John Travolta is the youngest of six children in a family of entertainers. His father was a former semi-pro football player and his mother an alumna of a radio vocal group called the Sunshine Sisters. All but one of his siblings pursued showbiz as a career.
      By the age of 12 John had already joined an area actors' group, and was soon appearing in local musicals and dinner-theatre. He also took tap-dancing lessons from Gene Kelly's brother Fred. At 16 he dropped out of high school to take up acting full time, relocating to New York where he made his off-Broadway debut in 1972's "Rain". In 1975, John Travolta was cast in the sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter", which went on to become a big hit, making John and the rest of the cast household names.
      John Travolta's first major feature film, 1977's "Saturday Night Fever", catapulted John into superstardom status practically over night, and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. From there he went on to star in "Grease" alongside Olivia Newton-John, spawning a massively popular soundtrack LP.
      During the 80's John Travolta's career suffered with several box office failures, but in 1994, he made one of the most stunning comebacks in entertainment history by starring in "Pulp Fiction", the critically acclaimed crime drama written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.
      John is married to actress Kelly Preston. They have a son, Jett, and a daughter, Ella Bleu.
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Bio by K. Kamarauskas © 2002 - [Please let us know of any errors]