John Travolta

John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954 in Englewood, New Jersey) is an American actor.

Related Topics:
February 18 - 1954 - Englewood, New Jersey - American - Actor

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Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, the son of Italian-American Salvatore Travolta, a semi-professional footballer, turned tire salesman and Irish-American Helen Cecilia Burke, an actress and singer who had appeared in radio vocal group The Sunshine Sisters, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama teacher.

Related Topics:
Englewood, New Jersey - Italian - American - Irish-American

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Travolta gained his first major movie role as Billy Nolan the taunter of Sissy Spacek's Carrie White in the horror film Carrie (1976). He was also well known at the time for his role as Vinnie Barbarino in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979) in which his real-life sister Ellen Travolta also occasionally appeared (as "Horshack's mother"). His most memorable roles came in 1977 and 1978 as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever, (1977) and as Danny Zuko in Grease at the height of the disco era. After that, his career more or less slumped until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's cult hit Pulp Fiction, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

Related Topics:
Sissy Spacek - Carrie - 1976 - TV - Sitcom - Welcome Back, Kotter - 1975 - 1979 - Ellen Travolta - 1977 - 1978 - Saturday Night Fever - Danny Zuko - Grease - Disco era - Vincent Vega - Quentin Tarantino - Pulp Fiction - Academy Award

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Travolta also played a lead role in the panned Battlefield Earth (which, oddly enough, is based in a work of pulp fiction), in which he plays the leader of a group of aliens that enslave humanity on a bleak future Earth. The film received almost universally negative reviews and did poorly at the box office. Travolta, who is a Scientologist (converted 1975) and idolizes the late L. Ron Hubbard, had hoped that the film would be well-received and be the first in a series of Hubbard film adaptations.

Related Topics:
Battlefield Earth - Pulp fiction - Scientologist - 1975 - L. Ron Hubbard

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His affiliation with Scientology has caused some controversy. In 1998 he was named in a lawsuit involving a former member of the Church that claims that he was promised by the Church 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." http://www.lermanet.com/cos/FABMagazine.htm. Despite his lawyer's contention, rumors of Travolta's homosexuality persist.

Related Topics:
1998 - Homosexuality - Sexual orientation

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He is married to fellow Scientologist and actress Kelly Preston and the father of two children. Previously he was involved with actress Diana Hyland, who died of breast cancer (reportedly in Travolta's arms) in 1977.

Related Topics:
Kelly Preston - Diana Hyland

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Travolta is a qualified pilot, and owns five airplanes, including a former Qantas Boeing 707-138. The plane bears the name "Jett Clipper Ella". Pan Am was a large operator of the 707 and used Clipper in their names. The plane is named for his son Jett and daughter Ella. His house in Ocala, Florida has its own runway and taxiway right to the door. In 1993 Travolta successfully performed an emergency landing of a plane with electric trouble at Washington Reagan National Airport.

Related Topics:
Qantas - Boeing 707 - Pan Am - 707 - Ocala, - Florida - 1993 - Washington Reagan National Airport

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