JOHN TRAVOLTA

Biography: Actor. 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. He made his debut in an off-Broadway production of Rain (1972), then joined the Broadway cast of Grease, as well as the hit musical Over Here! starring The Andrews Sisters.

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.

At the top of his game, it seemed John Travolta could do no wrong in the late 1970s. What he came up with were a series of hits (Urban Cowboy) and misses (Moment by Moment, Staying Alive, Two of a Kind). By the end of the 1980s, despite a brief comeback with the Look Who’s Talking series, Travolta’s poor career choices, missed opportunities and horrendous films landed him in the has-been actor category.

Then, in 1994, Travolta made a Phoenix-style comeback by starring in Quentin Tarantino’s crime smash Pulp Fiction. He earned his second Academy Award nomination and went on to win a Golden Globe for his performance in the critically acclaimed film Get Shorty. Other notable films include Broken Arrow, Phenomenon, Primary Colors, The General’s Daughter, and Ladder 49.

After a long string of dramatic roles, Travolta returned to his musical roots with the film adaptation of the Broadway smash Hairspray (which in itself was based on the 1988 film by John Waters) in 2007. The film tells the story of a plump young girl who wants to be a performer on a local dance show and Travolta plays the girl's mother. To play the role of Edna Turnblad, he had to transform himself into a large woman, which he did convincingly with the help of wigs, make-up, costumes, and a fat suit. Travolta earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

John Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991; they have two children.