John Travolta

John Travolta (1954) is an American actor and singer, who rose to fame during the 1970s, when he appeared on the television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979), and starred in the box office successes Carrie (1976), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978) and Urban Cowboy (1980). His acting career declined throughout the 1980s, but in 1994, Travolta made one of the most stunning comebacks in entertainment history by starring in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). Since then he starred in such films as Get Shorty (1995), Face/Off (1997), Primary Colors (1998), and Hairspray (2007). Travolta was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for performances in Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. In 2016, he received his first Primetime Emmy Award, as a producer of the anthology series American Crime Story in which he also played lawyer Robert Shapiro.


American postcard by Coral-Lee, Rancho Cordova, CA, no. CL/Personality #12. Photo: Douglas Kirkland / Contact, 1977.


German promotion card by Polydor, no. 118. John Travolta in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. C.P.C.S. 33 150. John Travolta in Staying Alive (Sylvester Stallone, 1983).


British postcard, no. C077. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). The Hitman: "You play with matches, you get burned."


Vintage autograph photo. John Travolta in Broken Arrow (John Woo, 1996).

A latter-day Rebel Without a Cause in the New York City disco nightlife

The youngest of six children, John Travolta was born in 1954 in Englewood, New Jersey, an inner-ring suburb of New York City in Bergen County, New Jersey. His father, Salvatore "Sam" Travolta was a semiprofessional American football player turned tire salesman and partner in a tire company. His mother, Helen Travolta (née Helen Cecilia Burke) was an actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama and English teacher. His siblings Joey, Ellen, Ann, Margaret, and Sam Travolta were all inspired by their mother's love of theatre and drama and became actors.

He was raised Roman Catholic but converted to Scientology in 1975. Travolta attended Dwight Morrow High School. By the age of 12, Travolta himself had already joined an area actors' group and soon began appearing in local musicals and dinner-theater performances. He started acting appearing in a local production of 'Who'll Save the Plowboy?'. At 16 he landed his first professional job in a summer stock production of the musical 'Bye Bye Birdie'.

In 1971, he dropped out of school at age 17 and moved across the Hudson River to New York City. He made his off-Broadway debut in 1972 in 'Rain' and then landed a small role in the touring company of the hit musical 'Grease'. Then followed on Broadway 'Over Here!', starring The Andrews Sisters, in which he sang the Sherman Brothers' song 'Dream Drummin''.

He then moved to Los Angeles to try Hollywood. Travolta's first screen role in California was as a fall victim in the television series Emergency!, in September 1972, but his first significant film role was as Billy Nolan, a bully who was goaded into playing a prank on Sissy Spacek's character in the horror film Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1976), the first film adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

Around the same time, he landed the role as Vinnie Barbarino in the ABC TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979), in which his sister, Ellen, also occasionally appeared as Arnold Horshack's mother. He shot to overnight superstardom, and his face instantly adorned T-shirts and lunch boxes. Travolta had a hit single titled 'Let Her In', peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July 1976. That year, he starred in the TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (Randal Kleiser, 1976).

Then followed the first of his two most noted screen roles: Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, 1977). Jason Ankeny at AllMovie: "A latter-day Rebel Without a Cause set against the backdrop of the New York City disco nightlife, it positioned Travolta as the most talked-about young star in Hollywood. In addition to earning his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, he also became an icon of the era, his white-suited visage and cocky, rhythmic strut enduring as defining images of late-'70s American culture."

He followed it up with the part of Danny Zuko in the film adaptation of Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978) with Olivia Newton-John. Its box-office success was even greater than Saturday Night Fever's. Both films were among the most commercially successful pictures of the decade and catapulted Travolta to international stardom. Saturday Night Fever earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, making him, at age 24, one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. Travolta performed several of the songs on the Grease soundtrack album.

After the laughable May-December romance Moment by Moment (Jane Wagner, 1978) in which he starred with Lily Tomlin, Travolta, in 1980, inspired a nationwide country music craze that followed on the heels of his hit film Urban Cowboy (James Bridges, 1980), in which he starred with Debra Winger. Another success was the thriller Blow Out (Brian De Palma, 1981) with Nancy Allen.


