John Travolta is a multi talented Hollywood actor and a household name by now. Nonetheless, the gifted performer has always been a secretive and mysterious individual. Starting with his association with the Scientology movement and continuing to his curious romantic involvements, this article will cover everything you ever wondered about Travolta.
The actor’s love life has often caused a media commotion, though, with Travolta’s ever-changing romantic partners, most people lost track of his relationship status. Not long ago, Travolta came forward to end the gossip and conjecture about him. The actor spoke up about his love life and family tragedies.
An Affair to Remember
John Travolta was first introduced to Kelly Preston in 1987 while filming The Experts. The two hit it off right away, but there was one problem; Kelly was already married. The two only became officially romantically entangled in 1990 while working on separate film projects in Vancouver.
By then, Preston was single, and after a short time dating, Travolta proposed. Initially, they had intended to celebrate their wedding in New York, but things got out of hand. So instead, they eloped in 1991. The couple flew to Paris and tied the knot in the world’s most romantic city.
John Travolta’s second film was called The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, released in 1976. The film was about a boy, played by Travolta, born with an underdeveloped immune system. In order to experience life without being infected by life-threatening germs, the boy moves around in a plastic bubble.
Travolta’s character falls in love with the girl next door, named Gina. The actor also had a set romance. Not with Gina, but with the woman who played his mother in the film, Diana Hyland. This relationship was Travolta’s first romantic scandal, though not his last.
Love Can’t Conquer All
Despite their eighteen-year age gap, Diana Hyland and John Travolta fell head over heels for each other. Fans thought they were an odd couple; however, their love prevailed, and the couple stayed together even after the film’s release, proving speculating audiences wrong.
Sadly, their love couldn’t conquer all, and when Diana was diagnosed with breast cancer, she passed away quickly in Travolta’s arms at the young age of forty-one. Nevertheless, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble was a highly successful film, and Diana Hyland won an Emmy for her performance; John Travolta accepted the award in her honor.
Kelly Preston and Heartthrob George Clooney
Before marrying Travolta, Kelly Preston also had a colorful love life. When she and John first met, Kelly was still married to Kevin Gage, whom she’d married only two years before. However, Gage wasn’t the only man Preston had dated before meeting Travolta.
Source: Twitter / Photo by Frank Edwards, Fotos International, Getty Images
The actress had also been with Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney; they dated for two years, beginning in 1987. During their relationship, Clooney gifted her a pet pig. The former couple named the pig Max and Preston kept custody of him when the two young talents parted ways in 1989.
A Surprise Pregnancy and a Flight to Paris
Although Travolta proposed to Preston with a six-carat yellow and white diamond ring on New Year’s Eve, their wedding plans didn’t go very smoothly. Kelly became pregnant before they managed to get married, so the couple ran off to Paris to bind their union before the baby was born.
A minister of Scientology officiated the couple’s marriage ceremony, and they later discovered that their initial wedding was not officially legal because of this. So, in order to right the wrong, the pair organized another ceremony held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The Tragic Loss of Their Son
The Travolta family suffered a tragic loss when John and Kelly’s firstborn son, Jett, passed following a severe injury in January 2009. The accident occurred in the Old Bahama Bay Hotel in the Bahamas, where the happy family always spent their yearly vacation.
Jett, who was just sixteen at the time, experienced a seizure after hitting his head in the bathtub. The young man passed away not long after his injury and left behind his grieving parents and younger sister, Ella. The devastated parents agreed that burying their son was the worst thing they ever experienced.
He Got It From His Mama
John Travolta inherited his talent and love of acting from his mother. Helen Travolta was also an actress, and John was highly influenced by her and chose to follow in her footsteps. From a young age, he had seen Helen acting in films and dancing and performing on the stage.
The Loss of His Father
John shared a close relationship with his mother, warmed by their mutual love of the stage. However, the actor wasn’t as close to his father. The Italian American Salvatore Travolta was a second-generation United States citizen and believed sincerely in the American Dream.
Salvatore wanted to be a football player. However, after reaching a semi-professional football career, the sensible man quit the sport to open a tire shop and allow his family a life of financial security. In 1995, John’s father passed away, widowing Helen and leaving his devasted son behind.
A Passionate Pilot
Besides his talents as an actor, Travolta is an expert airplane pilot. John has an official license to fly private planes. The millionaire actor owns a personal fleet of five aircrafts of his own. Among them is a Boeing 707 that he uses to fly his friends and family around.
The actor is such an aviation fan that he built one of his homes in a residential airpark, Jumbolair Aviation Estates. The mansion features an airplane runway that leads to Travolta’s front door, allowing him to set flight with the drop of a hat whenever it strikes his fancy.
Among Hollywood’s Highest-Paid Actors
The actor is not only among the highest-paid performers in the business, but he also learned to save and is presently estimated to be worth approximately one-hundred and seventy million dollars. In addition, John continues getting royalties for the numerous cult films in his repertoire, like Grease, Hairspray, and Saturday Night Fever.
Therefore, it’s not that shocking that he can afford to buy a whole airplane fleet while also owning his fair share of impressive homes. His glamorous life is undoubtedly an upgrade from his middle-class suburban upbringing in Englewood, New Jersey.
The Actor’s Struggles With High School
For John Travolta, high school was difficult; he was quite the loner back in the day. John wasn’t the popular guy he is today, nor did he have any luck with the ladies. Instead, the driven young man was focused on honing his talent and spent his free time taking theater classes.
Travolta explained that his peers didn’t understand him; despite his participation in sports and school activities, his fellow students couldn’t comprehend why he went to acting classes at night. His love for performing and drive to succeed separated him from the other kids at his school.
Travolta’s Trials and Errors
Travolta was in high demand and busy as a bee. The actor began working on the film Grease only four days after finishing Saturday Night Fever. Grease turned out to be the most significant box office hit of 1978. However, while filming the movie, Travolta was going through a tough time.
The young talent had recently lost his love, Diana Hyland, to breast cancer. Randal Kleiser, the director of the cult classic, recalled that John kept messing up his lip-syncing and saying, “heap lap trials” instead of “heat lap trials.” Luckily, in the end, Travolta got it right.
The Mistake of a Lifetime
John had reached the point where he could pick and choose what parts he wanted. Travolta turned down the central role in Splash, opposite Daryl Hannah. Eventually, Tom Hanks took the part. However, Travolta wasn’t the only actor to turn it down; Michael Keaton, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and many more did too.
Travolta’s Contribution Following 9/11
John Travolta has been obsessed with flying since he was a kid. He eventually got his pilot’s license and bought his five private air crafts. After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, the actor started working for Qantas Airways as their ambassador at large.
His job was to restore people’s trust in air travel after 9/11. Though it seems odd that the American actor would work for an Australian airline, he had his reasons; Qantas had an excellent safety record and is known for the longest international flights. Through his connection to Qantas, Travolta bought his Boeing 707 plane.
John and Kelly’s Four Mansions
Between the two of them, John and Kelly have quite the fortune and own four mansions together. The Travoltas’ main home is in Ocala, Florida, where they also have a private airport and a plane runway leading to their door. The family also owns mansions in California, Maine, and Hawaii.
Their Florida home is the largest of the four and is located in a residential airpark. They designed the house to be close to their airplanes and be able to fly anywhere whenever they want. The mansion has hangers for the planes and is basically a fully equipped private airport.
