Early life
Travolta, the youngest of six children, was born in Englewood, New Jersey to Salvatore Travolta, a second-generation Italian American semi-professional football player turned tire salesman, and Helen Cecilia Burke, an Irish American actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama teacher. She was 42 when Travolta was born. Travolta grew up in an Irish-American neighborhood and has said that his household was predominantly Irish in culture. His family was Catholic.
Career
After dropping out of Dwight Morrow High School after his junior year, Travolta moved to New York City to get a job as a performer. He landed roles in the touring company of Grease and on Broadway in Over Here! singing the Sherman Brothers' song "Dream Drummin'". Travolta also cut singles for a local record company, but the songs were quickly forgotten. But eventually, he moved to Los Angeles, California to further his career in show business.
Travolta gained his first major movie role as Billy Nolan, a sadistic bully who taunted Sissy Spacek's Carrie White in the horror film Carrie (1976). Around the same time he landed his star-making role as Vinnie Barbarino in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) in which his sister, Ellen, also occasionally appeared (as Arnold Horshack's mother).
Around this time he also had a hit single entitled "Let Her In" peaking at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the next few years, he appeared in some of his most memorable screen roles: Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and as Danny Zuko in Grease (1978). His mother and his sister Ann appeared as extras in Saturday Night Fever and his sister Ellen appeared as a waitress in Grease. Travolta performed several of the songs on the Grease soundtrack album, that eventually went on to sell more than 10 million copies. In 1980, Travolta inspired a nationwide country music craze that followed on the heels of his hit film, Urban Cowboy, in which he starred with Debra Winger.
After Urban Cowboy came a string of flops that sidelined his acting career. Some suggest that he was typecast as a disco stud or 1970s icon, which could be the reason his agent intervened on several occasions to turn down acting roles. During that time he was offered, but turned down, lead roles in what would become box office hits, including American Gigolo, An Officer and A Gentleman, and Splash. The first two films ultimately starred Richard Gere in the lead role and went to become box office successes. This was also the case with the movie Chicago - the role of lawyer Billy Flynn was offered to Travolta, but ultimately was played by Gere; the film went on to become a highly commercial and critical success. His only hit film during this period was alongside Kirstie Alley and a baby voiced by Bruce Willis in Look Who's Talking. However, it wasn't until he played Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's hit Pulp Fiction (1994), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, that his career was revived. The movie shifted him back onto the A-list, and he was inundated with offers. Coincidentally, before Travolta took the role he visited Tarantino, who was living in the same ramshackle apartment in Los Angeles that Travolta had inhabited when he got his start. Notable roles following Pulp Fiction include a movie-buff loan shark in Get Shorty (1995), an FBI agent in Face/Off (1997), a desperate attorney in A Civil Action (1998) and a military detective in The General's Daughter (1999).
Travolta also starred in Battlefield Earth (2000) based on a work of science fiction by L. Ron Hubbard, in which he played the leader of a group of aliens that enslaves humanity on a bleak future Earth. The film received almost universally negative reviews and did very poorly at the box office. Travolta, who converted to Scientology in 1975 and endorses Hubbard's teachings, had hoped that the film would be well received and be the first in a series of Hubbard film adaptations. In fact, the film won a Razzie Award for Worst Film of the Year at the 2000 awards.
Travola is currently starring as a workaholic turned biker in Wild Hogs (2007).
Travolta will play Edna Turnblad in the 2007 adaptation of Hairspray.
Personal life
Travolta married actress Kelly Preston in 1991. They have a son named Jett, and a daughter named Ella Blue. On April 10, 2006, Mark Ebner of Hollywood, Interrupted made a public plea to Travolta and Preston to have their son treated for autism, alleging five reliable sources—including representatives from Cure Autism Now and The Autism Perspective—who claim that Jett suffers from autism, and not from Kawasaki syndrome as stated by the parents. His brother Joey Travolta recently produced a documentary about autism.
