His siblings are Joey, Ellen, Ann, Margaret, and Sam Travolta. Travolta's father was a second-generation Italian American and his mother was Irish American;[4] he grew up in an Irish-American neighborhood and has said that his household was predominantly Irish in culture.[5][6] His family was Roman Catholic.[7]

Early career

After attending Dwight Morrow High School,[8] Travolta moved across the Hudson River to New York City and landed a role in the touring company of the musical Grease and on Broadway in Over Here! singing the Sherman Brothers' song "Dream Drummin'".[9][10] He then moved to Los Angeles to further his career in show business.

Travolta's first California-filmed television role was as a fall victim in, Emergency! (S2E2), in September 1972,[11] but his first significant movie role was as Billy Nolan, a bully who was goaded into playing a prank on Sissy Spacek's character in the horror film, Carrie (1976).[12] Around the same time, he landed his star-making role as Vinnie Barbarino in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979), in which his sister, Ellen, also occasionally appeared (as Arnold Horshack's mother).[13]

'70s stardom

Travolta in one of his earliest roles, in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)

Around this time, Travolta had a hit single entitled "Let Her In" peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[14][15] In the next few years, he appeared in some of his most memorable screen roles: Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and as Danny Zuko in Grease (1978). These two films were among the most commercially successful pictures of the decade and catapulted Travolta to international stardom.[16] Saturday Night Fever earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.[17] At age 24, Travolta became one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.[18] His mother and his sister Ann appeared as extras in Saturday Night Fever and his sister Ellen appeared as a waitress in Grease. Travolta performed several of the songs on the Grease soundtrack album.[19] In 1980, Travolta inspired a nationwide country music craze that followed on the heels of his hit film, Urban Cowboy, in which he starred with Debra Winger.[20]

Downturn

Travolta in 1983

After Urban Cowboy, Travolta starred in a string of flops that sidelined his acting career. These included Staying Alive, the sequel to Saturday Night Fever, Perfect, co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and Two of a Kind, a romantic comedy reteaming him with Olivia Newton-John. During that time he was offered, but turned down, lead roles in what would become box office hits, including American Gigolo[21] and An Officer and a Gentleman, both of which went to Richard Gere.[22]

Resurgence

It was not until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's hit Pulp Fiction (1994), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, that his career was revived.[23][24] The movie shifted him back onto the A-list, and he was inundated with offers. Notable roles following Pulp Fiction include a movie-buff loan shark in Get Shorty (1995), an FBI agent and terrorist in Face/Off (1997), a desperate attorney in A Civil Action (1998), a Bill Clinton-esque presidential candidate in Primary Colors (1998) and a military detective in The General's Daughter (1999).

2000–present

Travolta also starred in Battlefield Earth (2000) based on a work of science fiction by L. Ron Hubbard, in which he played the leader of a group of aliens that enslaves humanity on a bleak future Earth. The film received almost universally negative reviews and did very poorly at the box office.[25] Travolta played Mrs. Edna Turnblad in the remake of Hairspray, his first musical since Grease.[26]

Personal life

Travolta was involved with actress Diana Hyland, whom he met while filming The Boy in the Plastic Bubble; the relationship ended when she died of breast cancer in 1977.[27]

Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991. The couple had a son, Jett (1992–2009),[28] and have a daughter, Ella Bleu (born 2000). On May 18, 2010, Travolta and Preston announced that she is pregnant with the couple's third child[29], later confirmed to be a boy.[30]

Travolta and Preston have regularly attended marriage counseling, and Travolta admits that therapy has helped the marriage.[31]

Travolta is a certified pilot and owns five aircraft, including an ex-Australian Boeing 707–138 airliner. The plane bears the name Jett Clipper Ella in honor of his children. Pan American World Airways was a large operator of the Boeing 707 and used Clipper in its names. The 707 aircraft bears the marks of Qantas, as Travolta acts as an official goodwill ambassador for the airline wherever he flies. His $4.9 million estate in the Jumbolair subdivision in Ocala, Florida, is situated on Greystone Airport with its own runway and taxiway right to his front door.[32]

Travolta has been a practitioner of Scientology since 1975 when he was given the book Dianetics while filming the movie The Devil's Rain in Durango, Mexico.[33] Joining in the effort with other celebrities in helping with the relief efforts, Travolta flew his 707 full of supplies, doctors, and Scientologist Volunteer Ministers into the disaster area in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.[34]

In June 2010, Travolta and Preston donated $10,000 to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund while on a trip to South Africa.[35]

Jett's death

Travolta and Preston's son, Jett died on January 2, 2009 while on their holiday in The Bahamas.[36][37] A Bahamian death certificate was issued, attributing the cause of death to a seizure.[38] Jett, who had a history of seizures,[39] reportedly suffered from Kawasaki disease in early childhood.[40] Long a source of speculation,[41] in September 2009, Travolta and Preston confirmed that their son had autism and suffered regular seizures.[42] They made the statements while giving testimony after a multi-million dollar extortion plot against Travolta and Preston around the circumstances of their son's death.

