John Travolta Biography

John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor, dancer, and singer. Travolta 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 acting career declined through the 1980s. His career enjoyed a resurgence 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 was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in Get Shorty.

Early life

Travolta, the youngest of six children, was born and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, an inner-ring suburb of New York City. His father, Salvatore Travolta (November 1912 " May 1995), was a semi-professional American football player turned tire salesman and partner in a tire company. His mother, Helen Cecilia (née Burke, January 1912 " December 1978), 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, Joey, Ellen, Ann, Margaret, and Sam Travolta, have all acted. His father was a second-generation Italian American and his mother was Irish American; he grew up in an Irish-American neighborhood and has said that his household was predominantly Irish in culture. He was raised Roman Catholic, but converted to Scientology in 1975. Travolta attended Dwight Morrow High School, but dropped out as a junior at age 17 in 1971.

Career

Early career

After attending Dwight Morrow High School, 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'". 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, 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). 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). The show aired on ABC.

1970s stardom

Travolta had a hit single entitled "Let Her In", peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July 1976. In the next few years, he appeared in two of his most noted screen roles: Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and as Danny Zuko in Grease (1978). The films were among the most commercially successful pictures of the decade and catapulted Travolta to international stardom. Saturday Night Fever earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. At age 24, Travolta became one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. 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. 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.

Downturn

After Urban Cowboy, Travolta starred in a series of financial and critical failures that sidelined his acting career. These included 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 and An Officer and a Gentleman, both of which went to Richard Gere.

Resurgence

In 1989, Travolta starred in Look Who's Talking, which grossed $297,000,000, making it his most successful film since Grease. Travolta continued to the two sequels Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993). But 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 revived. 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 investigator 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. In 2007 he starred in Wild Hogs and played Mrs. Edna Turnblad in the remake of Hairspray, his first musical since Grease. In 2008 he lent his voice for the film Bolt, in which he played the title role.

Personal life

Relationships

Travolta was in a relationship with actress Diana Hyland, whom he met while filming The Boy in the Plastic Bubble; Hyland died of breast cancer in 1977.

Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991. The couple had a son, Jett (April 13, 1992 " January 2, 2009). Their daughter, Ella Bleu, was born in 2000 and a third child, a son called Benjamin, was born on November 23, 2010 in Florida. Travolta and Preston have regularly attended marriage counseling; Travolta has stated that therapy has helped the marriage.

In May 2012, an anonymous masseur filed a lawsuit against Travolta citing claims of sexual assault and battery. A lawyer for Travolta said that the allegations were "complete fiction and fabrication" and someone wanting their 15 minutes of fame. Travolta's counsel also stated that his client would be able to prove that he was not in California on the day in question and asserted that Travolta would "sue the attorney and Plaintiff for malicious prosecution" after getting the case thrown out. A second masseur later joined the lawsuit making similar claims. Both lawsuits were subsequently dropped by the complainants and dismissed without prejudice.

A judge ruled to dismiss a defamation lawsuit against Travolta and his attorney Marty Singer by writer Robert Randolph. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey dismissed the case on September 27, 2012, because he found that a letter, written by Singer in response to allegations in a book by Randolph, had free speech protection.

Son's death

In 2009, Travolta's son Jett died while on a Christmas vacation in the Bahamas. A Bahamian death certificate was issued, attributing the cause of death to a seizure. Jett, who had a troubled history of seizures, reportedly suffered from Kawasaki disease at the age of two. Travolta confirmed speculation that his son had autism and suffered regular seizures and immediately made his public statements while giving testimony after a multi-million dollar extortion plot against him in connection to his son's death. After a mistrial, Travolta dropped the charges and has credited his immediate family and faith in helping him survive the premature death of his son and in moving forward with his film career.

Religion

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. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, joining other celebrities in helping with the relief efforts, Travolta flew his 707 full of supplies, doctors, and Scientologist Volunteer Ministers into the disaster area.

Pilot

Travolta is a certified private pilot. He owns five aircraft, including an ex-Qantas Boeing 707"138 airliner that 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.

On November 24, 1992, Travolta was piloting his Gulfstream N728T at night above a solid undercast, when he experienced a total electrical system failure, while flying under instrument flight rules into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. During the emergency landing he almost had a mid-air collision with a USAir Boeing 727, an event attributed to a risky decision by an air traffic controller.

