PankajFamily Tragedy
The Travolta was struck by tragedy in 2009 when Kelly and John’s son, Jett sadly passed away on January 2nd. The Travoltas had been enjoying a family vacation at their home away from home in the Old Bahama Bay Hotel in the Bahamas.
The shocking death occurred after their sixteen-year-old son, Jett hit his head on the bathtub and suffered a seizure. He died shortly after leaving the family, including Jett’s sister, Ella, devastated and grief-stricken. Speaking on behalf of the Travoltas, their family attorney released a statement to People Magazine which said, “To bury your son is the worst thing you can ever do.”
A Family Affair
Acting was something of a family business for the Travoltas. John’s mother, Helen, also made her career in acting which heavily influenced John and his career path. As a child he had watched his mother performing in roles for film and on the stage, taking on acting and dancing.
It was John Travolta who was the triple threat as he could act, dance and sing, a talent he discovered when he attended drama school in New York. Not many people realize that the mother and son pair starred together in both “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever” showing their multi-faceted talents to the audience.
Travolta Senior
Mother and son, Helen and John had a special bond through their shared love of the performing arts. The patriarch of the family, Salvatore Travolta was an Italian-American whose grandparents had emigrated to the United States. As a second-generation immigrant, Salvatore felt the promise of the American dream and pursued his love of football.
He had a semi-professional career as a football player but decided to take on something with more stability. Salvatore retired from his sports career and opened a tire shop to be run by the family in New Jersey. Sadly in 1995, Salvatore died leaving a gaping hole in the Travolta family.
He’s a Pilot
Aside from acting, Travolta has a passion for flying. He is a skilled pilot and received his official flying license allowing him to fly private planes. This passion led him to buy his own fleet of five planes. Included in the fleet, is a Boeing 707 which Travolta uses to fly his family and friends around the country and to exotic far off locations.
Travolta loves planes so much he built a home for his family in a residential airpark, part of the Jumbolair Aviation Estates. The house was built with a runway that goes straight to the Travolta’s front door so he can jump on a plane and fly to wherever he wants, whenever he wants.
Net Worth
John Travolta has had a long and successful career which has allowed him to build up his net worth and his reputation. Currently, Travolta’s net worth is estimated at $170 million. The “Grease” and “Hairspray” star is one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, and with hits such as “Saturday Night Fever,” the royalties just keep on coming.
It’s not surprising with this level of income that Travolta is able to spend his money on expensive homes and airplanes adding to his already impressive fleet. Not to mention the incredible trips he’s able to take his family to all four corners of the globe.
Dancing Confession
Travolta stunned audiences in 1977 with his acting and dancing abilities in the hit movie, “Saturday Night Fever.” Although Travolta clearly had a natural talent, he had to work hard and fine-tune it so he could become a killer dancer. For this Travolta undertook intense training for nine months at a dance school. He had been inspired by the film “Soul Train” and so wanted to bring influences from that into his dancing.
Speaking about it at the time, Travolta told Vanity Fair magazine that he preferred “black dancing than white dancing” and that he had tried to bring elements of the Soul Train atmosphere into “Saturday Night Fever.”