On January 23, 2009, three people were arrested in the Bahamas in relation to the plot.[43] It is believed that the plot centered around a "refusal to transport" document allegedly signed by Travolta and Preston when paramedics arrived to treat their son, that a police spokesman noted did not apply in the Travolta case.[44] One of the men, Obie Wilchcombe, a member of the Bahamian Parliament and former Bahamian Minister of Tourism, was described as a "close friend" of Travolta and Preston.[43] The other two people allegedly involved are EMT Tarino Lightbourne and former senator Pleasant Bridgewater, who was charged with abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort.[43] She resigned from the Senate as a result of the allegations.[45]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1975 The Tenth Level John TV-Movie
The Devil's Rain Danny
1976 The Boy in the Plastic Bubble Tod Lubitch TV-Movie
Nominated – TV Land Award
Carrie Billy Nolan
1977 Saturday Night Fever Tony Manero National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1978 Moment by Moment Strip Harrison
Grease Daniel "Danny" Zuko Henrietta Award – World Film Favorite Actor
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1980 Urban Cowboy Buford 'Bud' Uan Davis
1981 Blow Out Jack Terry
1983 Staying Alive Tony Manero
Two of a Kind Zack Melon
1985 Perfect Adam Lawrence
1987 Basements Ben TV segment "The Dumb Waiter"
1989 Look Who's Talking James Ubriacco
The Experts Travis
1990 Look Who's Talking Too James Ubriacco
1991 Shout Jack Cabe
Eyes Of An Angel Bobby aka The Tender
Chains of Gold Scott Barnes TV-Movie; also writer
1992 Boris and Natasha: The Movie Himself (cameo)
1993 Look Who's Talking Now James Ubriacco
1994 Pulp Fiction Vincent Vega Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor
Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
1995 Get Shorty Chili Palmer American Comedy Award
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
White Man's Burden Louis Pinnock
1996 Michael Michael
Phenomenon George Malley
Orientation: A Scientology Information Film Himself (short subject)
Broken Arrow Maj. Vic 'Deak' Deakins
1997 Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's Himself (documentary)
Mad City Sam Baily
Face/Off Sean Archer/Castor Troy Nomination – Saturn Award for Best Actor
She's So Lovely Joey Giamonti also executive producer
1998 A Civil Action Jan Schlichtmann
The Thin Red Line Brigadier General Quintard Satellite Special Achievement Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Ensemble
Junket Whore Himself (documentary)
Primary Colors Governor Jack Stanton Nomination – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1999 The General's Daughter Warr. Off. Paul Brenner/Sgt. Frank White
Our Friend, Martin Kyle's dad (animated educational film, voice only)
2000 Welcome to Hollywood Himself (mockumentary; cameo)
Lucky Numbers Russ Richards
Battlefield Earth Terl also producer
2001 Domestic Disturbance Frank Morrison
Swordfish Gabriel Shear
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember "Austinpussy" Johann van der Smut (Goldmember) / Himself cameo
2003 Basic Tom Hardy
2004 Ladder 49 Captain Mike Kennedy
A Love Song for Bobby Long Bobby Long
The Punisher Howard Saint
2005 Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D James Benson "Jim" Irwin (narrator; documentary)
Be Cool Chili Palmer
2006 Lonely Hearts Elmer C. Robinson
2007 Wild Hogs Woody Stevens
Hairspray Edna Turnblad Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2008 Bolt Bolt the Dog voice
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
2009 The Taking of Pelham 123 Benard Ryder
Old Dogs Charlie Reed
2010 From Paris with Love Charlie Wax

Television series

His handprints in front of The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park
Year Title Role Notes
1972 Emergency! Chuck Benson[46] Episode: "Kids"
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law Episode: "A Piece of God"
1973 The Rookies Eddie Halley Episode: " Frozen Smoke"
1974 Medical Center Danny Episode: "Saturday's Child"
1975–1979 Welcome Back, Kotter Vincent "Vinnie" Barbarino

