One of six children born to Helen Travolta and Salvatore Travolta, John Travolta grew up in Englewood, New Jersey. His father owned a tire repair shop in Englewood. Travolta appeared in a local production of "Who'll Save the Plowboy?". His mother enrolled him in a drama school in New York, where he studied voice, dancing and acting. He decided to combine all three of these skills and become a musical comedy performer. At 16 he landed his first professional job in a summer stock production of the musical "Bye Bye Birdie". He quit school at 16 and moved to New York, and worked regularly in summer stock and on television commercials. When work became scarce in New York, he went to Hollywood and appeared in minor roles in several series. A role in the national touring company of the hit 1950s musical "Grease" brought him back to New York. An opening in the New York production of "Grease" gave him his first Broadway role at age 18. After "Grease", he became a member of the company of the Broadway show "Over Here", which starred The Andrews Sisters. After ten months in "Over Here", he decided to try Hollywood once again. Once back in Hollywood, he had little trouble getting roles in numerous television shows. He was seen on The Rookies, Emergency! and Medical Center and also made a movie, The Devil's Rain, which was shot in New Mexico. The day he returned to Hollywood from New Mexico, he was called to an audition for a new situation comedy series ABC was planning to produce called Welcome Back, Kotter. He got the part of Vinnie Barbarino and the series went on the air during the 1975 fall season. The rest, as they say, is history.


Hairspray (2007): US$14 million including ca. US$3 million prerequisites
Be Cool (2005): $20,000,000
Ladder 49 (2004): $20,000,000
Basic (2003): $15,000,000
Swordfish (2001): $20,000,000
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000): $10,000,000 + Profit Points
The General's Daughter (1999): $20,000,000
A Civil Action (1998): $20,000,000
Primary Colors (1998): $17,000,000
Mad City (1997): $20,000,000
Face/Off (1997): $20,000,000
Michael (1996): $12,000,000
Phenomenon (1996): $8,000,000
Broken Arrow (1996): $7,000,000
Get Shorty (1995): $6,000,000
Pulp Fiction (1994): $150,000

Ranked #21 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] He was named Man of the Year by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Club in 1981. John Travolta married Kelly Preston twice. Their first wedding on 5 September 1991, by a French Scientologist minister, was declared illegal. The couple met during the filming of The Experts (1989). Jett was conceived during a weekend at the home of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. (source: Premiere August 1996, p.60). Was the youngest of six siblings. Parents: Salvatore and Helen Travolta of Englewood, NJ. Pilots a multitude of jet aircraft. Most notable aviation feat is successful landing at Washington National of a Gulfstream IIB with complete electrical failure. Conditions at the time were night, IMC, icing. December of 1993. In July 1978 he became the very first male to make the cover of "McCall's" magazine. His second child with Kelly Preston, daughter Ella Bleu Travolta was born, weighing in at 4.08 kilos (nine pounds). [3 April 2000] Was signed on to play rock star Jim Morrison in an early 1980s biopic about The Doors. Due to legal problems, the project was dropped. His favorite film is Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Owns homes in Santa Barbara, California; Ocala, Florida; Maine; and in his wife's home state of Hawaii. Main residence is in Ocala, Florida where he owns a large home, complete with airstrip for his planes. According to the documentary We Get to Win This Time (2002) (V), the producers of Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) considered teaming up Sylvester Stallone with John Travolta as Rambo's young partner in rescuing the American POWs. Sylvester Stallone nixed this idea when he decided it would be better to make the film a solo project. He owns (and is qualified to fly as second in command) a Boeing 707-138, appropriately registered N707JT, first built in 1964 for QANTAS of Australia. Recently he had the aircraft painted in its original QANTAS paint-job and took it on a worldwide promotional tour for QANTAS and, in return, was trained as a 747-400 first officer with Qantas. While filming the movie Blow Out (1981), he suffered from insomnia, which he had since he was a child waiting up for his mother to come home from late acting jobs. He learned to play the violin to calm his nerves. He was voted the 64th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Has published two books: "John Travolta Staying Fit!", published by Simon and Schuster in 1984, & "Propeller One-Way Night Coach, A Fable for All Ages", published by Warner Books in 1997. After the "Grease" album was released, he came out with a deluxe 2-record set called: "Travolta Fever", which was released in 1978. During the 1970s, he frequently watched foreign films. One of his favorites was La strada (1954). His best female friend is Kirstie Alley. Was friends with James Cagney, Cary Grant and Barbara Stanwyck. Turned down the roles: Splash (1984), Apollo 13 (1995) and Forrest Gump (1994). Turned down several offers from the producers of Chicago (2002) to play the role of Billy Flynn. Richard Gere accepted the role and won a Golden Globe for his performance. Is of Italian descent on his father's side and Irish descent on his mother's side. His performance as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) is ranked #73 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). His characters make mention of an Al Pacino film in at least three of his films: Saturday Night Fever (1977); Get Shorty (1995) and Swordfish (2001). He lost 20 pounds for his role in Saturday Night Fever (1977). Is good friends with actor Forest Whitaker who appeared with him in Phenomenon (1996) and Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000). [2 April 2007] On his return flight from Germany to New York, the actor was forced to make an emergency landing in his Boeing 707 at Ireland's Shannon Airport. He'd been promoting his new movie in Europe and encountered technical difficulties on his return flight. Fortunately for the actor, he was flying over Ireland at the time he first detected his private jet's engine problems and was safely diverted to Shannon on Ireland's west coast. Not allowing himself to be fazed by the whole ordeal, Travolta grounded his 34-seater and continued his flight home on a commercial airline. In 1985, Princess Diana asked him to dance at a party at the White House. Master of Ceremony at the Centennial of Flight Celebration at Kitty Hawk in December 2003, where he presented to John Glenn aviation's highest award. One of his closest friends is Robin Williams. Appears in Hairspray (2007), opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, whose debut film was Grease 2 (1982), the sequel to Grease (1978), in which Travolta appeared. Stated that one of his favorite places is Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. His publicist is Paul Bloch. Close friend of Dakota Fanning. He was offered Richard Gere's role in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), and opted to go to American Airlines' jet pilot school, instead. Was married to Kelly Preston in Paris in a private ceremony. Lives in Los Angeles, California and Anthony, Florida.