On September 13, 2010, during the first episode of the final season of her talk show, Oprah Winfrey announced that she would be taking her entire studio audience on an 8-day expenses-paid trip to Australia, with Travolta serving as pilot for the trip. He had helped Winfrey plan the trip for over a year.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	'	John	TV movie
1975	'	Danny
1976	'	Tod Lubitch
1976	Carrie	Billy Nolan
1977	Saturday Night Fever	Tony Manero
1978	Moment by Moment	Strip Harrison
1978	Grease	Daniel "Danny" Zuko
1980	Urban Cowboy	Buford 'Bud' Uan Davis
1981	Blow Out	Jack Terry
1983	Staying Alive	Tony Manero
1983	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
1989	'	Travis
1990	Look Who's Talking Too	James Ubriacco
1991	Shout	Jack Cabe
1991	Eyes of an Angel	Bobby	aka The Tender
1991	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
1995	Get Shorty	Chili Palmer
1995	White Man's Burden	Louis Pinnock
1996	Michael	Michael
1996	Phenomenon	George Malley
1996	Orientation: A Scientology Information Film	Himself	short subject
1996	Broken Arrow	Maj. Vic 'Deak' Deakins	Nomination"?MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nomination"?MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Christian Slater)
1997	Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's	Himself	documentary
1997	Mad City	Sam Baily
1997	Face/Off	Sean Archer/Castor Troy
1997	She's So Lovely	Joey Giamonti	also executive producer
1998	'	Jan Schlichtmann
1998	'	Brigadier General Quintard	Satellite Special Achievement Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Ensemble
1998	Junket Whore	Himself	documentary
1998	Primary Colors	Governor Jack Stanton	Nomination"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1999	'	Warr. Off. Paul Brenner/Sgt. Frank White
1999	Our Friend, Martin	Kyle's dad	animated educational film, voice only
2000	Welcome to Hollywood	Himself	mockumentary; cameo
2000	Lucky Numbers	Russ Richards
2000	Battlefield Earth	Terl	also producer Razzie Award for Worst Actor
2001	Domestic Disturbance	Frank Morrison
2001	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
2004	'	Bobby Long
2004	'	Howard Saint
2005	Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D	James Benson "Jim" Irwin	narrator; documentary
2005	Be Cool	Chili Palmer
2006	Lonely Hearts	Elmer C. Robinson
2007	Wild Hogs	Woody Stevens
2007	Hairspray	Edna Turnblad
2008	Bolt	Bolt the Dog	voice
2009	'	Benard Ryder
2009	Old Dogs	Charlie Reed
2010	From Paris with Love	Charlie Wax
2012	Savages	Dennis
2013	Killing Season	Emil Kovac

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Emergency!	Chuck Benson	Episode: "Kids"
1972	Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law		Episode: "A Piece of God"
1973	'	Eddie Halley	Episode: " Frozen Smoke"
1974	Medical Center	Danny	Episode: "Saturday's Child"
1975"1979	Welcome Back, Kotter	Vincent "Vinnie" Barbarino	Main Role (Seasons 1"3) / Special Guest Star (Season 4); 79 episodes

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US
1974	Over Here!	"?
1976	John Travolta	39
1977	Can't Let You Go	66
1978	Travolta Fever	161
	Grease	1
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	"?
2012	This Christmas (with Olivia Newton-John)	81

Singles

• "Dream Drummin (1974)
• "Easy Evil" (1975)
• "Can't Let You Go" (1975)
• "You Set My Dreams To Music" (1976)
• "Goodnight Mr. Moon" (1976)
• "Rainbows" (1976)
• "Settle Down" (1976)
• "Moonlight Lady" (1976)
• "Right Time of the Night" (1976)
• "Big Trouble" (1976)
• "What Would They Say" (1976)
• "Back Doors Crying" (1976)
• "Let Her In" (1976) " #10
• "Whenever I'm Away From You" (1976) " #38
• "Slow Dancin'" (1976)
• "It Had To Be You" (1976)
• "I Don't Know What I Like About You Baby" (1976)
• "All Strung Out On You" (1977) " #34
• "Baby, I Could Be So Good at Lovin' You" (1977)
• "Razzamatazz" (1977)
• "You're the One That I Want" " #1 (1978) (w/ Olivia Newton-John)
• "Sandy" (1978)
• "Greased Lightnin" (1978) " #47
• "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (1980)
• "Take A Chance" (1983) (w/ Olivia Newton-John)
• "Two Sleepy People" (1997) (w/ Carly Simon)
• "I Thought I Lost You" (2008) (w/ Miley Cyrus)

See also

• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees " Youngest Nominees for Best Actor
• Travolta dress