Discography

Albums

Year Album US
1974 Over Here! —
1976 John Travolta 39
1977 Can't Let You Go 66
1978 Travolta Fever 161
Grease —
1983 Two of a Kind 26
1986 The Road to Freedom —
1996 Let Her In: The Best of John Travolta —
2003 The Collection —
2007 Hairspray —

Singles

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pearce, Garth (July 15, 2007). "On the move: John Travolta". Times Online (London). http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/article2068940.ece. Retrieved July 17, 2007. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Social Security Death Index
  3. ↑ "John Travolta Biography (1954–)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/50/John-Travolta.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  4. ↑ "Begorrah!! Travolta's Irish...". Showbiz Ireland. January 7, 2007. http://www.showbizireland.com/news/july01/20-travolta01.shtml. Retrieved July 17, 2007. 
  5. ↑ "Celebetty: John Travolta". BeatBoxBetty.com. 2000. http://www.beatboxbetty.com/celebetty/johntravolta/johntravolta2/johntravolta2/johntravolta2.htm. Retrieved July 17, 2007. 
  6. ↑ Grant, Meg (February 2005). "Night Moves". Reader's Digest. http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/face-to-face-with-john-travolta/article26272-1.html. Retrieved July 17, 2007. 
  7. ↑ "The Big Question: John Travolta". "THE BIG QUESTION" BBC1. January 28, 2004. http://cosmedia.freewinds.cx/media/articles/bbc250198.html. Retrieved July 17, 2007. 
  8. ↑ "Q&A: John Travolta". Sports Illustrated. February 28, 2007. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/richard_deitsch/02/28/qa.travolta/1.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  9. ↑ "Masterworks & Playbill Debut 2 Editors' Choice Compilations". Baltimore.broadwayworld.com. March 11, 2007. http://baltimore.broadwayworld.com/article/Masterworks_Playbill_Debut_2_Editors_Choice_Compilations_20070311. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  10. ↑ Collins, Nancy (August 18, 1983). "Sex and the Single Star: John Travolta". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/25281885/. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  11. ↑ "The Quintessential Tarot Tina: What's on the Cards for Star John Travolta". Highbeam.com. July 3, 2005. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-133738542.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  12. ↑ Mcelroy, Steven (July 8, 2006). "What's on Tonight". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DD1030F93BA35754C0A9609C8B63. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  13. ↑ "A Sister's Inspiration – John Travolta Followed Ellen's Lead into Acting". The Spokesman-Review. July 7, 1996. http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/SR/lib00140,0EAF4675750590A1.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  14. ↑ Blank, Ed (March 28, 2003). "John Travolta talks about his past, his present and his destiny in Hollywood". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_126015.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  15. ↑ "Then & Now: 10 Best Teen Idols of All Time". FOXNews.com. January 1, 2009. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,474846,00.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  16. ↑ White, Jim (October 17, 1994). "Look who's acting: Staying Alive was dire. Perfect was anything but. Now, courtesy of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Travolta is back.". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film--look-whos-acting-staying-alive-was-dire-perfect-was-anything-but-now-courtesy-of-tarantinos-pulp-fiction-travolta-is-back-by-jim-white-1443469.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  17. ↑ "Saturday Night Fever". Variety. December 14, 1977. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_review&reviewid=VE1117794638&categoryid=31. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  18. ↑ Karger, Dave (April 27, 2007). "Spotlight on Ryan Gosling". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20035877,00.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  19. ↑ "Travolta, R.E.M., Moby, Danzig Make Movie/Music Crossovers". Mtv.com. July 17, 1997. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1427842/19970717/danzig.jhtml. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  20. ↑ "John Travolta". MTV. February 18, 1954. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/travolta_john/artist.jhtml. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  21. ↑ Jackson, Kevin (February 6, 1996). "High-concept high roller". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/highconcept-high-roller-1317555.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  22. ↑ "John Travolta goes the whole Hog with his new hit movie". The Independent (London). April 6, 2007. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/john-travolta-goes-the-whole-hog-with-his-new-hit-movie-443516.html. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  23. ↑ Lasalle, Mick (October 15, 1995). "Making Movies With the Mob / John Travolta stars as gangster producer in Elmore Leonard's `Get Shorty'". Sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/10/15/PK67911.DTL&type=printable. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  24. ↑ James, Caryn (December 2, 2004). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; As Praise Flows, Travolta Awaits His 3rd Comeback". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03EEDB1E3EF931A35751C1A9629C8B63. Retrieved August 26, 2009. 
