John Travolta
Born: 18 February 1954
Where: New Jersey, USA
Travolta pulled a stunning career rehabilitation worthy of Lazarus when Quentin Tarantino cast him as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction.
On the back of that success, he appeared in a series of triumphs including Get Shorty, Primary Colours, The Thin Red Line and Face/Off.
Prior, to that his prospects in Hollywood were in freefall with the highlight being Look Who's Talking Now before Quentin stepped in.
Travolta dropped out of school at 16 and began his acting career in off-Broadway productions, before first gaining fame on the popular high school sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.
He even recorded the requisite pop album during this period and Let Her In rose to No.10 in the US charts in 1976.
Early big screen performances included The Devil's Rain and the part of the boyfriend in the chiller Carrie.
His big move to film came in 1977 with Saturday Night Fever where he played Italian-American disco dancer Tony Manero, and earned an Oscar nomination.
The following year, Travolta cemented his popularity and proved himself a capable light romantic lead opposite Olivia Newton-John in Grease.
For nearly a decade Travolta made mostly forgettable films, including Perfect and Eyes of an Angel.
However, Tarantino's Pulp Fiction restored his career and led to high profile roles including Get Short and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line.
However, recently decent roles have eluded him - Battlefield Earth is the worst film ever made in some critic's books.
Domestic Disturbance was a just about competent thriller while Swordfish impressed effects wise but Travolta was moving into self-parody territory.
Industry rumour claimed his excessive wage demands were denying him worthy roles while he indulged in cliched actorly pursuits such as flying.
In June 2002, the self-professed "airline geek", officially became an 'ambassador at large' for Qantas Airways and unveiled a world tour to promote air travel.
In 2003 he starred in the lukewarm special forces thriller Basic went on to feature in the Death Wish-style actioner The Punisher with Tom Jane.
Recent work has included a genial fire house captain in the action drama Ladder 49 with Joaquin Phoenix.
Travolta has two children with actress Kelly Preston.
