John Travolta

Background information

Fullname

John Joseph Travolta

Born

February 18,1954 (age 71)
Englewood,New Jersey,United States

Nationality

American

Occupation

Actor, voice actor, dancer, singer

Years active

1969-present

Family information

Spouse

Kelly Preston † (1991-2020)

Children

Jett Travolta †
Ella Bleu Travolta
Benjamin Travolta

John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, voice actor, dancer, and singer, who gained popularity in the1970s after his starring role as Vincent "Vinnie" Barbarino in theABC sitcom,Welcome Back, Kotter, as well as playing Tony Manero and Danny Zuko in the box office successes:Saturday Night Fever andGrease (respectively). He also co-starred with Kirstie Alley in the Look Who's Talkingfilm trilogy as James Ubriacco. Other well-known film appearances includeTwo of a Kind,Staying Alive,The Boy in the Plastic Bubble,Carrie (1976),Michael,Face/Off,The General's Daughter,The Punisher,Hairspray, andGotti.

ForDisney, he voiced thetitle character of the2008 Disney animated feature filmBolt and playedCharlie Reed along with his late wife,Kelly Preston as Vicki Greer and their daughter, Ella Bleu as Emily Greer in the2009 comedy filmOld Dogs. He also portrayed Vincent Vega in the1994 Miramax filmPulp Fiction, George Malley in the1996 Touchstone Pictures filmPhenomenon, Jan Schlichtmann inA Civil Action, Mike Kennedy inLadder 49, and Woody Stevens inWild Hogs. Additionally, he played Johnny Kavanaugh inThe Shepherd, which he also executive produced.

Working for Disney[]

John Travolta provided the voice for the successful 2008 animated feature filmBolt. In interviews after the movie, Travolta speaks much of his work with Disney Animation Studios and the experience of proving the voice work for animated dog and a main character,Bolt. John Travolta has been asked many times in the past to do animated features, however, according to the actor himself, Bolt was the first character that intrigued him.

In an interview with a reporter from CBS Travolta explained:

"I've been asked several times over the years to do animated feature. However, Bolt was the first time that indicated as the right character. Whenever anyone asks you what animal you remind yourself of, people always chose the dog for me and I didn't disagree with them. So when I read this script and saw this character, so gutless, so, kind of, naive and fun and touching, I said, you know, maybe this is the one to do."

When speaking of his work with the animators Travolta often mentions the voice recording and how they would take inspiration from his facial expressions.

"They do need your expressions of your face to animate so sometimes they will film you a little bit whilst you're doing your voice and they'll take ideas from your own expressions. I think the biggest compliment I got was that the animators really enjoyed sketching to my voice."