John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He is married to actress Kelly Preston and father of two children. He became famous for his appearance in Saturday Night Fever and Grease at the height of the disco era, as well as for his portrayal of Vinnie Barbarino on the television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. After that, his career more or less slumped until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. He also received an Academy Award nomination for this performance.
Travolta also played a lead role in the critically panned Battlefield Earth, in which he plays the leader of a group of aliens that enslave humanity in a bleak future Earth. Some felt that this movie, which was based on a story by scientologist L. Ron Hubbard, was so terrible that they coined a pun of Travolta's name, "Travolting", in order to describe it. Luckily for Travolta, this term has not entered into common usage. Travolta, who is a scientologist and idolizes the late Ron Hubbard, had hoped that the film would be well-received and be the first in a series of Hubbard film adaptations.
Travolta is a qualified pilot, and owns a former Qantas DC-8 aeroplane. His house in Florida has its own runway and taxiway right to the door.
Travolta has always been accessible to his public and loves to sign autographs.
Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey.
Filmography (acting)