John Travolta

Travolta has been honored twice with Academy Award® nominations, including one for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for this highly acclaimed role and was named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, among other distinguished awards.

Travolta garnered further praise as a mafioso-turned-movie producer in the comedy sensation Get Shorty, winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture—Comedy or Musical. In 1998, Travolta was honored by BAFTA/LA with the Britannia Award for Excellence in Film and, that same year, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chicago International Film Festival. Travolta also won the prestigious Alan J. Pakula Award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for his performance in A Civil Action, based on the best- selling book by Jonathan Harr and directed by Steven Zaillian. He was nominated again for a Golden Globe for his performance in Primary Colors, directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton, and in 2008, he received his sixth Golden Globe nomination for his role as Edna Turnblad in the big-screen, box-office hit Hairspray. As a result of this performance, the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival recognized Travolta with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Travolta previously starred in a number of monumental films, earning his first Oscar® and Golden Globe nominations for his role in the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever, which launched the disco phenomenon in the 1970s. He went on to star in the big-screen version of the long- running musical Grease and the wildly successful Urban Cowboy, which also influenced trends in popular culture. His additional film credits include the Brian De Palma thrillers Carrie and Blow Out, as well as Amy Heckerling's hit comedy Look Who's Talking and Nora Ephron's comic hit Michael. Travolta starred in Phenomenon and took an equally distinctive turn as an action star in John Woo's top-grossing Broken Arrow. He also starred in the classic Face/Off, opposite Nicolas Cage, and The General's Daughter, co-starring Madeleine Stowe. In 2005, Travolta reprised the role of ultra-cool Chili Palmer in the Get Shorty sequel, Be Cool. In addition, he starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the critically acclaimed independent feature film A Love Song for Bobby Long, which was screened at the Venice International Film Festival and where both Travolta and the film won rave reviews. In February 2011, he was honored with the prestigious Golden Camera Award for Best Actor International in Berlin, Germany by Hörzu, Germany's leading weekly television program magazine.

His other feature film credits include the hit box-office comedy Wild Hogs; the action- thriller Ladder 49; the movie version of the successful comic book "The Punisher"; the drama Basic; the psychological thriller Domestic Disturbance; the hit action picture Swordfish; the successful sci-fi movie Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000, based on the best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard; and Lonely Hearts. Travolta also starred opposite Denzel Washington in director Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, and he provided the voice of the lead character in Walt Disney Pictures' animated hit Bolt.

Travolta starred in Walt Disney Pictures' 2009 film Old Dogs, along with Robin Williams, Kelly Preston and Ella Bleu Travolta, followed by the 2010 action-thriller From Paris With Love, starring opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

He has received two prestigious aviation awards: In 2003, he received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation Award for Excellence for his efforts to promote commercial flying, and in 2007, he received the Ambassador of Aviation Award at the Living Legends of Aviation Awards.

Travolta holds 11 jet licenses: Boeing 747, Boeing 707, Gulfstream II, Learjet 24, Hawker 1251A, Eclipse jet, Vampire jet, Canadair CL-141 jet, Soko jet, Citation I SP and Challenger. The Boeing 707 aircraft is painted in the original Qantas V-Jet livery and bears the name Jett Clipper Ella in honor of his children. Travolta is the Qantas Airways Global Goodwill Ambassador-at-Large and piloted the original Qantas 707 during the Spirit of Friendship global tour in July/August 2002.

He is also a business aircraft brand ambassador for Learjet, Challenger and Global jets for the world's leading business aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier. His other aviation association is with the Breitling watch company, for whom he advertises the luxury aviation watches as a professional aviator, and his advertisements can be seen worldwide.

Travolta flew the Boeing 707 to New Orleans after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, bringing food and medical supplies to the area and, in 2010, he flew the Boeing 707 to Haiti after its earthquake, carrying supplies, doctors and volunteers.

© 2012 Universal Pictures