- [Narrator] Few stars
have faced so many rumors about their sex lives and so many controversies
about their personal beliefs. John Travolta, actor,
singer, dancer, has been one of the most
likable Hollywood stars for more than 40 years. His career began on TV. And in the 70's he became an
icon in the silver screen, both for his acting
and his dancing skills. Since then, his life has
been a true roller coaster, from major down turns, to one of the most
impressive comebacks of all time in the 90's with
his role in "Pulp Fiction." But this Golden
Globe award winner has also faced
personal tragedies and accusations of
sexual misconduct. From the dark rumor
surrounding his sex life, to his involvement
in Scientology, form his greatest
successes to the tragedy of his son's passing, let's explore the enigmatic
life of John Travolta. (upbeat music) Long before his troubled years and the accusations
made against him, Travolta grew up
in a loving family. He was the youngest
of six children. His parents were no strangers to the entertainment industry. His father, Salvatore,
was a semi-professional American football
player in his youth. And his mother Helen was
an actress and singer before becoming a high school
drama and English teacher. He grew up in an Irish
American neighborhood and was raised Catholic. But his faith would soon change, more about that later. He dropped out of school at
age 17 to become an actor. In the early 70's, he was
cast in a few Broadway shows, but it was on TV that he
landed his first major role as Vinny in the hit TV
series "Welcome Back Kotter." - He played a high
school student and it was hugely popular. It was the kind of
show that had T-shirts and lunch boxes and all
sorts of merchandise that went along with it. It made him a huge star and he appeared on the cover
of all the teen magazines that no longer exist. But the magazines
and the posters and everything at the time, he sort of became a
heartthrob to teenage girls around the United States, and it really sort
of blew him up. - [Narrator] The movie
industry soon noticed the young actor and he was cast as
a supporting actor in the cult classic "Carrie," directed by Brian De Palma. But immense success was
right around the corner. It was the lead role in
the 1977 world wide success "Saturday Night Fever." This movie portrayed the
disco night life culture of the 70's and allowed Travolta to showcase his
talent for dancing. - It's really
interesting because he didn't have formal
training really in acting, singing or dancing, it was just all sort of innate and something that
he wanted to do and was immediately good at. - [Announcer] He
became an instant icon, and was even nominated
for an Oscar, making him, at age 24, one of the youngest performers
ever nominated for Best Actor. - I'm was happy to be, to be nominated
that to get up there and actually at that point to accept an award may
have been too much for me. Now it's not, I can
very easily get up there and take the award. But then it was different. - And the film made what
would be now over $1 billion in the box office, which is really hard
to even comprehend. I mean you could
say someone came out of nowhere like maybe
Jennifer Lawrence, but that doesn't even compare to kind of how big he
became almost overnight. - [Narrator] But Travolta's
career would take off more since an even bigger
surprise success followed the very
next year, "Greece." This musical co-staring
Olivia Newton John turned out to be one of the most profitable
movies of all time, costing around six million and earning nearly $400
million world wide. The movie has remained
an audience cult
favorite ever since. - "Greece" is a really
interesting case because it is a phenomenon that I think still resonates. People love it. Even clubs now are
still playing the songs. They play the music
and everyone knows it. - [Narrator] His other
big movie of the year was the 1981 Brian De Palma
directed thriller "Blowout." This true cinematic masterpiece, often regarded as
Travolta's best movie, ensured his status
as a major talent, at ease with both
drama and comedy. Before Travolta, this decade of successes and
praise was also one of spiritual exploration. The actor became
an active member of the church of Scientology. This religion was
created in 1952 by American Science Fiction
author L. Ron Hubbard, and has since been highly
criticized internationally. But Travolta, who has
been a Scientologist since 1975, believes his
success can be credited to his involvement
in the church. He recalled "in January of
1975, I was working on my first "film in Durango, Mexico. "There I met an actress who
gave me the book Dianetics. "During the five
weeks we were filming, "she gave me some
auditing sessions "and applied some
basic principles. "When I returned to
the United States, "I began Scientology
training and auditing. "My career immediately took off "and I landed a leading role "on the TV show
"Welcome Back Kotter." "And had a string