Travolta is a licensed pilot and owns five airplanes, including an ex-Australian airliner, the Qantas 707-138. The plane bears the name Jett Clipper Ella in honor of his son Jett and his daughter Ella. Pan Am was a large operator of the 707 and used Clipper in their names. His US$4.9 million estate in the Jumbolair subdivision in Anthony, Florida is situated on Greystone Airport with its own runway and taxiway right to the door.
In 1992, he wrote and illustrated a short children's book entitled Propeller One-Way Night Coach about the fictional journey of an 8-year-old boy named Jeff across the USA in the 1950s. He celebrated with the Australian national football team in their dressing room following their qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Questions have also been raised regarding what kind of agreements were made between Travolta and then-President Bill Clinton, regarding how Travolta would portray Jack Stanton, a character based on Clinton, in the movie Primary Colors and whether Clinton would pressure the German government to remove its ban on Scientology. Travolta was quoted about the issue in May 1998 issue of George magazine:
The next day, I met with Clinton. He told me: "Your program sounds great. More than that, I'd really love to help you with your issue over in Germany with Scientology." I was waiting for the seduction that I had heard so much about. I thought, "Well, how could he ever seduce me?" And after we talked, I thought, "Bingo!" He did it. Scientology is the one issue that really matters to me.
In another interview, Travolta admitted that his portrayal of Stanton was much more kind than that in the book Primary Colors. The next year, in November 1998, Clinton sent Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to urge German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel to grant Scientology the status of a registered religion—without success.
Other
Travolta's affiliation with Scientology is frequently mentioned in the press. In 1998 he was named in a lawsuit involving a former member who claimed that he was promised that his homosexuality could be cured. The lawsuit alleged that the organization frequently cited Travolta as proof that the organization could in fact change a person's sexual orientation. A lawyer for Travolta replied, "This looks like complete hogwash. Travolta is a happily married man, which proves he isn't gay". Paul Barresi claimed to have had a homosexual relationship with Travolta in 1982, but later recanted the statement. In 2006, Travolta was photographed in what looks like the exchange of a kiss with an unidentified male in Hamilton, Ontario. However, Travolta's attorney, Martin Singer, stated that Travolta's wife Preston was on board the plane and claimed the kiss to be a nonromantic gesture Travolta makes with all close friends of both genders, entirely nonsexual in nature, and that "people who are close to Mr. Travolta are aware of his customary, non-romantic gesture."
Faith No More's Mike Patton wrote and recorded a song called "Travolta" with his band Mr. Bungle. The name of the song was changed to "Quote Unquote" due to legal reasons. The song came out 1991, which was a time at which John Travolta was considered a "has-been" actor. This was before Pulp Fiction came out, and Travolta's career took off again. "Quote Unquote" is also the name of a book John Travolta published around this time. In an episode of South Park, Travolta was one of the characters shown trying to get Tom Cruise out of Stan's closet. The other trying to get him out (Tom Cruise) was R. Kelly, threatening both Tom and John the count of three before he shoots both of them.
Timeless To Me
John Travolta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But Edna, you're timeless to me
Hemlines are shorter, a beer crossed a quarter
But time cannot take what comes free
You're like a stinky old cheese, babe
Just getting riper with age
You're like a fatal disease, babe
Some folks can't stand it, say time is a bandit
But I take the opposite view
'Cause when I need a lift, time brings a gift
Another day with you
A twist or a waltz, it's all the same schmaltz
With just a change in the scenery
You'll never be old hat, that's that
You're timeless to me
Oh, Wilbur, I love you
Fads keep a-fading, Castro's invading
But Wilbur, you're timeless to me
Hairdos are higher, mine feels like barbed wire
But you say I'm chic as can be
You're like a rare vintage ripple
A vintage they'll never forget
So pour me a teeny weenie triple
And we can toast the fact, we ain't dead yet
I can't stop eating, your hairline's receding
And soon you'll have nothing at all
So, you'll wear a wig while I roast a pig
Hey, pass that Geritol
Glenn Miller had brass, that Chubby Checker's a gas
But they all pass eventually
You'll never be passé, hip hooray
You're timeless to me
You're like a broken down Chevy
All I need is a fresh coat of paint
And Edna, you got me going hot and heavy
You're fat and old (what?), baby, boring, you ain't
Some folks don't get it but we never fret it
'Cause we know that time is our friend
Yeah, it's plain to see that you're stuck with me
Until the bitter end
And we got a kid who's blowing the lid
Off the Turnblad family tree
You'll always hit the spot, big shot
You're timeless to me
You'll always be du jour, mon amour
You're timeless to me
You'll always be first string, ring a ding ding
You're timeless to me
You're timeless to me
You're timeless to me
You're timeless to me
The song "Timeless to Me" by John Travolta and Christopher Walken talks about love and companionship that surpasses time and changing trends in the world. The first stanza explains how everything around them is changing constantly, but Edna is timeless to Wilbur. Despite fashion changes like shorter hemlines and the rise in beer prices, the love they share is free from the influence of time. To Wilbur, Edna is like a stinky cheese that just gets better with age. He compares her to a fatal disease with no cure, and he wants to embrace their love instead of living in fear.
