John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, one of six children of 'Helen Travolta' , are also very involved in their charity, The Jett Travolta Foundation, which raises money for children with educational needs.
(October 1997) Ranked #21 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
He appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine four times, the most for any actor (through 1994).
He was named Man of the Year by Harvards Hasty Pudding Club in 1981.
Richard Gere practically owes his film career to Travolta. Travolta turned down the leads for Days of Heaven , American Gigolo , An Officer and a Gentleman and Chicago , all of which went to Gere.
John Travolta married Kelly Preston twice. Their first wedding on September 5, 1991, by a French Scientologist minister, was declared illegal. The couple met during the filming of The Experts .
John Travolta and Kelly Preston had a son, Jett Travolta (April 13, 1992 - January 2, 2009).
His son, Jett Travolta, was conceived during a weekend at the home of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. (source: Premiere August 1996, p.60).
Brother of Joey Travolta , Ellen Travolta , Ann Travolta , Margaret Travolta and Sam Travolta.
Was the youngest of six children of Salvatore Travolta and Helen Travolta.
During the filming of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble , he fell in love with Diana Hyland , 18 years his senior. She died of cancer in his arms in 1977.
(December 1993) 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.
Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John Willis Screen World, Vol. 28.
In July 1978, he became the very first male to make the cover of McCalls magazine.
He pilots three Gulfstream jets and a Learjet. Also owns a Boeing 707.
(April 3, 2000) His second child with Kelly Preston , daughter Ella Bleu Travolta was born, weighing in at 4.08 kilos (nine pounds).
Read for the Tom Hanks role in Splash but was discouraged by his agent from doing the film.
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.
Did yoga and boxing to cut his love handles for the film Swordfish .
Was told to gain thirty pounds for his role in the movie Primary Colors .
Owns homes in Santa Barbara, California; Ocala, Florida; Maine; and in his wifes home state of Hawaii. Main residence is in Ocala, Florida where he owns a large home, complete with airstrip for his planes.
Hit #106 on the Billboard Singles Charts in 1977 with "Slow Dancing (Feels So Good)" (Midland Int. 10977).
According to the documentary We Get to Win This Time , the producers of Rambo: First Blood Part II considered teaming up Sylvester Stallone with John Travolta as Rambos 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.
Spent nine months learning how to dance to disco music while filming Saturday Night Fever .
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.
He has also worked as a musician and released several albums. He claims that he got all his inspiration from one song only; the instrumental song "Dreamstreet", a song by Patrick Rondat.
While filming the movie Blow Out , 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.
In October 2004, he starred in a series of television commercials for Sky TV (meant for Italian TV). Directed by Harald Zwart , the television commercials play as a sitcom, where John Travolta - as himself - moves in with a working-class family because they have Sky.
He was voted the 64th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Ranked #3 in TV Guides list of "TVs 25 Greatest Teen Idols" (January 23, 2005 issue).
Has published two books: "John Travolta Staying Fit!", published by Simon and Schuster in 1984, and "Propeller One-Way Night Coach, A Fable for All Ages", published by Warner Books in 1997.
His first released record came out in 1976 when he had a Top 20 hit single, "Let Her In". When record producers saw him in "Welcome Back, Kotter" singing "Barbara Anne", originally by The Beach Boys , they signed him.
After the "Grease" album was released, he came out with a deluxe 2-record set called: "Travolta Fever", which was released in 1978.
His favorite movie is Un homme et une femme . His favorite movie as a child was Yankee Doodle Dandy .
During the 1970s, he frequently watched foreign films. One of his favorites was La strada .
Oprah Winfrey s favorite movie star.
Best friends with Kirstie Alley.
He frequently eats at Dennys in the middle of the night. Which is where he ate through the movie Lucky Numbers .
Was friends with James Cagney , Cary Grant and Barbara Stanwyck.
His favorite actor growing up was James Cagney.
Turned down the roles: Splash , Apollo 13 and Forrest Gump . Tom Hanks was cast as the lead.
Owned a three-bedroom beach front oceanfront estate, on Oahu in Hawaii from 1986-2005. He and his wife Kelly Preston sold it to Kathy Ireland for $3 million U.S. and she plans to rent the private residence out as one of several Kathy Ireland Worldwide company vacation villas.
Turned down several offers from the producers of Chicago to play the role of Billy Flynn. Richard Gere accepted the role and won a Golden Globe for his performance.
Got the role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction primarily because Michael Madsen , the actor for whom the role was written, was unavailable due to a prior film commitment. Vincent was the brother of Michael Madsen s character Vic Vega (aka Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs ) and the role jump-started his career after a long slump.
