How many movies has john travolta danced in
9 Times John Travolta Proved That He Is Lord Of The Dance
We showed you the best dance scenes EVER in film and you told us you wanted to see more John Travolta. Well, you asked for it and we listened! We've come up with a large serving of his best moves of all time just for you...
From the early days as Danny Zuko in 'Grease' to the twist contest as Vincent Vega in 'Pulp Fiction', John Travolta has proved that he's got the moves - and there's no sign of him slowing down.
Enjoy! (And don't say that we never treat you!)
Read more: 18 Of The Best Dance Scenes In Film EVER
1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Even when Mia Wallace (Uma Therman) demands that a reluctant Vincent Vega will dance with her in the 'Twist Contest', he does not disappoint.
2.
Saturday Night Fever (1977)Okay, so this film might have been released almost 40 years ago, but at every wedding, christening or family party there are a significant number of us that still take inspiration from Tony Manero - namely dads.
3. Perfect (1985)
When reporter Adam went along to Jessie's (Jamie Lee Curtis) aerobics class as research for an article on health clubs - aside from being annoyingly cocky - have a sneaky suspicion it wasn't his first time hitting the dance floor... This film had a certificate of 15 and we can see why. This gif alone has got us hot under the collar!
4. Urban Cowboy (1980)
Is there anything this man can't do? Even when he looks almost unrecognisable sporting a bushy beard and a cowboy hat, his quick-steps never falter.
5. Grease (1978)
Danny Zuko was sex-on-legs. Although looking back, what he's doing with his legs here wasn't as sexy as we thought...
Read more: QUIZ: Who Would Be YOUR 'Grease' Date?
6. Hairspray (2007)
Even as a woman, Edna Turnblad, he could gyrate just as well as he can when he's a man!
7. Michael (1996)
Even as an Archangel sent to earth to mend some wounded hearts he still managed to showoff is dancing skills, even if they are somewhat unorthodox...
And then there were the adverts. The old...
8. A 'Tokyo Drink' advert from the 80s
Oh wow.
And the new....
9. A Brazilian rum advert (2013)
Like a bottle of rich Chilean Malbec or a hunk of succulent cheddar, John Travolta's dance moves seem to mature with age.
Keep those hips swinging John Travolta!
Top 10 John Travolta Performances
VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton
Born February 18th, 1954, John Travolta jumped from a starring role on TV in "Welcome Back, Kotter," to an ultra-successful movie career within a few short years. From there, he showed off his impressive singing and dancing skills in movies like "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease," before finally showing audiences he could actually act, too. After his hits in the '70s, Travolta had a career lull that lasted until the mid-'90s. His comeback film was the super popular Quentin Tarantino flick "Pulp Fiction,"" and he never looked back. In this video, http://www.WatchMojo.com counts down John Travolta's top 10 performances.
He sings, he dances, he irons! Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for John Travolta’s top 10 performances.
#10 – Michael: “Michael” (1996)
Kicking off our list is quintessential Travolta. He turns the traditional idea of an angel on its ear by portraying Michael as a slob who drinks, smokes, eats like a pig, and flirts with the ladies. In other words: it’s a character most actors would kill to play. “Michael” is packed with the things we love about Travolta, like singing, dancing and inexplicable charm.
#9 – Jack Terry: “Blow Out” (1981)
Before a career lull that lasted till the mid-‘90s, Travolta went out with a bang – or at least a “Blow Out.” This thriller is a change from the smashes Travolta had been making before it: he plays a b-movie soundman who inadvertently stumbles onto a web of crime. “Blow Out” lets fans focus on Travolta’s acting rather than his singing or dancing, and what they get is one helluva performance.
#8 – Governor Jack Stanton: “Primary Colors” (1998)
Travolta takes his turn to do a thinly-veiled President Clinton impersonation in this film. But his performance is more than that – if it were just an imitation, Travolta never would have been nominated for a Golden Globe. Plus, it’s no mean feat to take on a caricature of a sitting president. Travolta is a dominant presence in the film, both when he’s on-screen and when he’s off.
