John Travolta
John Travolta | |
|---|---|
 John Travolta in Sweden, 1983 | |
| Born | John Joseph Travolta |
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft) |
| Spouse | Kelly Preston (12 September 1991 - present) 2 children |
| Website | www.travolta.com |
John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, singer, entertainer and aviator. He became known during the late 1970s, establishing a career as a leading Hollywood actor, and has subsequently continued appearing in major films, including his 1990s roles in Pulp Fiction and Get Shorty.
Biography
Early life
Travolta, the youngest of six children, was born in Englewood, New Jersey, to Salvatore Travolta, a second-generation Italian American semi-professional football player turned tire salesman, and Helen Cecilia Burke, an Irish American[1] [2] actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama teacher. She was 42 when Travolta was born. Travolta grew up in an Irish-American neighborhood[3] and has said that his household was predominantly Irish in culture. His family was Catholic.[4]
Career
After dropping out of Dwight Morrow High School after his junior year, Travolta moved to New York City to get a job as a performer. He landed roles in the touring company of Grease (musical) and on Broadway in Over Here! singing the Sherman Brothers' song "Dream Drummin'.'" Travolta also cut singles for a local record company, but the songs were quickly forgotten. But eventually, he moved to Los Angeles, California to further his career in show business.
Travolta gained his first major movie role as Billy Nolan, a sadistic bully who taunted Sissy Spacek's Carrie White 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).
Around this time he also had a hit single entitled "Let Her In" peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 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). 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, that eventually went on to sell more than 10 million copies. 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.
After Urban Cowboy came a string of flops that sidelined his acting career. Some suggest that he was typecast as a disco stud or 1970s icon, which could be the reason his agent intervened on several occasions to turn down acting roles. During that time he was offered, but turned down, lead roles in what would become box office hits, including American Gigolo, An Officer and A Gentleman, and Splash. The first two films ultimately starred Richard Gere in the lead role and went to become box office successes. This was also the case much later in his career with the movie Chicago - the role of lawyer Billy Flynn was offered to Travolta, but ultimately was played by Gere; the film went on to become a highly commercial and critical success. His only hit film during this period was alongside Kirstie Alley and a baby voiced by Bruce Willis in Look Who's Talking. However, it wasn't 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. The movie shifted him back onto the A-list, and he was inundated with offers. Coincidentally, before Travolta took the role he visited Tarantino, who was living in the same ramshackle apartment in Los Angeles that Travolta had inhabited when he got his start. Notable roles following Pulp Fiction include a movie-buff loan shark in Get Shorty (1995), an FBI agent in Face/Off (1997), a desperate attorney in A Civil Action (1998) and a military detective in The General's Daughter (1999).
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.[5] Travolta, who converted to Scientology in 1975 and endorses Hubbard's teachings, had hoped that the film would be well received and be the first in a series of Hubbard film adaptations. In fact, the film won a Razzie Award for Worst Film of the Year at the 2000 awards.
Travola is currently starring as a workaholic turned biker in Wild Hogs 2007.
Travolta will play Edna Turnblad in the 2007 adaptation of Hairspray.
Personal life
Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991. They have a son named Jett, and a daughter named Ella Bleu. On April 10, 2006, Mark Ebner of Hollywood, Interrupted made a public plea to Travolta and Preston to have their son treated for autism, alleging five reliable sources—including representatives from Cure Autism Now and The Autism Perspective—who claim that Jett suffers from autism, and not from Kawasaki syndrome as stated by the parents.[6][7][8] His brother Joey Travolta recently produced a documentary about autism.
