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He began his stage career at the age of twelve when he joined an actors' workshop in his hometown of Englewood, New Jersey. He performed in school shows (till age of sixteen) and also in a local dinner theater. This high school drop out changed the mood of the seventies dancing with his tight fitting bell bottomed polyester suit and the Bee-Gee's disco sounds in Saturday Night Fever (1977). The movie became a huge $350 million dollar sensation. That original white suit sold for $145,500 at Christie's auction - now that's a cultural impact! He made his off-Broadway bow at 18 in Rain, joined the touring company of Grease, in the minor role of Doody. He debuted opposite the Andrews Sisters in the World War II musical Over Here! (1973) and a bit part in the horror film The Devil's Rain (1975). Before the disco fever he had roles in popular TV series of Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1972), Emergency (1972), The Rookies (1973), Medical Center (1974), and the Vinnie Babarino we all loved in Welcome Back, Kotter (1975 - 1979). As a teen-idol with vocal talent he released four albums: Travolta Fever (1976), Saturday Night Fever (1976), John Travolta (1976), and Can't Let You Go (1976). He earned the Best Male Vocalist award from Billboard. John appeared in the Stephen King, horror movie, Carrie (1976) as a cruel classmate to Sissy Spacek. That same year he did The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, in which he met Diana Hyland, who played the role of the mother. He fell in love with Diana, eighteen years his senior, only to lose her to cancer in 1977. He faced another loss when his mother died two years later of cancer. The fifties film version of Grease (1978) with Olivia Newton-John was followed by Urban Cowboy (1980) which set an overnight rage of mechanical broncos around the country nightlife. Travolta had a slow period with low box office movies like Moment to Moment (1978), Blow Out (1981 - which was a really good movie), Two of a Kind (1983), Staying Alive and Perfect (1985) and The Experts (1989).
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The copyright of the article John Travolta--Staying Alive in 80s Movie Stars is owned by Dexter Wolfe. Permission to republish John Travolta--Staying Alive in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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