#7 – Edna Turnblad: “Hairspray” (2007)
One of these things is not like the other... What can we say; we love a man in drag. And a fat suit. Singing. And Dancing. With Christopher Walken. Travolta could not be more committed to this role, which was his first musical in decades. Travolta managed another Golden Globe nod as Tracy Turnblad’s curvaceous mother, and proves that big is beautiful.
#6 – Vinnie Barbarino: “Welcome Back, Kotter” (1975 – 1979)
The Italian Stallion known as Vinnie Barbarino is the TV character that launched Travolta into the spotlight. In fact, he’s so good as the leader of the Sweathogs, audiences thought that was the real Travolta – especially since his “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever” roles were kinda similar. He eventually proved he was more than a one-note actor, but we’ll always remember Vinnie’s enduring insults.
#5 – Chili Palmer: “Get Shorty” (1995)
Coming off the career-reviving success of “Pulp Fiction,” Travolta takes a similar part in this crime comedy, and wins a Golden Globe for his trouble. Travolta is the reason this movie was a success: he insisted the author’s original words be used in the movie, instead of some sterile, rehashed screenplay dialogue. Alongside a great supporting cast, Travolta makes menacing an artform – and gives Danny DeVito some tips.
#4 – Sean Archer/Castor Troy: “Face/Off” (1997)
This may be one of the most effective screen couples ever. Like, seriously: Who doesn’t want to see Travolta and Cage impersonate each other? Okay, the script is convoluted beyond compare, and the movie is filled with John Woo-isms. But Travolta flawlessly captures the humor and madness of his co-star, and also plays the quietly understated hero perfectly. Why is “Face/Off” on this list, you may ask? It’s just awesome.
#3 – Danny Zuko: “Grease” (1978)
Catchy tunes, charming stars and endless nostalgia are what make “Grease” great, despite what critics say. But Travolta has a pretty big part in it too: he helps things along by showing off his sweet dance moves, velvety singing voice and slicked back hair as the swaggering leader of the T-Birds. It’s a great example of vintage Travolta, and kept his 1970s’ winning streak alive.
#2 – Vincent Vega: “Pulp Fiction” (1994)
This movie revived a lot of careers, and Travolta was lucky that his was one of them. Travolta almost missed this chance to dance onscreen in favor of Michael Madsen, but he bowed out to film “Wyatt Earp” and has been kicking himself ever since. After a string of lame flicks and sub-par sequels, Travolta earned himself his second Oscar nomination by riffing on Big Macs, foot massages and talking to himself in the mirror.
#1 – Tony Manero: “Saturday Night Fever” (1977)
Taking the top spot on our list is the role that took a hot TV celeb and made him into a Hollywood superstar. Travolta and his Brooklyn accent are the life of the party, and his swaggering yet stripped down portrayal is perfect. But it’s the dancing that really makes this movie, and Travolta is flawless. Boy, you can tell by the way he uses his walk, he’s a woman’s man... Well, you get the picture.
John Travolta has made so many memorable performances; it’s hard to include them all. Subscribe to WatchMojo.com, and give us an idea which of your favorites is missing.
Actor John Travolta | Movies with John Travolta | Biography of the actor | Personal life | Photo
Born in the family of semi-professional football player Salvatore Travolta and actress Helen, who taught drama. John was the sixth and youngest child in the family. Mom from childhood instilled in her children a love of art, John from the age of six was engaged in dancing, participated in amateur performances, and at sixteen he entered the School of Dramatic Art in New York. After several small roles in films, Travolta received the first roles in the TV series Welcome Back Koter and in the horror film Hell Rain, playing in Broadway productions.
A dramatic actor, an excellent dancer, an owner of outstanding vocal abilities - such talents could not be wasted. In 1977, actor John Travolta starred in the musical film Saturday Night Fever (1977), which became the actor's hallmark. Travolta's hero is Tony Manero, a working-class kid who works hard five days a week to wear a blindingly white suit with a black shirt on a Saturday night, slick his hair in slicks, and dance until you drop, hoping to somehow break out of the vicious circle. Dancing to disco, love experiences, searching for yourself - all this resonated with the audience and made Travolta super popular.