Travolta is a FAA licensed pilot and owns five airplanes, including an ex-Australian airliner, the Qantas 707-138. The plane bears the name Jett Clipper Ella in honor of his son Jett and his daughter Ella. Pan Am was a large operator of the 707 and used Clipper in their names. The 707 aircraft bears the marks of Qantas, as Travolta acts as an official goodwill ambassador for the airline wherever he flies. His US$4.9 million estate in the Jumbolair subdivision in Anthony, Florida is situated on Greystone Airport with its own runway and taxiway right to the door.[9]
In 1992, he wrote and illustrated a short children's book entitled Propeller One-Way Night Coach about the fictional journey of an 8-year-old boy named Jeff across the USA in the 1950s. He celebrated with the Australian national football team in their dressing room following their qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. [citation needed]
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Questions have also been raised regarding what kind of agreements were made between Travolta and then-President Bill Clinton, regarding how Travolta would portray Jack Stanton, a character based on Clinton, in the movie Primary Colors and whether Clinton would pressure the German government to remove its ban on Scientology. Travolta was quoted about the issue in May 1998 issue of George magazine:
The next day, I met with Clinton. He told me: "Your program sounds great. More than that, I'd really love to help you with your issue over in Germany with Scientology." I was waiting for the seduction that I had heard so much about. I thought, "Well, how could he ever seduce me?" And after we talked, I thought, "Bingo!" He did it. Scientology is the one issue that really matters to me.
In another interview, Travolta admitted that his portrayal of Stanton was much more kind than that in the book Primary Colors.[10] The next year, in November 1998, Clinton sent Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to urge German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel to grant Scientology the status of a registered religion—without success.[11]
Other
Travolta's affiliation with Scientology is frequently mentioned in the press. In 1998, he was named in a lawsuit involving a former member who claimed that he was promised that his homosexuality could be cured. The lawsuit alleged that the organization frequently cited Travolta as proof that the organization could in fact change a person's sexual orientation. A lawyer for Travolta replied, "This looks like complete hogwash. Travolta is a happily married man, which proves he isn't gay."[12] Paul Barresi claimed to have had a homosexual relationship with Travolta in 1982, but later recanted the statement.[13] In 2006, Travolta was photographed in the exchange of a kiss with an unidentified male in Hamilton, Ontario. However, Travolta's attorney, Martin Singer, stated that Travolta's wife Preston was on board the plane and claimed the kiss to be a nonromantic gesture Travolta makes with all close friends of both genders, and that "people who are close to Mr. Travolta are aware of his customary, non-romantic gesture."[14]
Travolta was previously involved with actress Diana Hyland, who died of breast cancer (reportedly in Travolta's arms) in 1977.[15]
In March 2007, Travolta told the London Evening Standard that everyone needed to "do their bit" to fight global warming. His statement was criticized by environmentalist John Buckley, who pointed out that Travolta flew his private jets to movie premieres and on a recent two-month trip around the world.
Travolta also suggested that the damage caused by global warming might be irreparable and that people needed to "think about other planets and doomed cities."[citation needed]
Travolta in popular culture
In Garfield, Jon's Aunt Gussie has a crush on John Travolta. As a pilot for Qantas, the official sponsors of the Australian national football team, in November 2005 Travolta offered to personally fly the players to Germany for the 2006 FIFA World Cup if they qualified. The Socceroos beat Uruguay to qualify and after the victory at Telstra Stadium, Sydney, Travolta celebrated with the Australian players by reciting songs from the film Grease. However just before the Socceroos were due to fly out of Australia, Qantas released a statement saying there was never a plan for Travolta to fly the team to Germany.[16]
Faith No More's Mike Patton wrote and recorded a song called "Travolta" with his band Mr. Bungle. The name of the song was changed to "Quote Unquote" due to legal reasons. The song came out 1991, which was a time at which John Travolta was considered a "has-been" actor. This was before Pulp Fiction came out, and Travolta's career took off again. "Quote Unquote" is also the name of a book John Travolta published around this time. He has danced in all but one of his films.
In an episode of South Park, Travolta was one of the characters shown trying to get Tom Cruise out of Stan's closet.