In the second stanza, Wilbur tells Edna that she's timeless to him, even though everything around them is changing. Hairdos may be higher, and hers may look like barbed wire, but to Wilbur, she's still chic. He compares her to a rare vintage ripple that they can still enjoy. Wilbur jokes about his receding hairline and admits that he may need to wear a wig while Edna roasts a pig. He concludes that Glenn Miller and Chubby Checker may have had their time, but Edna is timeless, and they will always be together.
Line by Line Meaning
Styles keep a-changing, the world's rearranging
The world is constantly changing, but our love is not affected by trends.
But Edna, you're timeless to me
I love you regardless of any changes that may occur.
Hemlines are shorter, a beer crossed a quarter
Fashion and prices may shift, but our bond remains unaltered.
But time cannot take what comes free
Our love is natural and unaffected by the passage of time.
You're like a stinky old cheese, babe
Your love is like a smelly cheese, it only gets better with age.
Just getting riper with age
Our love grows deeper and more significant as we get older.
You're like the fatal disease, babe
Your love is as inescapable as a fatal disease.
But there's no cure so let this fever rage
I can't get enough of your love, and I don't want to be cured.
Some folks can't stand it, say time is a bandit
Many people believe that time steals and destroys what we have.
But I take the opposite view
I see the value in the moments we share, and how it strengthens our relationship.
'Cause when I need a lift, time brings a gift
When I'm feeling down, being with you is always a precious gift.
Another day with you
Spending each day with you is something I cherish.
A twist or a waltz, it's all the same schmaltz
It doesn't matter how we dance, as long as we're together.
With just a change in the scenery
The environment around us may change, but as long as we have each other, we're okay.
You'll never be old hat, that's that
Our love will never go out of fashion.
Oh, Wilbur, I love you
I'm expressing my love for you, Wilbur.
Fads keep a-fading, Castro's invading
The political climate may shift and current trends may come and go, but my love remains consistent.
But Wilbur, you're timeless to me
I love you regardless of any changes that may occur.
Hairdos are higher, mine feels like barbed wire
Our hairstyles may change, but our love persists.
But you say I'm chic as can be
You always see the best in me, even when I don't.
You're like a rare vintage ripple
Your love is like a rare and prized wine.
A vintage they'll never forget
Our love is unforgettable.
So pour me a teeny weenie triple
Let's raise a glass to our love.
And we can toast the fact, we ain't dead yet
We'll celebrate the fact that we're still alive and have each other.
I can't stop eating, your hairline's receding
We may have our flaws and changes in our appearance, but it doesn't change how much we love each other.
And soon you'll have nothing at all
Your hair might continue to recede until you lose it all.
So, you'll wear a wig while I roast a pig
You can wear a wig while we enjoy a meal together.
Hey, pass that Geritol
Let's enjoy life to the fullest, even if it means taking vitamins to keep our energy levels up.
Glenn Miller had brass, that Chubby Checker's at gas
Famous musicians may come and go, but our love endures.