Then there was filming in the television musical "Grease", where John sang several songs with Olivia Newton-John, which became instant hits. And everything would be fine, new offers from directors, new roles, but Travolta can’t get rid of the role of a “dancing” actor, and he himself refuses many star roles due to depression. The reason for such a depressive state is the death of his beloved, actress Dinah Hyland, who dies of cancer during the filming of "Fever", the actor's mother dies of the same disease a year later. This unsettled him for a long time.
Actor John Travolta stars in the family comedy Who Would Tell, where he meets his future wife, Kelly Preston. Among the works of that time, one can only single out the thriller Brian de Palma "Puncture" (1981).
The Second Coming of John Travolta happened in 1994, when Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction was released. The funny thing is that the actor's fee amounted to only some 140 thousand dollars, and he agreed to play for a then unknown young director just for fun. The film immediately entered the history of cinema, and Travolta showed himself in the new role of the gouging gangster Vincent Vega, dancing a dashing twist with Uma Thurman - a kind of parodic nod to his early roles.
After such a great success, everyone looks at John in a new way, invites him to new interesting projects. On the advice of the same Tarantino, he agrees to a role in the comedy with a criminal bias Get Shorty (1995). Here he plays gangster Chili Palmer, who decides to make a movie in Hollywood based on the real events of his rich mafia past and present. True, Charlie does not know that the Hollywood film industry will be cleaner than the criminal one.
This is followed by no less iconic roles from the Chinese director John Woo. In Broken Arrow (1996) Travolta continues to play the "bad guy", being the opposite of Christian Slater's character. During the filming of the action movie Face Off (1997), the actor's fee rises to $15 million. Travolta teamed up with Nicolas Cage as FBI agent Sean Archer and terrorist Castor Troy in this epic, action-packed action game. He also plays an angel who is not alien to earthly life in the movie "Michael", an auto mechanic, endowed with the ability to read minds in "The Phenomenon".
Starring in the crime drama The General's Daughter (1999) as military investigator Paul Brenner, solving the murder case of the general's daughter. Travolta is not afraid to experiment, which is why she starred in the film Battlefield: Earth, which pays tribute to the science fiction of the first half of the 20th century. The film received the Golden Raspberry, dividing the audience into its zealous opponents and no less zealous admirers.
Also seen in Password Swordfish (2001), Real Boars (2007). She plays the fat mother of a chubby girl who dreams of becoming a star of a dance show in Hairspray (for this role, Travolta made up for 4 hours daily), a charismatic secret agent in Pierre Morel's film From Paris with Love (2010).
Married to actress Kelly Preston. On April 13, 1992, John and Kelly had a son, Jett, and on April 3, 2000, a daughter, Ella Blue. Unfortunately, Travolta's son tragically died at the age of 16 in 2009. Soon, the Travolta family was expected to replenish again - in 2010, a boy was born, whom the couple decided to name Benjamin.
John Travolta: biography, personal life, filmography
Contents:
John Travolta - Movies
- John Travolta - Grease
- John Travolta - Pulp Fiction
John Travolta - Piloting
John Travolta - Personal Life
American actor, singer and dancer, Golden Globe and Emmy award winner John Travolta was born on February 18, 1954. John's father, professional Italian football player Salvatore Travolta, when he retired from the sport, began trading in automotive parts. Mother - Irish actress Helen Cecilia Burke, taught drama and English at school. In addition to John, there were five other children in the family: Joey, Ellen, Ann, Margaret and Sam. Mom actively taught acting skills to children, there was a small stage in the house where children gave amateur performances. Joey and Ellen also became actors. John has been dancing since the age of 6. Fred Kelly, brother of the famous dancer Gene Kelly, became his mentor. The future actor spent all his youth on the dance floors, and after graduating from Dwight Morrow High School, at the age of 16, Travolta began to perform professionally on the theater stages in New Jersey. Then Broadway appeared in his career. At 19In 66, John began attending drama school in New York, studying the art of dance and vocal skills. He continued his studies at the Dwight Morrow Drama School in Inglewood, but dropped out in 1970.