Template:Spoiler Many of John Travolta's roles involve his characters dying:
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Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | The Devil's Rain | Danny | |
| 1976 | The Boy in the Plastic Bubble | Tod Lubitch | |
| Carrie | Billy Nolan | ||
| 1977 | Saturday Night Fever | Tony Manero | |
| 1978 | Moment by Moment | Strip Harrison | |
| Grease | Danny Zuko | ||
| 1980 | Urban Cowboy | Buford 'Bud' Uan Davis | |
| 1981 | Blow Out | Jack Terry | |
| 1983 | Staying Alive | Tony Manero | |
| Two of a Kind | Zack | ||
| 1985 | Perfect | Adam Lawrence | |
| 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 | ||
| 1992 | Boris and Natasha | Himself | (cameo) |
| 1993 | Look Who's Talking Now | James Ubriacco | |
| 1994 | Pulp Fiction | Vincent Vega | |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Chili Palmer | |
| 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 | ||
| She's So Lovely | Joey | ||
| 1998 | A Civil Action | Jan Schlichtmann | |
| The Thin Red Line | Brigadier General Quintard | ||
| Junket Whore | Himself | (documentary) | |
| Primary Colors | Governor Jack Stanton | ||
| 1999 | The General's Daughter | Warr. Off. Paul Brenner/Sgt. Frank White | |
| 2000 | Welcome to Hollywood | Himself | (documentary) |
| Lucky Numbers | Russ Richards | ||
| Battlefield Earth | Terl | ||
| 2001 | Domestic Disturbance | Frank Morrison | |
| Swordfish | Gabriel Shear | ||
| 2002 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | "Austinpussy" Johann van der Smut | |
| 2003 | Basic | 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 | Himself | (narrator; documentary) |
| Be Cool | Chili Palmer | ||
| 2006 | 2004: A Light Knight's Odyssey | Dave | (voice only; currently filming) |
| Lonely Hearts | Elmer C. Robinson | ||
| 2007 | Hairspray | Edna Turnblad | (currently filming) |
| Wild Hogs | Woody | ||
| Dallas | J.R. Ewing | (pre-production) | |
| 2008 | American Dog | American Dog the Hound Dog | (voice only; pre-production) |
Salary
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Television work
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Music career
Discography
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Singles
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Footnotes
- ^ http://www.showbizireland.com/news/july01/20-travolta01.shtml
- ^ http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=26272&pageIndex=1
- ^ http://www.beatboxbetty.com/celebetty/johntravolta/johntravolta2/johntravolta2/johntravolta2.htm
- ^ http://www.hollywoodauditions.com/Biographies/john_travolta.htm
- ^ rotten tomatoes about "Battlefield Earth"
- ^ "A Plea From Hollywood: John Travolta - Open Your Heart!". Hollywood, Interrupted. 10 April 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ Jo Piazza, Chris Rovzar (April 2006). "Travolta son's diagnosis: Science vs. Scientology?". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ "Infectious Disease Information - Kawasaki Syndrome". Centers for Disease Control. January 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ "Jumbolair". The House of Rapp. 17 November 2003. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ "Clinton helped Church of Scientology..." FACT.net. March 1998. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ "John Travolta: Clinton unterstützte Scientology in Deutschland". Pewid.ch. 1998. Retrieved 2007-01-22.
- ^ "Scientology, Travolta and Gays". FABMagazine. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ Mark Ebner; Jack Cheevers (23 Mar 2006). "The Bagman". New Times LA. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Lowri Williams (18 Sep 2006). "John Travolta Is Not Gay: Just friendly..." Entertainmentwise. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ "biography of Diana Hyland". IMDB. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ Geoff McClure (May 23 2006). "Travolta cup flight chat was all hot air". The Age. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
Literature
- Brigitte Tast (ed.) John Travolta (Hildesheim/Germany 1978) ISBN 3-88842-103-9.
External links
- John Travolta official homepage
- John Travolta at IMDb
- Template:Nndb name
- John Travolta links about John Travolta at dmoz the open directory
- John Travolta at Rotten Tomatoes
- Articles lacking sources from February 2007
- 1954 births
- American actor-singers
- American aviators
- American film actors
- American television actors
- American male singers
- American musical theatre actors
- American pop singers
- American Scientologists
- Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film)
- Converts to Scientology
- Former Roman Catholics
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Irish-American actors
- Irish-American singers
- Italian-American actors
- Italian-American musicians
- Living people
- New Jersey actors
- People from Englewood, New Jersey
- Sherman Brothers
- Worst Actor Razzie