But they all pass eventually
Everything has an expiration date, except for our love.
You'll never be pass, hip hooray
Our love will never become outdated.
You're like a broken down Chevy
You may not be perfect, but you have character and history.
All I need is a fresh coat of paint
Our love can always be improved and strengthened.
And Edna, you got me going hot and heavy
Your love ignites a passion within me.
You're fat and old, baby, boring, you ain't
You may not fit society's standard of beauty, but to me, you are perfect.
Some folks don't get it but we never fret it
Other people may not understand our love, but it doesn't bother us.
'Cause we know that time is our friend
We understand that time is a precious commodity that we don't take for granted.
Yeah, it's plain to see that you're stuck with me
We are committed to each other and our love.
Until the bitter end
We will never give up on our love, no matter what.
And we got a kid who's blowing the lid
Our child is living life to the fullest and experiencing new adventures.
Off the Turnblad family tree
Our family tree continues to bloom and grow.
You'll always hit the spot, big shot
Being with you always feels just right.
You're timeless to me
Our love is a constant and will last forever.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Marc Shaiman, Scott Michael Wittman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@yourname5121
LYRICS
Styles keep a-changing, the world's rearranging
But Edna, you're timeless to me
Hemlines are shorter, a beer crossed a quarter
But time cannot take what comes free
You're like a stinky old cheese, babe
Just getting riper with age
You're like the fatal disease, babe
But there's no cure so let this fever rage
Some folks can't stand it, say time is a bandit
But I take the opposite view
'Cause when I need a lift, time brings a gift
Another day with you
A twist or a waltz, it's all the same schmaltz
With just a change in the scenery
You'll never be old hat, that's that
You're timeless to me
Oh, Wilbur, I love you
Fads keep a-fading, Castro's invading
But Wilbur, you're timeless to me
Hairdos are higher, mine feels like barbed wire
But you say I'm chic as can be
You're like a rare vintage ripple
A vintage they'll never forget
So pour me a teeny weenie triple
And we can toast the fact, we ain't dead yet
I can't stop eating, your hairline's receding
And soon you'll have nothing at all
So, you'll wear a wig while I roast a pig
Hey, pass that Geritol
Glenn Miller had brass, that Chubby Checker's at gas
But they all pass eventually
You'll never be passé, hip hooray
You're timeless to me
You're like a broken down Chevy
All I need is a fresh coat of paint
And Edna, you got me going hot and heavy
You're fat and old, baby, boring, you ain't
Some folks don't get it but we never fret it
'Cause we know that time is our friend
Yeah, it's plain to see that you're stuck with me
Until the bitter end
And we got a kid who's blowing the lid
Off the Turnblad family tree
You'll always hit the spot, big shot
You're timeless to me
You'll always be du jour, mon amour
You're timeless to me
You'll always be first string, ring a ding ding
You're timeless to me
You're timeless to me
You're timeless to me
You're timeless to me
@kendra9002
Never thought I would ship John Travolta with Christopher Walken, yet here I am.
@Rosi-ni9pc
this is great acting <3 , Walken looks so much in love (loved that)
@jaydenthiago1101
Not sure if anyone gives a shit but if you're stoned like me during the covid times you can stream pretty much all the new series on instaflixxer. I've been streaming with my girlfriend these days xD
@joshuaarthur3151
@Jayden Thiago yea, I've been using instaflixxer for since november myself :)
@madamvaudelune3298
But this is adorable!
@seamistseamist
@@joshuaarthur3151 This isn't what a not botted comment works.
@ThePercussionFREAK
relationship goals: wilbur and edna turnblad.
@marijanewhitaker5033
Yes
@Rhayra
I'm more of a Morticia and Gomes Addams kinda girl, but sure the Turnblads are so freaking perfect
@arianewinter4266
yeah, there like, Morticia and Gomes levels of awesome and healthy relationships in media, and those are rear as fuck!!! Tracy and Link are a disaster like most, but her parents . . . . pure gold!!!