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7380.


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7377. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7381. John Travolta in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7377. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7376.


Dutch postcard, no. AG 1015. John Travolta in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).

Travolta reportedly waived his salary to play the role

During the 1980s, John Travolta starred in a series of commercial and critical failures that sidelined his acting career. These included Two of a Kind (John Herzfeld, 1983), a romantic comedy reuniting him with Olivia Newton-John, and Perfect (James Bridges, 1985), co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

He also starred in Staying Alive (Sylvester Stallone, 1983), the sequel to Saturday Night Fever, for which he trained rigorously and lost 20 pounds. The film was a financial success, grossing over $65 million, though it, too, was scorned by critics.

During that time, Travolta was offered, but declined, lead roles in what would become box-office hits, including American Gigolo (Paul Schrader, 1980) and An Officer and a Gentleman (Taylor Hackford, 1982), both of which went to Richard Gere, as well as Splash (Ton Howard, 1984), which went to Tom Hanks.

In 1989, Travolta starred with Kirstie Alley in Look Who's Talking (Amy Heckerling, 1989), which grossed $297 million, making it his most successful film since Grease. He subsequently starred in Look Who's Talking Too (Amy Heckerling, 1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (Tom Ropelewski, 1993).

But it was not until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's hit Pulp Fiction (1994), with Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman, for which he received an Academy Award nomination, that his career was revived. Quentin Tarantino, a longtime Travolta fan, wrote the role of Vincent Vega specifically with the actor in mind. Jason Ankeny at AllMovie: "Travolta reportedly waived his salary to play the role. A critical as well as commercial smash, Pulp Fiction introduced Travolta to a new generation of moviegoers, and suddenly he was again a major star who could command a massive salary, with a second Academy Award nomination to prove it."

Travolta was inundated with offers. He followed Pulp Fiction with the Elmore Leonard adaptation Get Shorty (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1995). His turn as Mafioso-turned-movie producer Chili Palmer is acclaimed by many critics as his finest performance to date. The film was another major hit. Then followed roles in White Man's Burden (Desmond Nakano, 1995), Broken Arrow (John Woo, 1996), and Face/Off (John Woo, 1997) with Nicolas Cage. He also played a charismatic, Bill Clinton-like U.S. President in Primary Colors (Mike Nichols, 1998) opposite Emma Thompson. The political satire was critically acclaimed but earned only $52 million from a $65 million budget.


Dutch postcard. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


French postcard in the Collection John Travolta by Star, Paris. John Travolta in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978). Sent by mail in 1986.


French postcard in the Collection John Travolta by Star, Paris. Caption: John Travolta, 1978. Sent by mail in 1985.


Spanish collectors card in the Cine Exitoso series by Ediciones Este, Barcelona, no. 230. Debra Winger and John Travolta in Urban Cowboy (James Bridges, 1980).


Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 53190. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Two of a Kind (John Herzfeld, 1983).


French postcard, no. C 583. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).

A leader of a group of aliens that enslaves humanity

In 2000, John Travolta starred in and co-produced the science fiction film Battlefield Earth (Roger Christian, 2000), based on the novel of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard, in which he played the villainous leading role as a leader of a group of aliens that enslaves humanity on a bleak future Earth. The film had been a dream project for Travolta since the book's release in 1982 when Hubbard had written to him to try to help make a film adaptation. The film received almost universally negative reviews and did very poorly at the box office. Travolta's performance in Battlefield Earth also earned him two Razzie Awards.

Throughout the 2000s, Travolta remained busy as an actor, starring in many films, including Swordfish (Dominic Sena, 2001) with Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry, the crime-comedy Be Cool (F. Gary Gray, 2005) in which he again played ultra cool Chili Palmer, and the biker road comedy Wild Hogs (Walt Becker, 2007) starring Tim Allen.

