John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, one of six children to 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, working 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, "The Devil's Rain" (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 "Saturday Night Fever" (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 "Urban Cowboy" (1980),which also influenced trends in popular culture. Additional film credits include the Brian De Palma thrillers "Carrie" (1976) and "Blow Out" (1981),playing the love interest of Nancy Allen in both, as well as Amy Heckerling's hit comedy "Look Who's Talking" (1989) and Nora Ephron's comic hit "Michael" (1996).
Travolta starred in "Phenomenon" (1996) and took an equally distinctive turn as an action star in John Woo's top-grossing "Broken Arrow" (1996). He also starred in the classic "Face/Off" (1997) opposite Nicolas Cage, and "The General's Daughter" (1999),co-starring Madeleine Stowe. In 2005, Travolta reprised the role of ultra cool Chili Palmer in the "Get Shorty" (1995) sequel "Be Cool" (2005). In addition, he starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the critically-acclaimed independent feature film "A Love Song for Bobby Long" (2004),which was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where both Travolta and the film 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 the box-office hit-comedy "Wild Hogs", the action-thriller "Ladder 49" (2004),the movie version of the successful comic book "The Punisher" (2004),the drama "Basic" (2003),the psychological thriller "Domestic Disturbance" (2001),the hit action picture "Swordfish" (2001),the infamous sci-fi movie "Battlefield Earth" (2000),based upon the best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard, and "Lonely Hearts" (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.
