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 John Joseph Travoltawas born in Englewood, New Jersey, on February 18, 1954, the youngest of Salvatore and Helen Travolta's six children. His father owned a tire repair shop, his mother was a high school drama teacher and former member of the radio vocal group The Sunshine Sisters. He attended a drama school in New York City, where he studied voice, dancing and acting. He got his first professional job at the age of 16, appearing in a summer stock production of Bye Bye Birdie. He quit school soon after and moved to Manhattan, where he worked regularly in summer stock and on television commercials. When work in New York became scarce he moved to Hollywood, where he played minor roles in several television series. A role in the national touring company of Grease took him back to New York, and his first starring role on Broadway came in that same play, at the age of 18. He then spent ten months as a member of the Broadway company of Over Here before moving back to Hollywood.
Travolta's successes of the late 1970's were followed by a string of mediocre films and his career seemed all but over. His slump was finally reversed in 1989, when he appeared opposite Shelley Long in the hit movie Look Who's Talking, and its sequel Look Who's Talking Too the following year. He has remained active ever since. His second Best Actor Oscar nomination came in 1994, for his portrayal of sympathetic hitman Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction. Family Life John Travolta married Kelly Preston on September 12, 1991. The couple's first son, Jett, was born on April 13, 1992; their daughter Ella Bleu was born April 3, 2000. Tragically, Jett Travolta died after suffering a seizure on January 2, 2009. Television Roles Emergency (1 episode, 1972) Movie Roles The Tenth Level (1975)
uncredited college student Awards American Cinematheque Gala
Tribute American Comedy Awards BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards Blockbuster Entertainment
Awards Chicago International Film
Festival David di Donatello Awards Golden Apple Awards Golden Globes, USA Hasty Pudding Theatricals,
USA Hollywood Film Festival Hollywood Walk of Fame London Critics Circle Film
Awards Los Angeles Film Critics
Association Awards MTV Movie Awards National Board of Review,
USA Palm Springs International
Film Festival Razzie Awards ShoWest Convention, USA Southeastern Film Critics
Association Awards Stockholm Film Festival TV Land Awards Other Information John Travolta is the author of two books: John Travolta Staying Fit! (1984) and Propellor One-Way Night Coach, A Fable for All Ages (1997). He has also released several albums as a musician, including The Best of John Travolta, The Best of John Travolta: Let Her In, and The Collection. Questions or comments about this page?
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Travolta first gained fame after he won the role
of Vinnie Barbarino on the television series Welcome
Back, Kotter, on which he appeared from 1975 to
1979. The role made him one of television's hottest young
stars, and put his face on teen magazines across the
country. He won his first critical acclaim for his
starring role in the television movie The Boy in the
Plastic Bubble (1976), in which he played a teenage
boy forced to live life inside a protective dome because
of a birth defect that left his body's immune system
almost powerless.
Travolta's
first major movie role was as Tony Manero in Saturday
Night Fever (1977), for which he had to spend nine
months learning to disco dance. Already popular thanks to
his portrayal of Vinnie Barbarino, Saturday Night
Fever enhanced Travolta's fame and catapaulted disco
into a nationwide sensation. Travolta earned the first of
his two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor the
following year. He followed this success with his
portrayal of Danny Zuko in the movie version of Grease,
opposite Olivia Newton-John, in 1978, and of Bud in the
western dance movie Urban Cowboy, in 1980.