In 2007, Travolta played Edna Turnblad in the remake of Hairspray (Adam Shankman, 2008), his first musical since Grease. In the Disney computer-animated film Bolt (Chris Williams, Byron Howard, 2008), Travolta voiced the title character. The next year, he appeared in the re-make of The Taking of Pelham 123 (Tony Scott, 2009) opposite Denzel Washington and in Old Dogs (Walt Decker, 2009) with Robin Williams.

Since 2010, Travolta has starred mostly in action films and thrillers. In 2016, he returned to television in the first season of the anthology series American Crime Story, titled The People v. O. J. Simpson, in which he played lawyer Robert Shapiro.

Travolta was in a relationship with actress Diana Hyland, 18 years his senior, whom he met while filming The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976). They remained together until Hyland's death from breast cancer in 1977. Travolta also had an on-again/off-again relationship with actress Marilu Henner, which ended permanently in 1985. He married actress Kelly Preston in 1991, and they bought a house in Islesboro, Maine. They had three children: Jett (1992–2009), Ella Bleu (2000), and Benjamin (2010).

In 2009, Jett died at age 16 while on a Christmas vacation in the Bahamas. A Bahamian death certificate was issued, attributing the cause of death to a seizure. Jett, who had a history of seizures, reportedly suffered from Kawasaki disease since the age of two. In 2020, Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston, died at the age of 57, two years after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Travolta has been a practitioner of Scientology since 1975. Following the death of his wife Kelly Preston in July 2020, Travolta hinted on his Instagram account that he would be putting his career on hold, stating "I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while."


Belgian postcard by Multichoice Kaleidoscope. Photo: Isopress / Outline (Bernstein).


British postcard, no. MM 389. Photo: John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).


British postcard by Memory Card, no. 78. Samuel Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: lobby card.


Vintage postcard, no. 2102. John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: John n Uma at table.


British postcard by Pyramid Posters, Leicester, no. PC9577. Photo: Miramax Film Corp. John Travolta and Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: Guns B&W.


Vintage autograph card.

Sources: Jason Ankeny (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Grease (1978)

John Travolta had his breakthrough as disco dancer Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977). He followed it up with the part of leather jacket wearing, hunky greaser Danny Zuko in the romantic film musical Grease (1978) opposite Olivia Newton-John as goody-goody Sandy. The film, an adaptation of the 1950s musical 'Grease' about the highs and lows of a group of teenagers at a California high school in 1958, was directed by Randal Kleiser. Its box-office success even surpassed Saturday Night Fever's and catapulted Travolta to international stardom.


Australian postcard for Goma Cinema by Avant Card, 2012. Travolta, John and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


German promotion card by Polydor, no. 118. Travolta, John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard, no. AG 1009. Travolta, John and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard. Travolta, John and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard. Travolta, John and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).

Sandy and Danny

Grease (1978) is an American musical romantic comedy film based on the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Written by Bronte Woodard, the film depicts the summer romance of greaser Danny Zuko (Travolta, John) and Australian transfer student Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John). In the fall, the first day of school arrives and little does Danny expect he and Sandy will be reunited. Sandy is shocked to find the nice guy she met at the beach is at school the leader of a greaser gang called 'The T'birds'. She joins the Pink Ladies, led by the sex-happy Rizzo (Stockard Channing) who acidly observes that virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink".

Travolta, John, who had previously worked with producer Robert Stigwood on Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, 1977), had recorded the top-10 hit 'Let Her In' in 1976, and had previously appeared as Doody in a touring production of the stage version of 'Grease'. He made a number of casting recommendations that Stigwood ultimately accepted, including suggesting Randall Kleiser as director. Kleiser had never directed a theatrical feature before this but had directed Travolta in the telefilm The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976).

Travolta also suggested Olivia Newton-John, then known almost exclusively as a multiple Grammy-winning pop and country singer, as Sandy. Newton-John had done little acting before this film, with only two film credits to her name up to that time: the Australian comedy Funny Things Happen Down Under (Joe McCormick, 1965) and the little-seen space musical Toomorrow (Val Guest, 1970), which predated her singing breakthrough. Before accepting the role, Newton-John requested a screen test for Grease to avoid another career setback. The screen test was done with the drive-in movie scene. Newton-John, who was born in England and spent most of her childhood in Australia, was unable to perform with a convincing American accent, and thus her character was rewritten to be Australian.