of successful films. "I have been a successful
actor for more than 20 years, "and Scientology has played a
major role in that success." But apparently it was not enough to ensure eternal
box office success. The 80's would turn out
to be harsh on Travolta. During this new decade,
Travolta made fewer films and his choices were
not always as strong. In 1983, he was the star of the "Saturday Night Fever"
sequel "Staying Alive." Travolta trained
rigorously for his role and lost 20 pounds. But this movie, directed by none other
than Sylvester Stallone, was a disappointment. It made less money than
"Saturday Night Fever," and was scorned by critics. That same year, "Two of a Kind," which reunited him with
Olivia Newton John, was also a box office flop. Another flop was
the movie "Perfect," a drama about the
world of aerobics. - He acknowledges
that he's made a lot of bad choices, which
I think is really kind of funny and shows
that he has a sense of humor about his career. And he jokes about it now, but at the time he was really
going through a drought. - [Narrator] Travolta would be off the big screen for
four years after that, and would only reappear in
the 1989 forgettable film "The Experts." But this movie still
holds a special place in Travolta filmography since
it was during the screen tests that he met his
wife, Kelly Preston. At the time Preston
was still married to actor Kevin Gage. She recalls "well I was
not that happily married, "let's put it that way. "I was really with
the wrong person." Once Preston was single, she and Travolta started dating, and very soon, on
New Year's Eve 1991, Travolta got down on one knee inside the Palace
Hotel Restaurant in
Gstaad, Switzerland, and with a six carrot yellow
and white diamond ring he proposed to her. One thing the new
couple had in common was their religious
belief in Scientology. And it has often been
rumored that his wife was even more involved than him, and was the main reason the
actor had never left the church. - Kelly has been involved in
the church for many, many years and she is very much a
spokesperson for the church. She does a lot of press and talks about how
it has helped her. And from people who
have left the church, they say that she's
really the one who's most involved and most
supportive of everything that the church
does in its mission. - [Narrator] Time Magazine
published another rumor about his everything in
the religion in 1991. The cover story titled "The Thriving Cult
of Greed and Power." In the article, a former church of Scientology executive
director alleged that Travolta was weary
of leaving the faith because he feared the church would publish
detailed revelations of his private life,
including homosexual behavior. These claims were reiterated by other Scientology
defectors in 2013. And a former church
official, Marty Rathburn, claimed that he worked
with Travolta's attorneys several times to
keep allegations about Travolta's
homosexuality out of the press and resolve law suits
against the star. - It's understood that
the way the church works is that he would need to go and have these sort
of confessionals to people in the church. And so allegedly they have
all this evidence on him that he doesn't want out. Aside from the rumors
that have been in tabloids and the lawsuits, it's
sort of been an open secret I suppose in Hollywood that several other celebrities have
said look, we know he's gay, it's fine and he's obviously
never said anything about it, but it's sort of
been this open secret that everyone's been
dealing with for years. - [Announcer] The shining
image of the star was damaged because of this
involvement in the church. And those rumors about
his alleged homosexuality never stopped following him. But it didn't keep
Travolta from making a little comeback in 1989
with "Look Who's Talking." This comedy about a talking
baby was a massive hit out of nowhere and put Travolta
back on the map temporarily. But the two sequels
to this movie didn't do as well, and Travolta's career
was back to a low point. Another passion helped Travolta get through those
years of turmoil. He has been an aviation
enthusiast since his childhood, and began flying
lessons in 1970. All of the money he
earned from acting went toward earning his license. - I was probably seven when
I decided to become a pilot. I was 15 when I
started taking lessons. I was 19 when I soloed. I was 23 when I got
my first license and 25 when I got my
first jet license. And I've now accomplished about 11 jet ratings,
including two airliner ratings. - [Announcer] Travolta
mentioned that he flew over 300 hours a year. "I fly almost every day. "I fly from a low of
three times a week "to a high of five times a week. "I'm really flying quite a bit." He owns several airplanes and even used to
own a Boeing 707. - He was involved in a
near-death accident actually back in the 90's, when he had, the plane he was flying lost all of its electronics,
