Travolta, John (1954– )

US actor. His first popular role was in the 1970's sitcom Welcome Back Kotter. He first achieved film success in the musicals Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978). His career subsequently faltered but he regained popularity in the comedy Look Who's Talking (1989) and its sequels. He won plaudits as a serious actor in the role of an underworld killer in Pulp Fiction (1994, Academy Award nomination). He returned to the musical genre with a very successful film adaptation of Hairspray (2007).

Travolta has also appeared in Get Shorty (1995) and its sequel Be Cool (2005), Face Off (1997), A Civil Action (1998), Primary Colors (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Lucky Numbers (2000), Swordfish (2001), Domestic Disturbance (2001), Basic (2003), and The Punisher (2004).

One of his first major television roles was in Aaron Spelling's seminal made-for-TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976).