John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor and musician. He appeared in public in the 1970s, starring in the television show Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979) and starring box office success Carrie (1976), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978), and Urban Cowboy. (1980). His acting career declined in the 1980s, but he enjoyed come back in the 1990s with his role in Pulp Fiction (1994) and starred in the films Get Shorty (1995), Broken Arrow (1996), Phenomenon (1996), Face. / Off (1997), A Civil Action (1998), Primary Colors (1998), Hairspray (2007), and the title character in Bolt (2008).

Travolta was recommended as Best Actor in Academy Award for playing Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. He has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his performance in Get Shorty and received a total of six recommendations, most recently in 2011. In 2014, he received the IIFA Award for Outstanding Achievement. at the International Cinema. In 2016, he received his first Primetime Emmy Award, as the first season producer of the American Crime Story anthology series, entitled The People v. O. J. Simpson. He also received additional Emmy recommendations and a Golden Globe recommendation for his presentation of lawyer Robert Shapiro in the series. He is also an independent pilot and has four aircraft.

After Urban Cowboy, Travolta starred in a series of commercial and critical failures that side-lined his acting career. These included Two of a Kind (1983), a romantic comedy reuniting him with Olivia Newton-John, and Perfect (1985), co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis. He also starred in Staying Alive, the 1983 sequel to Saturday Night Fever, for which he trained rigorously to portray a professional dancer 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 and An Officer and a Gentleman, both of which went to Richard Gere, as well as Splash, which went to Tom Hanks.

Travolta is a private pilot and owns four aircraft, excluding the ex-Qantas Boeing 707-138B (Ex-VH-EBM) that was donated in 2017 to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) near Wollongong, Australia. This was expected to be flown to Australia in November 2019, but was later delayed to sometime in 2020 due to condition of the aircraft. Travolta plans to be on board when the aircraft is flown to Illawarra Regional Airport, where HARS is based, however will not be allowed to fly it, because it will be registered as an Australian aircraft. The 707 aircraft bears an old livery of Qantas, and Travolta acted as an official goodwill ambassador for the airline wherever he flew. Travolta named his 707 “Jett Clipper Ella,” in honour of his children. The “Clipper” in the name refers to the use of that word by Pan Am in the names of their aircraft.

Famous quotes by him: –

  1. “I probably have some sort of chocolate five times a week. There’s definitely a change it does to the chemistry of the body. It’s my favourite feeling. I live for it.”2. “Princess Diana was a nice dancer because she had confidence. In fact, when we danced together, she started to lead, and I looked her in eye and went, ‘No, you have to let me lead.’ So, I grabbed her around the waist and we were off to the races.”
  2. “Sports, entertainment and aviation are three of the most exciting professions in the world; you are dealing with the same magnitude.”
  3. “Dancing’s part of my soul. I enjoy it, it makes people happy, and it makes me happy.”
  4. “When all else fails, fresh tactics!”