His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. Johns father, Salvatore/Samuel J. Travolta, was born in New Jersey, the son of Salvatore/Samuel Travolta and Giuseppina/Josephine Marsala. Johns mother was born Helen Cecilia Burke, also in New Jersey, and was the daughter of Charles Frederick Burke and Mary Ellen Murphy.
Was considered for the role of Jim Morrison in The Doors . The role went to Val Kilmer instead.
His performance as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever is ranked #73 on Premiere magazines 100 Greatest Performances of All Time .
On the "Saturday Night Live" episode, "Saturday Night Live" {John Travolta/Seal (#20.3)} , he parodied his "Welcome Back, Kotter" character Vinnie Barbarino.
His characters make mention of an Al Pacino film in at least three of his films: Saturday Night Fever , Get Shorty and Swordfish .
Owns a home in Ocala, Florida because of his wifes intense love of horses.
He lost 20 pounds for his role in Saturday Night Fever .
Was strongly in the running to play Larry Meadows in The Last Detail , only losing the role to Randy Quaid at the last minute. This would have been his big-screen debut.
Is good friends with actor Forest Whitaker who appeared with him in Phenomenon and Battlefield Earth .
Was among the guests at Tom Cruise s and Katie Holmes wedding ceremony in Italy.
(April 2, 2007) On his return flight from Germany to New York, the actor was forced to make an emergency landing in his Boeing 707 at Irelands Shannon Airport. Hed 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 jets engine problems and was safely diverted to Shannon on Irelands 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.
Friends with actor Billy Lockwood.
In 1985, Princess Diana asked him to dance at a party at the White House.
For his acting, drew inspiration from James Cagney , Al Pacino , Robert De Niro and others.
Master of Ceremony at the Centennial of Flight Celebration at Kitty Hawk in December 2003, where he presented to John Glenn aviations highest award.
Has been the Ambassador for Qantas since 2001.
He also owns an Eclipse 500 twin turbofan aircraft.
Has appeared in Hairspray , opposite Michelle Pfeiffer , whose debut film was Grease 2 , the sequel to Grease , in which Travolta appeared.
Has claimed his favorite director to work with was Sylvester Stallone , for Staying Alive . He said Stallone knew how to make him look the best on screen.
Stated that one of his favorite places is Gander, Newfoundland, Canada.
Jett Travolta , his 16-year-old son, died following a seizure at the familys Bahamas holiday retreat on January 2, 2009.
His publicist is Paul Bloch.
He was offered the role of Melvin Udall in As Good as It Gets , which went to Jack Nicholson.
Close friends with Dakota Fanning and Robin Williams.
Was considered for the role of Lester Burnham in American Beauty but Kevin Spacey , who went on to win a Best Actor Oscar for his performance, was cast instead.
He was offered Richard Gere s role in An Officer and a Gentleman , and opted to go to American Airlines jet pilot school, instead.
Owns a vacation home on a small island in Maines Penobscot Bay. The secluded 20-room chteau, surrounded by acres of pines, overlooks the ocean and comfortably accommodates up to 50 guests. He bought it because Christmas is his favorite holiday, and he wanted a place big enough to house his extended family.
Was married to Kelly Preston on September 5, 1991 at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris in a private ceremony. A small orchestra performed the main theme from Un homme et une femme , Travoltas favourite French film.
He was due to have played the lead role in The Double, an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky s novel about a man whose life is taken over by his doppelganger. He was being paid $17m and shooting was to have started in Paris in June 1996. Just days before principal photography was due to begin, he flew back to the United States following an argument with the films director, Roman Polanski , over alleged changes to the script and the film collapsed shortly afterwards.
Lives in Los Angeles, California and Anthony, Florida.
(May 18, 2010) John and his wife, Kelly Preston , are expecting their third child.
He was inducted into the 2011 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Arts and Entertainment.
Third child, a son named Benjamin, was born in a Florida hospital on November 23, 2010 at 8 lbs. 3 oz.
Stepbrother-in-law of Chris Palzis.
Son-in-law of Peter Palzis.
On "Inside the Actors Studio" {(#9.13)} , he listed Les valseuses as his favorite movie.
John and his wife, Kelly Preston , have the distinction of having both starred in movies based on Stephen King novels, where the title of each was a girls name which began with the letter "C". John starred in Carrie and Kelly starred in Christine .