John Travolta - Movies
John's career, like many others, began with television. In 1972, he first appeared on the screen - in the TV series "Emergency", and after 3 years he got the role of Vinnie Barbarino in the TV project "Welcome Back, Kotter". In the same 1975, John made his debut in a big movie - he was given the role of Danny in the film "Hell Rain" with Tom Skerrit. Then there was Carrie and the TV drama Under the Hood.
John's first success came with the role of Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever in 1977. In the film, Travolta was able to show himself in all its glory and reveal his dancing talents. John Travolta was nominated for an Oscar for this role. And the next film exceeds all the expectations of the producers and creators and takes John to a new level of fame. The film "Grease" in 1978 became one of the most successful films in the actor's career. Then John slightly changes his role and in 1980 a western with Debra Winger "Urban Cowboy" comes out. The picture was also very successfully accepted by the audience and revived interest in the country style. The following year, John starred in Brian de Palma's Thriller, which was not a big success at the box office, but was warmly received by critics. Years later, this tape justified itself and is considered a great director's creation. Sylvester Stallone's film "Staying Alive" became memorable. In the picture, John Travolta was able to show the difficult fate of the dancer.
A truly cult actor became after the role of Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's film "Pulp Fiction" in 1994. Then there were several successful projects, including the comedy Get Shorty, the melodrama Michael, the military drama The Thin Red Line, the crime thriller Face Off, the tragicomedy Primary Colors, and the drama Civil Action. In 2000, Travolta became the producer of the film "Battlefield: Earth", in which he played the title role. The film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Scientology founder Ron Hubbard has become the record holder for the number of Golden Raspberry awards.
After a short break, Travolta appeared on the screen in 2012 - with Oliver Stone's thriller "Wanted", where he was accompanied by Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, Salma Hayek and Benicio del Toro. Then the actor worked in Mark Steven Johnson's Killer Season, where he was accompanied by Robert De Niro. In 2014, the tape "The Forger" was released, where John starred with Christopher Plummer. In 2015, the actor got the central role of lawyer Robert Shapiro in an interesting FX project American Crime Story, based on real events. This work was marked by nominations for the Emmy and Golden Globe awards.
In 2017, John starred in the crime drama The Gotti Code, which tells about the biography of the famous mafia John Gotti. Together with him, his wife Kelly Preston and daughter took part in the project. In 2018, the actor starred in the American-Spanish action movie Trade Route by the aspiring Kurdish director Karzhan Kader, where he will be accompanied by Michael Madsen.
John Travolta - Grease
1978 musical film directed by Randal Kleiser based on the musical of the same name. The action takes place at 1958-1959. The plot tells about the relationship between high school students - Danny Zuko and Sandy Olssen. John got the main role of Danny, which brought fame and recognition. The film became the most commercially successful musical film at that time and brought in about $ 395 million at the worldwide box office. The film caused such a stir among fans that the term "travoltomania" appeared. The non-linear plot of the film tells several stories in parallel, which show robberies, philosophical discussions between two gangsters, saving a girl from a drug overdose, and a boxer who was deceived. Travolta played Vincent Vega - a bandit in the service of Marsellus Wallace. Particular attention of critics and viewers was attracted by the dance that the actor performed with Uma Thurman. The film has become a cult classic and is consistently in the top 10 of IMDb's Top 250 Movies list.
John Travolta - Piloting
The actor is an avid aviation fan. Even as a child, he dreamed of becoming a pilot, collected model aircraft and could spend hours watching exercises at a US Air Force base located not far from his home. However, the prospect of life in the barracks did not impress John, and he chose the acting profession. Travolta has a pilot's license, several planes, and even had a four-engine Boeing 707-138, which he donated in 2017 to an Australian society dedicated to the restoration of historic airliners. Pilot John Travolta has several thousand flying hours, and the actor's planes are named after his children.
John Travolta - Personal life
While working on the painting "Under the Hood" in 1976, John began an affair with Diana Hyland, who was 18 years older. A year later, Hyland died of cancer in John's arms. In 1989, on the set of the family comedy Who Would Talk, he met actress and model Kelly Preston. Their romance ended with a wedding in 1991, and a year later the couple had a son, Jett Travolta. The boy died in January 2009, at the age of 16, after suffering a fatal injury as a result of an epileptic seizure caused by Kawasaki syndrome.