One of the few A-listers to sink to has-been status then rise back up to stardom, Travolta began his career as a juvenile TV player. After guest-starring on myriad series, he signed on to Welcome Back, Kotter in 1975 and became an instant teen idol with his cleft chin, piercing blue eyes and beefy body. The next year he starred as the title character in the TV-movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and embarked on an ill-fated romance with Diana Hyland, the older actress who played his mother; she soon died of cancer.

Despite this personal setback, he was on a roll professionally, with an Oscar-nominated turn as a disco dancer in 1977's Saturday Night Fever and a charismatic performance as a '50s delinquent in the musical Grease the next year. A series of failures (Moment by Moment, Two of a Kind, Perfect) derailed Travolta's career, and by the early '90s he was a pop-culture punch line.

His nuanced performance as a hit man in the hip 1994 hit Pulp Fiction not only revived his movie career but earned him an Oscar nod and reminded audiences that he could indeed act. Diverse, high-profile roles in a series of films followed. Some were successful (Get Shorty, Face/Off), some weren't (White Man's Burden). But even a megaflop like Battlefield Earth, which he also produced, couldn't destroy his career. Off screen, Travolta is married to Kelly Preston (who fell for him during his down period when they costarred in The Experts) and a follower of the controversial religion Scientology.

Filmography

• 2004: A Light Knight's Odyssey (2009)
• Old Dogs (2008)
• Dallas (2007)
• American Dog (2008)
• Hairspray (2007)
• Wild Hogs (2007)
• Lonely Hearts (2006)
• Be Cool (2005)
• Ladder 49 (2004)
• A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
• The Punisher (2004)
• Basic (2003)
• Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
• Domestic Disturbance (2001)
• Swordfish (2001)
• Lucky Numbers (2000)
• Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000)
• The General's Daughter (1999)
• Our Friend, Martin (1999)
• A Civil Action (1998)
• The Thin Red Line (1998)
• Primary Colors (1998)
• Mad City (1997)
• Face/Off (1997)
• She's So Lovely (1997)
• Michael (1996)
• Phenomenon (1996)
• Broken Arrow (1996)
• Get Shorty (1995)
• White Man's Burden (1995)
• "Saturday Night Live" (1 episode, 1994)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Look Who's Talking Now (1993)
• Shout (1991)
• Eyes of an Angel (1991)
• Chains of Gold (1991)
• Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
• Look Who's Talking (1989)
• The Experts (1989)
• Basements (1987)
• Perfect (1985)
• Two of a Kind (1983)
• Staying Alive (1983)
• Blow Out (1981)
• Urban Cowboy (1980)
• "Welcome Back, Kotter" (56 episodes, 1975-1979)
• Moment by Moment (1978)
• Grease (1978)
• Saturday Night Fever (1977)
• The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)
• Carrie (1976)
• The Devil's Rain (1975)
• The Tenth Level (1975)
• "Medical Center" (1 episode, 1974)
• "The Rookies" (1 episode, 1973)
• "Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law" (1 episode, 1972)
• "Emergency!" (1 episode, 1972)

Awards

• Alan J Pakula Award 1999
• BAFTA Britannia Award 1998
• MTV Movie Award Best Onscreen Duo "Face/Off" 1998
• NATO/ShoWest Male Star of the Year Award 1996
• American Comedy Award Funniest Male Performer in Film "Get Shorty" 1995
• Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) "Get Shorty" 1995
• MTV Movie Award Best Dance Sequence "Pulp Fiction" 1995
• London Film Critics Circle Award Best Actor "Pulp Fiction" 1994
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Actor "Pulp Fiction" 1994
• NATO Star of the Year Award 1983
• Golden Globe Award World Film Favorite-Male 1978
• National Board of Review Award Best Actor "Saturday Night Fever" 1977