[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_travolta.jpg]]

->''"The good and wonderful thing about my whole career is that I've always felt that the audience, if I do it well, will track wherever I go, whether it's President or a lawyer or bad guy or good. All I have to do is execute the material enough where they buy into it. I've had the great luxury of the audiences accepting that."''

''[[Film/PulpFiction Would you give a guy a]] [[JustForFun/DescribeTopicHere trope description?]]''

John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor, dancer, and singer whose career has [[CatsHaveNineLives had more lives than a cat]].

Travolta has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The first, for his role in ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' and the second for ''Film/PulpFiction''. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in ''Get Shorty''.

After attending Dwight Morrow High School, Travolta moved across the Hudson River to New York City and landed a role in the touring company of the musical ''Film/{{Grease}}'' and on Broadway in ''Over Here!'' singing the Sherman Brothers' song ''"Dream Drummin'"''. He then moved to Los Angeles to further his career in show business.

Travolta played a messenger on the CBS soap opera ''The Edge of Night''. He also appeared on another CBS serial ''The Secret Storm''. Travolta's first California-filmed television role was as a fall victim in an ''Emergency!'' episode, in September 1972, but his first significant movie role was as Billy Nolan, a bully who was goaded into playing a prank on Sissy Spacek's character in the horror film ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' (1976). Around the same time, he landed his star-making role as "Vinnie Barbarino" in the TV sitcom ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'' (1975-1979), in which his sister, Ellen, also occasionally appeared (as Arnold Horshack's mother). In the next few years, he appeared in some of his most memorable screen roles: Tony Manero in ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' (1977) and as Danny Zuko in ''Film/{{Grease}}'' (1978). These two films were among the most commercially successful pictures of the decade and catapulted Travolta to international stardom. ''Saturday Night Fever'' earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. After ''Urban Cowboy'' came a string of flops that sidelined his acting career. It was not until he played Vincent Vega in Creator/QuentinTarantino's hit ''Film/PulpFiction'' (1994), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, that his film career was briefly revived before fizzling again in the [=2000s=] and he began appearing in poorly received direct-to-video films with the occasional indie project where he reminds audiences that he has range as an actor. He earned critical acclaim, however, upon returning to television with ''Series/AmericanCrimeStory'', earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Robert Shapiro and winning an Emmy as the series' producer.

He has the distinction of another actor having built his entire career on taking projects he'd turned down, as Creator/RichardGere only got the three roles that put him on the map in ''Film/DaysOfHeaven'', ''American Gigolo'', and ''Film/AnOfficerAndAGentleman'' after Travolta passed on them all.

Travolta married actress Creator/KellyPreston in 1991. The couple had two children: Jett, born on April 13, 1992, and Ella Bleu, born in 2000. Their son, Jett died on January 2, 2009, while the family was on holiday in The Bahamas. Kelly gave birth to a second son on November 23, 2010. Sadly, Kelly succumbed to breast cancer on July 12, 2020.

Rumors that he may be gay, or at least bi, have circulated for years. He endured serial male sexual harassment scandals in 2012, but they fizzled when the accusers recanted. More information on that is on Wikipedia.
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!!You know what they call a film credit in Paris? "Le Film Credits":

* ''Film/TheDevilsRain'' (1975) - Danny
* ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'' (1975–1979) - Vincent "Vinnie" Barbarino
* ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' (1976) - Billy Nolan
* ''Film/TheBoyInThePlasticBubble'' (1976, TV movie)
* ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' (1977) - Tony Manero
** ''Staying Alive'' (1983)
* ''Film/{{Grease}}'' (1978) - Danny Zuko
* ''Film/{{Two of a Kind|1983}}'' (1983) - Zack Melon
* ''[[Film/Perfect1985 Perfect]]'' (1985) - Adam Lawrence
* The ''Film/LookWhosTalking'' trilogy (1989–1993) - James Ubriacco
* ''Film/EyesOfAnAngel'' (1991)
* ''Film/PulpFiction'' (1994) - Vincent Vega
* ''Film/WhiteMansBurden'' (1995) - Louis Pinnock
* ''Film/GetShorty'' (1995) - Chili Palmer
** ''Film/BeCool'' (2005)
* ''Film/{{Broken Arrow|1996}}'' (1996) - Vic Deakins
* ''Film/{{Michael}}'' (1996) - Archangel Michael
* ''Film/{{Phenomenon}}'' (1996) - George Malley
* ''Film/MadCity'' (1997) - Sam Baily
* ''Film/FaceOff'' (1997) - Sean Archer/Castor Troy
* ''Film/TheThinRedLine'' (1998) - Brigadier General Quintard
* ''Literature/PrimaryColors'' (1998) - Jack Stanton
* ''Film/TheGeneralsDaughter'' (1999) - Warr. Off. Paul Brenner
* ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' (2000) - Terl
* ''Film/DomesticDisturbance'' (2001) - Frank Morrison
* ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'' (2001) - Gabriel Shear
* ''[[Film/AustinPowers Austin Powers in Goldmember]]'' (2002) - ''[[ShowWithinAShow Austinpussy]]'' Goldmember / [[AsHimself Himself]]
* ''Film/{{Basic}}'' (2003) - Tom Hardy
* ''Film/{{Ladder 49}}'' (2004) - Deputy Chief Mike Kennedy
* ''Film/{{The Punisher|2004}}'' (2004) - Howard Saint
* ''Film/LonelyHearts'' (2006) - Det. Elmer C. Robinson
* ''Film/{{Hairspray|2007}}'' (2007) - [[WholesomeCrossdresser Edna Turnblad]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'' (2008) - Bolt
* ''Film/TheTakingOfPelhamOneTwoThree'' (2009) - "Ryder"
* ''Film/OldDogs'' (2009) - Charlie Reed
* ''Film/FromParisWithLove'' (2010) - Charlie Wax
* ''Film/{{Savages}}'' (2012) - Dennis
* ''Series/AmericanCrimeStory'' (2016) - Robert Shapiro
* ''Film/InAValleyOfViolence'' (2016) - U.S. Marshal Clyde Martin
* ''Film/{{Gotti}}'' (2018) - John Gotti
* ''Film/{{The Fanatic}}'' (2019) - Moose
* ''Series/DieHart'' (2020) - Ron Wilcox
* ''Mob Land'' (2023) - Bodie Davis
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