John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, one of six children of
Helen Travolta (née Helen Cecilia Burke) and Salvatore/Samuel J. Travolta. His father was of Italian descent and his
mother was of Irish ancestry. His father owned a tire repair shop
called Travolta Tires in Hillsdale, NJ. Travolta started acting appearing in a local
production of "Who'll Save the Plowboy?". His mother, herself an
actress and dancer, enrolled him in a drama school in New York, where
he studied voice, dancing and acting. He decided to combine all three
of these skills and become a musical comedy performer. At 16 he landed
his first professional job in a summer stock production of the musical
"Bye Bye Birdie". He quit school at 16 and moved to New York, and
worked regularly in summer stock and on television commercials. When
work became scarce in New York, he went to Hollywood and appeared in
minor roles in several series. A role in the national touring company
of the hit 1950s musical "Grease" brought him back to New York. An
opening in the New York production of "Grease" gave him his first
Broadway role at age 18. After "Grease", he became a member of the
company of the Broadway show "Over Here", which starred
The Andrews Sisters. After ten
months in "Over Here", he decided to try Hollywood once again. Once
back in Hollywood, he had little trouble getting roles in numerous
television shows. He was seen on
The Rookies (1972),
Emergency! (1972) and
Medical Center (1969) and also
made a movie,
Diabelski deszcz (1975), which
was shot in New Mexico. The day he returned to Hollywood from New
Mexico, he was called to an audition for a new situation comedy series
ABC was planning to produce called
Welcome Back, Kotter (1975).
He got the part of Vinnie Barbarino and the series went on the air
during the 1975 fall season.He starred in a number of monumental films, earning his first... Oscar and
Golden Globe nominations for his role in the blockbuster Gorączka sobotniej nocy (1977), which launched the disco phenomenon in the 1970s. He went on to star in the big-screen version of the long-running musical
Grease (1978) and the wildly successful Miejski kowboj (1980), which also influenced trends in popular culture. Additional film credits include
the Brian De Palma thrillers Carrie (1976) and Wybuch (1981), as well as Amy Heckerling's hit comedy I kto to mówi (1989) and Nora Ephron's comic hit Michael (1996). Travolta starred in Fenomen (1996) and took an equally distinctive turn as an action star in John Woo's top-grossing Tajna broń (1996). He also starred in the classic Bez twarzy (1997) opposite Nicolas Cage, and Sprawa honoru (1999), co-starring Madeleine Stowe. In 2005, Travolta reprised the role of ultra cool Chili Palmer in the Dorwać Małego (1995) sequel Be Cool (2005). In addition, he starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the critically-acclaimed independent feature film Lokatorka (2004), which was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where both Travolta and the films won rave reviews. In February 2011, John was honored by Europe's leading weekly program magazine HORZU, with the prestigious Golden Camera Award for "Best Actor International" in Berlin, Germany. Other recent feature film credits include
box-office hit-comedy "Wild Hogs", the action-thriller Płonąca pułapka (2004), the movie version of the successful comic book Punisher (2004), the drama Sekcja 8. (2003), the psychological thriller Teren prywatny (2001), the hit action picture Kod dostępu (2001), the infamous sci-fi movie Bitwa o Ziemię (2000), based upon the best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard, and
Samotne serca (2006).Travolta has been honored twice with Academy Award nominations, the
latest for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit-man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe
nominations for this highly-acclaimed role and was named Best Actor by
the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, among other distinguished
awards. Travolta garnered further praise as a Mafioso-turned-movie
producer in the comedy sensation Dorwać Małego (1995), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. In 1998,
Travolta was honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
with the Britanna Award: and in that same year he received the Lifetime
Achievement Award at the Chicago Film Festival. Travolta also won the
prestigious Alan J. Pakula Award from the US Broadcast Critics
Association for his performance in Adwokat (1998), based on the
best-selling book and directed by Steven Zaillian. He was nominated again
for a Golden Globe for his performance in Barwy kampanii (1998), directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton, and in 2008, he received his sixth Golden Globe nomination for his role as "Edna Turnblad" in the big-screen, box-office hit, Lakier do włosów (2007). As a result of this performance, the Chicago Film Critics and the Santa Barbara Film Festival decided to recognize Travolta with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role.In addition, Travolta starred opposite Denzel Washington in
Tony Scott's remake Metro strachu (2009), and he provided the voice of the lead character in Walt Disney Pictures' animated hit Piorun (2008), which 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".Next, Travolta starred in Walt Disney Pictures' Stare wygi (2009),
along with Robin Williams, Kelly Preston and Ella Bleu Travolta, followed by the action thriller Pozdrowienia z Paryża (2010), starring opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers. In 2012, John starred alongside Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and Demián Bichir in Oliver Stone's, Savages: ponad bezprawiem (2012). The film was based on Don Winslow's best-selling crime novel
that was named one of The New York Times' Top 10 Books of 2010. John
was most recently seen in Sezon na zabijanie (2013), co-starring Robert De Niro, and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. John recently completed production on the Boston-based film, Fałszerz (2014), alongside Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer and Critic's Choice nominee Tye Sheridan. John plays a second-generation petty thief who arranges to get out of prison to spend time with his ailing son (Sheridan) by taking on a job with his father (Plummer) to pay back the syndicate that arranged his release. John has received 2 prestigious aviation awards: in 2003, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation Award for Excellence for his efforts to promote commercial flying, and, in 2007, The Living Legends Ambassador of
Aviation award.John holds 11 jet licenses: 747, 707, Gulfstream II, Lear 24, Hawker
1251A, Eclipse Jet, Vampire Jet, Canadair CL-141 Jet, Soko Jet,
Citation ISP and Challenger. Travolta is the Qantas Airways Global
Goodwill "Ambassador-at-Large" and piloted the original Qantas 707
during "Spirit of Friendship" global tour in July/August 2002. John is
also a business aircraft brand ambassador for Learjet, Challenger and
Global jets for the world's leading business aircraft manufacturer,
Bombardier. John flew the 707 to New Orleans after the 2005 hurricane
disaster bringing food and medical supplies, and in 2010, again flew
the 707, this time to Haiti after the earthquake, carrying supplies,
doctors and volunteers.John, along with his late wife, actress Kelly Preston (1962-2020), were very involved
in their charity, The Jett Travolta Foundation, which raises money for
children with educational needs.show more