In 1986, he was slated to co-star with Whoopi Goldberg in a buddy/action-comedy called "Public Enemies", produced by the Cannon Group. In it, he would have played a disgruntled cop who is teamed up with a reckless young rookie, played by Goldberg, to uncover the whereabouts of a notorious mob figure. Bud Yorkin was attached to direct. Even though it was heavily publicized at the Cannes Film Festival, funding fell through and the project was scrapped.
Although he is often cast as Italian-American and is of Italian descent on his fathers side, he has stated that his family was invested more in his mothers Irish ancestry, and he grew up mostly around Irish culture.
Was good friends with the late James Gandolfini. His father sold tires to James father.
Speaks French fluently.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 5, 1985.
In honor of his 60th birthday on February 18, 2014, there was a special singalong showing of Grease at the Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles. Before the start of the movie a video tribute from Olivia Newton-John was played followed by a thank you video from John Travolta.
(March 2014) Has starred in films that appear in both IMDbs Top 250 and IMDbs Bottom 100. The highest of his IMDb Top 250 film is at 5th position with Pulp Fiction . The lowest of his entry in IMDbs Bottom 100 is on 73th (number 27 from the bottom) with Battlefield Earth .
He auditioned to play Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar , which went to Ted Neeley.
When introducing Idina Menzel at the 2014 Academy Awards, he mistakenly pronounced her name as "Adele Dazeem". The flub has since drawn a lot of attention and ridicule (including a Twitter account for Adele Dazeem). Travolta apologized to Menzel and sent her a bouquet of flowers.
He turned down the role played by Johnny Depp in Nick of Time .
He presented the Oscar for Best Actor at the 55th Academy Awards in 1983. The winner was Ben Kingsley for Gandhi .
Travolta selected Yankee Doodle Dandy as his all-time favorite film as part of an AFI poll.
Turned down the role of "Dave Seville" in Alvin and the Chipmunks .
Was offered the role of the "Green Goblin" in Spider-Man .
Michael Jackson s song "Wanna Be Startin Somethin" was originally written for Travolta but ultimately ended up as Michaels own personal recording from his 1982 "Thriller" album. Travolta would later appear as one of several celebrity cameos in Michael Jackson: Liberian Girl .
In 2014 John received the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema.
John stars in three of the top 150 Greatest Movies of All Time, as listed by Empire Magazine: Blow Out (#139), Carrie (#86), Pulp Fiction (#9) [August 2015].
John Travolta was recently named one of the Most Valuable Actors of All Time, with the total gross of his films coming in at $4.3 billion.
John Travolta has had 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from 1976-1978: "Grease Lightnin" (#47), "Whenever Im Away From You" (#38), "All Strung Out On You" (#34), "Let Her In" (#10), and "Youre the One That I Want", which peaked at #1 and was on the chart for 24 weeks.
10 of Johns films have grossed over $100 million in the US: Grease , Wild Hogs , Saturday Night Fever , Look Whos Talking , Hairspray , Bolt , Face/Off , Pulp Fiction , Phenomenon and The Generals Daughter ; 8 of these have grossed over $200 million worldwide.
After starting his career on the TV show "Welcome Back, Kotter" , John Travoltas film career took off in the late 1970s with starring roles in Saturday Night Fever , which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor in a leading role, and Grease . Adjusted for inflation, these remain the two highest-grossing films of Travoltas career.
John was the winner of the Juno Award for International Single of the Year for "Youre the One That I Want" in 1979.
Turned down the role of "Forrest Gump" in Forrest Gump , a decision he later admitted was a mistake.
Has a dance scene in nearly all of his films.
He was a people person first and then everything else. He was this,beautiful man and I love him very much.
[on being cast in Pulp Fiction (1994) ] There was a rumor that a,young new director who had directed a film called,Reservoir Dogs (1992) was quite interested in working with me.
To be honest, I thought "Pulp" would have the same fate as,Reservoir Dogs (1992) , meaning it would be an art house movie,that would have a smaller audience. I never thought it would have a,mainstream audience; I thought it was too unique of a movie to hit a,commercial note. And when it did, it surprised all of us, I think,because we were going to be fine with it having the same success as,Reservoir Dogs. But that it would become Forrest Gump (1994) was,a whole other idea.
[2014] My films have an interesting continuous effect.
Sports, entertainment and aviation are three of the most exciting professions in the world; you are dealing with the same magnitude.
When I was a very little boy, I lived underneath the air pattern of LaGuardia airport in New York and I watched the planes fly to their destinations. I was in love with the design of these airplanes.
The first thing I ever rode when I was a kid was a motorcycle, so I knew how to drive a motorcycle before a car. .
