John Travolta, famous Actor was born on February 18, 1954, in Englewood, New Jersey. The youngest of six children born into a family of entertainers, John Travolta dropped out of high school by age 16 to pursue a career in acting. In 1975, Travolta shot to stardom for his role as Vinnie Barbarino in the hit TV series Welcome Back Kotter.
The following year, he won the lead in the critically acclaimed TV movie, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. International fame came with two successive box-office hits, Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease(1978).
He earned an Oscar nod for his role in the former, becoming an icon for disco nightlife and ’70s culture.
Travolta was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in Get Shorty.
Travolta had a hit single entitled “Let Her In”, peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July 1976. In the next few years, he appeared in two of his most noted screen roles: Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and as Danny Zuko in Grease (1978).
The films were among the most commercially successful pictures of the decade and catapulted Travolta to international stardom. At age 24, Travolta became one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.
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.
In 2005, Travolta reprised the role of ultra cool Chili Palmer in the “Get Shorty” sequel “Be Cool.” In addition, he starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the critically acclaimed independent feature film “A Love Song for Bobby Long,” which was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where both Travolta and the films won rave reviews.
In 2007 he starred in Wild Hogs and played Mrs. Edna Turnblad in the remake of Hairspray, his first musical since Grease. In 2008 he lent his voice for the film Bolt, in which he played the title role.
Tragedy struck the Travolta family when their son, Jett, died on January 2, 2009, during a family vacation in the Bahamas. A coroner’s report determined the cause of death to be a seizure.
In May 2010, nearly 16 months after their son’s death, the couple announced that they were expecting another child. In addition, Travolta starred opposite Denzel Washington in director Tony Scott’s remake of “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” and he provided the voice of the lead character in Walt Disney Pictures’ animated hit “Bolt.”
Bolt was nominated for a 2009 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film, in addition to Best Song for John and Miley Cyrus’ duet titled, “I Thought I Lost You.”
On September 13, 2010, during the first episode of the final season of her talk show, Oprah Winfrey announced that she would be taking her entire studio audience on an 8-day expenses-paid trip to Australia, with Travolta serving as pilot for the trip. He had helped Winfrey plan the trip for more than a year.