15 John Travolta Facts You Probably Never Knew

John Travolta captured a lot of hearts in his day. There have been a lot of heartthrobs who’ve graced the silver screen over the past few decades. However, some have shined just a little brighter than the rest. John Travolta has definitely shined! While he’s a happily married man (the couple celebrates their 26th wedding anniversary in 2017), plenty of us may still consider him to be our earliest celebrity crush. Many of us had that infamous Vinnie Barbarino poster plastered on our walls. We can always look back at his past performances and fall in love all over again! He's that kind of guy! Scroll through below for a look at 15 facts you likely never knew about John before. There is so much more going on beyond the fancy footwork he displayed in movies like Grease and Saturday Night Fever. Isn’t it always fun to learn more obscure facts about celebrities you’ve grown to know and love over the years? Let us know if we missed any John Travolta facts in the comment section below. 1. John Travolta attended high school at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, New Jersey, but he admitted that he was far from a stellar student. He preferred to focus his efforts on acting and not so much on grades. In the end, however, his strategy worked out! 2. Travolta tends to be cast in roles where he plays an Italian-American man; however, his family was actually more involved in their Irish roots. His father was Italian and his mother was Irish, but the area of New Jersey where he grew up was predominately Irish. 3. In 1985, at the Reagan White House, Travolta was able to show off his Saturday Night Fever dance moves with Princess Diana. Not only did he prove he could shake those hips with ease, but he also impressed a member of royalty, as well. She named the dress she wore on the night of this dance the “Travolta Dress.” https://youtu.be/3aF-0qrWUoA 4. Before Travolta hit it big in the ’70s, he was just a struggling actor trying to make ends meet. He took on several less-than-ideal jobs to pay his bills, including that of a supermarket check-out boy and an airline luggage porter. 5. Although Travolta has never won an Academy Award for his movie performances, in 1981, he was named Man of the Year at Harvard’s prestigious Hasty Pudding Theatrical Club, which was a group of students known for putting on burlesque shows and musicals. 6. Actress Diana Hyland played Travolta’s mother in the 1976 film The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, but the two were actually involved in a romantic relationship off-set. Sadly, she died from breast cancer while in Travolta’s arms when she was just 41. Travolta accepted a posthumous Emmy Award for her role shortly thereafter. 7. Most people know Travolta as a talented actor, but what they don’t know is he can also sing! He first took a stab at it in 1975, and his first single actually made it to number 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. In 2008, he even performed a song alongside Miley Cyrus for the Disney movie Bolt. https://youtu.be/bPxdW1bEFaY 8. People all over the world love Travolta, but he’s especially popular in Brazil. The makers of the Brazilian rum Ypióca Cachaça liked him so much that they contacted him to star in one of their television commercials. 9. While Travolta was filming the 1980 romantic drama Urban Cowboy, he refused to let a stunt double act in any of the dangerous scenes. He even had a mechanical bull built in his home so he could practice riding before filming even began! 10. In the early ’70s, Travolta had minor roles in television programs and stage shows, but when he landed the character of Vinnie Barbarino in ABC’s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter in 1975, he became a true household name. 11. In 1984, Travolta auditioned for the lead male role in Splash. Unfortunately, his agent at the time convinced him the movie wouldn’t be a hit, so he bowed out. Shortly after, Tom Hanks landed the role, and the movie ended up being a box office sensation. 12. Travolta’s mother Helen was one of the main reasons he decided to pursue a career in show business. She was a dancer and an actress, and she was even the one who enrolled Travolta in his first drama class! 13. Travolta has had an infatuation with flying ever since he was a young boy. By age 22, he obtained his pilot’s license, and today, he owns and flies his own private jets, and he even has an aircraft company. 14. Travolta is a trained pilot, and while on a routine flight in 1992, his plane’s power began to suddenly fade while he was at the controls. Luckily, he was experienced enough to carefully maneuver it back to the runway for a safe emergency landing. 15. The movie Grease was an enormous box office hit, and interestingly enough, in 1971, Travolta was in the stage show cast of the musical seven years before he landed the lead role in the movie adaptation. He was meant to play the character of Danny from the very beginning! Credits: Hermoments.com Share these facts about John Travolta with your friends below!