  25. ↑ John Travolta at Rotten Tomatoes
  26. ↑ Travolta on becoming a woman, interview with stv/movies, June 2007 stv.tv
  27. ↑ "Biography of Diana Hyland". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0405076/bio. Retrieved March 28, 2007. 
  28. ↑ 'For John Travolta, protecting Jett was everything'.
  29. ↑ "John Travolta and Kelly Preston Are Expecting!". People. May 18, 2010. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20386272,00.html. Retrieved May 18, 2010. 
  30. ↑ "Kelly Preston, John Travolta expecting a boy". CNN. August 25, 2010. http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/08/25/kelly.preston.john.travolta.ppl/. Retrieved August 25, 2010. 
  31. ↑ Linton, Marilyn (February 10, 2009). "Therapy can keep it real when the honeymoon is over". London Free Press. http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/2009/02/10/8330506-sun.html. Retrieved February 12, 2009. 
  32. ↑ Kelly Preston showed a picture of this on the August 29, 2007, episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
  33. ↑ "Successes of Scientology". Church of Scientology International. May 2007. http://www.whatisscientology.org/html/Part05/chp19/pg0308.html. Retrieved May 21, 2007. 
  34. ↑ "John Travolta's mercy flight to Haiti". Douglas Hyde – CNN Entertainment Producer. January 25, 2010. http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/25/john-travoltas-mercy-flight-to-haiti/?hpt=T2. Retrieved January 26, 2010. 
  35. ↑ "Travolta Donates to Nelson Mandela Children's Fund". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Travolta-Donates-Mandela-1019548.aspx. 
  36. ↑ "Jett Travolta, son of actors, dies at 16". CNN. January 2, 2009. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/02/obit.jett.travolta/. Retrieved January 2, 2009. 
  37. ↑ "John Travolta's teenage son dies". BBC News Online (BBC). January 2, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7809172.stm. Retrieved January 2, 2009. 
  38. ↑ "Death Certificate: John Travolta's Son Died of a Seizure". ABC News. January 5, 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/MindMoodNews/story?id=6576215&page=1. Retrieved January 5, 2009. 
  39. ↑ "John Travolta's 16-Year-Old Son Dies". People. January 2, 2009. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20249865,00.html. Retrieved January 4, 2009. 
  40. ↑ Errico, Marcus (January 2, 2009). "John Travolta's Son Jett Dead at 16". E! Online. http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b77259_john_travoltas_son_jett_dead_16.html. Retrieved January 2, 2009. 
  41. ↑ Heureux, Steve L. (September 24, 2009). "Travolta finally admits that son had Autism". The Examiner. http://www.examiner.com/x-17410-Toledo-Autism--Parenting-Examiner~y2009m9d24-Travolta-finally-admits-that-son-had-Autism. Retrieved September 24, 2009. 
  42. ↑ Abraham, Mary Rose (September 23, 2009). "From John Travolta: I Ran Down the Stairs To Help My Son". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/john-travolta-bahamas-testify-extortion-case/story?id=8649816. Retrieved September 23, 2009. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 Harlow, John (January 25, 2009). "Senator ‘tried to extort cash’ from Travolta over son’s death". The Sunday Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5581456.ece. Retrieved January 25, 2009. 
  44. ↑ "Police Reveal Details of John Travolta Extortion Plot". People. January 28, 2009. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20255422,00.html. 
  45. ↑ "Travolta Suspect Resigns". TMZ.com. January 24, 2009. http://www.tmz.com/2009/01/24/travolta-suspect-resigns/. Retrieved January 25, 2009. 
  46. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/#actor1970

Further reading

External links

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

Dudley Moore (1981) · Dustin Hoffman (1982) · Michael Caine (1983) · Dudley Moore (1984) · Jack Nicholson (1985) · Paul Hogan (1986) · Robin Williams (1987) · Tom Hanks (1988) · Morgan Freeman (1989) · Gérard Depardieu (1990) · Robin Williams (1991) · Tim Robbins (1992) · Robin Williams (1993) · Hugh Grant (1994) · John Travolta (1995) · Tom Cruise (1996) · Jack Nicholson (1997) · Michael Caine (1998) · Jim Carrey (1999) · George Clooney (2000)

 · (1950–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present)