Like Travolta, Jeff Conaway (as Danny's right hand Kenickie) had previously appeared in the stage version of 'Grease'. He had played Danny Zuko during the show's run on Broadway. Jamie Donnelly reprised her role as Jan from the Broadway show, the only cast member to do so. Kelly Ward had previously appeared as a similar sarcastic supporting character in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble with Travolta under Kleiser. He was cast as Putzie, a mostly new character.

Lorenzo Lamas (Tom Chisum) was a last-minute replacement for Steven Ford, who developed stage fright shortly before filming and backed out. His role contained no spoken dialogue and required Lamas to dye his hair blond to avoid looking like one of the T-Birds. Adult film star Harry Reems was originally signed to play Coach Calhoun. However, executives at Paramount nixed the idea, concerned that his reputation as a porn star would hinder box office returns in the Southern United States, and producers cast Sid Caesar instead. Caesar was one of several veterans of 1950s television (Eve Arden as Principal McGee, Frankie Avalon, Joan Blondell, Edd Byrnes) to be cast in supporting roles.

Director Randal Kleiser took numerous liberties with the original source material, most notably moving the setting from an urban Chicago setting as the original musical had been to a more suburban locale, reflecting his own teenage years at Radnor High School in the suburbs of Philadelphia. However, the best part of the film is the music with such fun songs as 'Summer Nights', 'You're the One That I Want' and 'Greased Lightning'.

Grease (1978) was successful both critically and commercially, becoming the highest-grossing musical film ever at the time. David Abolafia at AllMovie: "One of the last of the big movie musicals, Grease succeeds in spite of itself, with singers who can't act, actors who can't sing, and a plot so corny it should have a husk. But this tale of true love and teen angst circa 1955 is sure to leave one's toes a-tapping, thanks to a dynamite soundtrack of golden oldies, plus original music". The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Song, 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' by John Farrar. The soundtrack album ended in 1978 as the second-best-selling album of the year in the United States, behind the soundtrack of that other blockbuster Saturday Night Fever (1977).

Retrospective reviews have generally been positive. In 1998, critic Roger Ebert wrote: "It is now clear that, slumps or not, comebacks or not, Travolta is an important and enduring movie star whose presence can redeem even a compromised Grease. This is not one of his great films - it lacks the electricity of Saturday Night Fever or the quirky genius of Pulp Fiction - but it has charm." In 1982 a sequel was launched, Grease 2 (1982), produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film and the Broadway musical. Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer starred as a newer class of greasers. Didi Conn, Sid Caesar, and Eve Arden of the original cast reprised their roles. The film grossed a little over $15 million against a production budget of $11 million.


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7381. Travolta, John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7377. Travolta, John and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7377. Travolta, John and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


Dutch postcard, no. AX 7375. Travolta, John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978).


French postcard in the Collection John Travolta by Star, Paris. Travolta, John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, 1978). Sent by mail in 1986.

Sources: Roger Ebert, David Abolafia (AllMovie), Lucia Bozzola (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 12 August 2021.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

With his second film, Pulp Fiction (1994), Quentin Tarantino consolidated his position as Hollywood's New Child Prodigy. Thanks to the phenomenal success of his debut film Reservoir Dogs (1992), Tarantino's name was on everyone's lips. Pulp Fiction earned him the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival.


British postcard by Memory Card, no. 78. Samuel Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: lobby card.


French postcard by Sonis, no. C. 492. Photo: Bac Films. Uma Thurman on the French poster for Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: Affiche du film.


French postcard, no. C 583. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).

The Dutch use mayonnaise with the chips

Quentin Tarantino wrote part of the screenplay for Pulp Fiction (1994) during a stay in Europe and the film is full of amusing observations about the French and Dutch lifestyle.

