John Travolta

John Travolta is an American actor, singer and producer whose career has moved between television, musical film, drama, action cinema and limited-series television. He was born John Joseph Travolta on 18 February 1954 in Englewood, New Jersey, the youngest of six children in a family with strong ties to performance. His mother, Helen Travolta, had worked as an actress and teacher, and several of his siblings also pursued acting.

Travolta left high school as a teenager to pursue performing work. He appeared in stage productions, including touring work connected with Grease, before moving to Los Angeles. His early screen work included television roles and a supporting part in Brian De Palma's Carrie. He became widely known as Vinnie Barbarino on the ABC sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, which ran from 1975 to 1979 and made him a popular young television star.

Travolta's film breakthrough came in the late 1970s. He starred as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and then played Danny Zuko opposite Olivia Newton-John in Grease, one of the era's defining screen musicals. He followed with Urban Cowboy and Blow Out, showing a range that included dance-driven popular entertainment and darker dramatic material.

After a quieter period in the 1980s, Travolta's career was revived by Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction in 1994. His performance as Vincent Vega brought him a second Academy Award nomination and reintroduced him as a major film actor. He followed that success with leading roles in Get Shorty, Broken Arrow, Phenomenon, Michael, Face/Off, A Civil Action, Primary Colors and The General's Daughter. Get Shorty also brought him Golden Globe recognition.