John Travolta

In fact, few people realize early in Travolta’s career in show business he was featured as an actor/singer/dancer in the Broadway production as well as the first national tour of Grease. He had a Top 10 single in “Let Her In,” which attracted the attention of the Australian entrepreneur Robert Stigwood, who helped cast him in Saturday Night Fever and then Grease opposite Olivia Newton-John. Travolta subsequently recorded duets with Carly Simon (“Two Sleepy People” from her 1997 Film Noir album), Miley Cyrus (“I Thought I Lost You” from the Disney animated movie Bolt) and daughter Ella Bleu (for the Disney feature Old Dogs). He also sang four songs on the 2008 Hairspray movie soundtrack album in his role as Edna Turnblad, played by the late Divine in the original.

In a career spanning four decades, Mr Travolta has been in many of Hollwood's biggest box office successes, from the global smash-hit musical Grease alongside Olivia Newton-John to the Look Who's Talking franchise. He has been honoured twice with Best Actor Oscar nominations, the latest 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.

He earned his first Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his role as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. His additional film credits include Brian DePalma thrillers Carrie and Blowout, as well as 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. Travolta garnered further praise as a Mafioso-turned-movie producer in The Comedy sensation Get Shorty, wining the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. In 1998, Travolta was honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the Britanna Award: and in that same year he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chicago Film Festival. In 2008, he received his fourth 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 and the Santa Barbara Film Festival decided to recognise Travolta with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role. He will next star in the action movie Killing Season with Robert De Niro and The Forger, co-starring Christopher Plummer.