The nuisances towards Paris concern the French name of some McDonalds' products. To the great amusement of fellow gangster Jules Winnfield (Samuel Jackson), Vincent Vega (John Travolta), who has just returned from Europe, tells us that a "quarter-pounder with cheese" in Paris is sold as "royale with cheese" and that it is called "le big mac".

Vega has considerably more to say about life in Amsterdam: he praises the drug policy, the quality of the heroin, and the fact that beer is served in the cinema in the Netherlands.

When he tells Jules that instead of ketchup the Dutch use mayonnaise with the chips, they both have a dirty face. Such a thing is simply not possible :).


Vintage postcard, no. 2102. John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: John n Uma at table.


British postcard by Pyramid Posters, Leicester, no. PC9577. Photo: Miramax Film Corp. John Travolta and Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: Guns B&W.


British postcard, no. MM 389. Photo: John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).

The staff consists of Marilyn Monroe, Mamie van Doren, Buddy Holly, and James Dean

The characters in Pulp Fiction (1994) have a lot to tell each other and their dialogues are snappy and fascinating. Tarantino uses a fragmentary structure and puts the different storylines cleverly together.

The result is an exciting, amusing, and at times extremely violent film that lingers long after you have left the cinema. The film title refers to the cheap crime novels that once formed the starting point for Film Noir.

The three stories put together by Tarantino are therefore closely related to the plots of countless American B movies from the 1940s and 1950s. At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to an enamored criminal couple (Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth) who decide to raid restaurants from now on, because liquor stores are no longer a lucrative target.

Elsewhere in town, gangsters Vincent and Jules pay an unexpected visit to some boys who have stolen a suitcase from gangster boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). The contents of the case remain a mystery, but when the lid opens, light shines out, as in the classic Film Noir Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955).

Vincent is later ordered to take his boss's wife (Uma Thurman) out for a night. Dazed by a shot of heroin, he takes her to the trendy fifties bar Jack Rabbit Slims, where the staff consists of Marilyn Monroe, Mamie van Doren, Buddy Holly, and James Dean.

And then there's the story of boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), who is bribed by Marsellus Wallace to go down in the fifth round of a major match.


British postcard, no. C075. Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: The Wolf: "I don't smile in pictures."


British postcard, no. C076. Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: The Big-Man's Wife: "I can keep a secret if you can."


British postcard, no. C077. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). The Hitman: "You play with matches, you get burned."

The Weinsteins hit the beach like commandos

Pulp Fiction's dialogues, music, and art direction constantly refer to American pop culture. Gangster Jules seems to have stepped out of a blaxploitation movie from the 1970s and regularly refers to TV series from the time.

All characters have their origins in classic archetypes from pulp novels and B movies and trump each other in hip language. Tarantino, who plays a supporting role himself, is surrounded by an impressive group of actors, also including Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel, Eric Stoltz, Maria de Medeiros, and Rosanna Arquette.

John Travolta plays the role of his life as gangster Vincent Vega. His one-twos with Samuel Jackson and his stoned facial expressions are among the highlights of the film.

In the last part of the film, Tarantino treats the viewer to a nerve-racking orgy of violence. After some scenes, it looks like a new film is about to start and yet everything fits exactly. The result is a breathtaking film.

Pulp Fiction premiered in May 1994 at the Cannes Film Festival. The Weinsteins "hit the beach like commandos", bringing the picture's entire cast over. The film was unveiled at a midnight hour screening and caused a sensation. It won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, generating a further wave of publicity. And Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary were later awarded an Oscar for their script.

Against its budget of $8.5 million and about $10 million in marketing costs, Pulp Fiction wound up grossing $107.93 million at the U.S. box office, making it the first "indie" film to surpass $100 million. Worldwide, it took in nearly $213 million.


American postcard by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Photo: Touchstone Home Video. Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: "He was dead before he ever stepped into the ring." The Boxer.


British postcard. Image: Touchstone Home Video. Uma Thurman on the British poster for the video release of Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994). Caption: Own it now on video!

Sources: Bart van der Put (De Filmkrant - Dutch), VPRO Cinema (Dutch), Wikipedia, and IMDb.