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Who is Benjamin Travolta?
American celebrity child Benjamin Travolta was born in Florida USA, on 23 November 2010, meaning that his zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He’s only known for being a son of famous American actor John Joseph Travolta and the late American actress Kelly Kamalelehua Smith, who died from breast cancer on 12 July 2020, aged 57.
Family and education
Benjamin is being raised in Florida alongside his sister Ella Bleu, born in 2000, solely by their father John; Benjamin also had a brother Jett who was born in 1992, and died on 2 January 2009 after suffering a seizure, having struggled with Kawasaki disease since the age of two.
The marriage was Kelly’s second, as she was married to American actor Kevin Gage from 1985 through 1987, while she also had dated American actors George Timothy Clooney and Carlos Irwin Estevez, known better as Charlie Sheen. Prior to meeting Kelly, John Travolta was in a relationships with American actress Diana Hyland, French actress Catherine Deneuve and American actress Marilu Henner.
John and Kelly struggled for three years to have a third child before Benjamin was conceived. He’s today attending a local elementary school in Florida and it’s believed that Benjamin’s begun showing interest in acting, wanting to follows in his father’s footsteps, but this is yet to be confirmed.
He’s set to enroll at high school in 2024.
Height, eyes and wealth
Benjamin’s 12 years old. His hair’s brown and eyes are blue, he’s 4ft 10ins (1.48m) tall and weighs around 95lbs (43kgs).
Benjamin doesn’t have his own independent net worth as of July 2023, while his father John’s net worth’s been estimated at over $250 million; his mother Kelly’s net worth at the time of her passing, was estimated at over $24 million.
Who is his father John?
American actor John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey USA on 18 February 1954, making Aquarius his zodiac sign. He has 94 acting credits, but is probably still known best for starring as Vincent Vega in the 1994 crime movie “Pulp Fiction”, which also starred Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman, and was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It follows several people as their lives are intertwining, and the film won 69 of the 141 awards for which it was nominated, including an Oscar win for Best Writing.
My 5 Favorite John Travolta Performances
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Blow Out
3. Saturday Night Fever
4. Grease
5. Face/OffWhich is your favorite? pic.twitter.com/KXe3d61cmO
— Cinema Connoisseur (@MovieEndorser) November 20, 2022
John was raised alongside his five older siblings in Englewood, by their mother Helen Cecilia (nee Burke) who was a singer and actress, and father Salvatore ‘Sam’ Travolta who was a tire salesman and co-owner of the company Travolta Tire Exchange. John was raised Catholic, and was 21 when he converted to Scientology; he studied at Dwight Morrow High School, but fell in love with acting there, and was 17 when he dropped out to pursue and acting career.
John’s debut TV series role was playing Chuck Benson in the 1972 episode “Kids” of the action adventure comedy “Emergency!”, while his debut film role was playing Man Outside Store in the 1974 crime thriller “Nightmare”. He became famous after starring as Danny in the evergreen 1978 romantic musical comedy movie “Grease”, which also starred Olivia Newton-John and was directed by Randal Kleiser. It follows two young adults who’ve fallen in love over the summer, and the film won seven of the 17 awards for which it was nominated, including an Oscar nomination for Best Music, Original Song.
What also marked the ‘70s for John was playing Vinnie Barbarino, one of the lead characters in the popular comedy series “Welcome Back, Kotter”, which also starred Ron Palillo and Gabe Kaplan, and was created by Alan Sacks and Peter Meyerson. It follows the life of a high school teacher, and the series won three of the 11 awards for which it was nominated.
Some of John’s most notable film performances in the ‘80s were perhaps in the 1983 romantic musical “Staying Alive”, the 1987 crime mystery “Basements”, and the 1989 comedy “The Experts”.
He appeared in a couple of hit movies in the ‘90s, with the most popular amongst these was perhaps the 1998 historical war drama “The Thin Red Line”, which starred Sean Penn and Jim Caviezel, and which Terrence Malick directed. Based on James Jones’ 1962 autobiographical novel, the film follows the World War II Guadalcanal conflict, and it won 22 of the 69 awards for which it was nominated, including seven Oscar nominations, some of which for Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Director.
Some of the popular movies in which John appeared in the 2000s were the 2004 crime action “The Punisher”, the 2009 action crime thriller “The Taking of Pelham 123”, and the 2010 crime action “From Paris with Love”.
In 2016, he starred as Marshal in the action western “In a Valley of Violence”, co-starring Taissa Farmiga and Ethan Hawke, written and directed by Ti West. It follows a group of ‘misfits and nitwits’ living in a small town.
Some of John’s most recent roles have been in the 2020 short comedy movie “Capitol One: Christmas Ad”, the 2022 action thriller film “Paradise City”, and the 2023 action comedy movie “Die Hart”.
He’s won 52 of his 117 award nominations, including two Oscar nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1978 and 1995, for his performance in the movies “Saturday Night Fever” and “Pulp Fiction”, respectively.
John’s a private pilot rated to 747, 707 and 737 planes, and owns four aircraft.
Who was Benjamin’s mother Kelly?
The late American actress Kelly Kamalelehua Smith, perhaps remembered better as Kelly Preston was born in Honolulu, Hawaii USA on 13 October 1962, making Libra her zodiac sign. She had 74 acting credits, and is perhaps remembered best for portraying Avery Bishop in the 1996 romantic sports movie “Jerry Maguire”, which starred Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr, and was written and directed by Cameron Crowe. It follows a sports agent who’s been fired for doing the right thing, and has now begun working as an independent agent; the film won 26 of its 67 award nominations, including an Oscar win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Cuba).
Kelly was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii alongside her younger half-brother Chris Palzis, solely by her mother Linda as her father drowned when she was three; Linda worked at a mental health center as an administrator, and her father was employed at an agricultural company. Linda eventually married American personnel director Peter Palzis, who legally adopted Kelly and was a good step-father to her; the family moved several times while Kelly was growing up, and spent some time living in Iraq and Australia. She matriculated from Honolulu high school Punahou School in 1980, and then enrolled at University of Southern California, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 1984.
Kelly’s debut TV series role was playing Wendy in the 1980 episode “For Old Times Sake” of the crime mystery “Hawaii Five-O”, and her debut film appearance was in the 1983 crime thriller “10 to Midnight”. What marked the decade for her was perhaps playing Marnie Mason in the 1988 crime comedy movie “Twins”, which starred Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and was directed by Ivan Reitman; it follows a man as he’s searching for his long-lost twin brother, and the film won four of the five awards for which it was nominated.
Some of Kelly’s most notable performances in the ‘90s were perhaps in the 1994 romantic crime movie “Double Cross”, the 1996 action crime horror film “From Dust Till Dawn” and the 2000 action science fiction adventure movie “Battlefield Earth”.
In 2007, she played Helen Hume in the action crime movie “Death Sentence”, which starred John Goodman and Kevin Bacon, and was directed by James Wan. It follows mild-mannered executive Nick Hume who’s just witnessed something that’s about to change him forever, and the movie was nominated for three awards.
Kelly’s final three roles were in the 2014 short romantic movie “Dissonance”, three episodes of the 2016 crime mystery series “CSI: Cyber”, and the 2018 biographical crime movie “Gotti”.
She ‘won’ one of her five award nominations: a 2001 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress, for “Battlefield Earth”.