everything went out, and he had to do an
emergency landing. With no controls. He did it with a hand compass and a flashlight allegedly because everything
was completely out. You know he's quite
a skilled pilot. - [Announcer] Travolta
even takes part in many charity missions
on his Boeing 707. He flew to New Orleans after the 2005
Hurricane Katrina, bringing food and
medical supplies. - We're here, we just arrived. We're unloading the food
and the water and supplies. The (mumbles) Community
Center is open for receiving goods for everyone in need here. We can't get enough volunteers. So please (mumbles)
to come down and help. - [Announcer] But acting
was still in his blood, and he was waiting for
an important director to take notice and explore
his full potential. - Weren't you joking
about how many comebacks you had had? You were counting,
this is comeback six or come back seven? - Sometimes it's six,
sometimes it's seven. Tom Hanks says it's my 101st. - [Announcer] In 1994,
the most spectacular and unexpected comeback in
Hollywood history took place. Travolta starred in Quentin Tarantino's classic
film "Pulp Fiction." Travolta himself admitted
that he wasn't expecting to be back on top
of Hollywood again prior to Quentin
Tarantino calling him with an offer to
do "Pulp Fiction." - Well this is the best
cast I've ever worked with. You know it's an honor to
work with terrific actors. And it's an event for me. - [Announcer] The
actor later reported "there were people who
were much hotter than me "who wanted the role, "but Quentin put his
career on the line "and refused to make the
movie without me in it." - At the time the film
was being made by Miramax, and they sort of
thought of Travolta as this washed up 70's actor who was doing
talking dog comedies. And so he really fought
to get him in that role. That role brought him back as a respected actor, as someone who could
do a goodie film, who had a depth and a range that hadn't been seen on
screen for about 10 years. The movie just sort
of brought him back and obviously cultural
impact that film was huge. - [Announcer] The Indie
movie grossed more than 200 million
at the box office, and Travolta was
nominated for an Oscar. The actor was, at 40 years old, more powerful than ever. This success was
followed by another hit, Barry Sonnenfeld's "Get Shorty." The film gathered strong reviews and earned him his first
Golden Globe for Best Actor. Other box office and
critical successes followed. "Broken Arrow,"
"Phenomenon," "Michael," "Primary Colors,"
and "Face/Off." - What do you think about
this whole Travolta mania? I mean you experienced
it now the second time that you're like the
biggest star in Hollywood, how does it feel? - It feels great. It's just a matter of getting
the right movies, you know. - His 90's career was just sort of a list of the who's who of the best directors. John Woo, Costa-Gavras,
Nora Ephron, the Cassavetes, Terrance Malik at that point he was really at the pinnacle of his career, and basically
everyone wanted him, for not really his
screen presence, but also because he
had once again proved his chops as an actor. - [Announcer] By
the end of the 90's, Travolta had done what very
few have done before or since, launched a second career
even more successful than the first one. - I never thought I'd
be busy at this age. I mean when I started out
you did a movie a year, maybe every two years. Ideally I said I would grow up and do three movies a year. But that's fine. I'm from a working
class background, I can handle it. - [Announcer] But his
involvement in Scientology led him to launch the 2000's with what has often been
considered by critics as one of the worst
films ever made. As an homage to
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Travolta
decided to adapt one of his Sci-Fi novels
for the silver screen. - Hubbard was a prolific, if not good science fiction
novelist through the years. It was very importat for
John to make this film. - [Announcer] The movie
would prove to be an artistic and financial disaster. - The film was not
only a box office flop for John, it
bankrupted the company that produced it. John put in $5 million of his own money to get it made. And it was absolutely
panned by the critics for a variety of reasons,
including the terrible costumes that saw John in dred locks. - [Announcer] After this failure closely linked to his religion, Travolta became more discreet about his connection
to Scientology. The rest of the 2000's were
therefore more successful. Travolta even returned
to his musical roots with the 2007 musical
remake of "Hairspray." Travolta played an overweight
mother in the film. With the help of wigs,
makeup and costumes, Travolta transformed himself into a large, bubbly woman, once again showing off
his vocal abilities. ♪ I let go, go, go
of the past now ♪ ♪ Said hello to this
red carpet ride ♪ ♪ Yes I know that the
world's spinning fast ♪ At first you're like
oh, that's John, but then once you're in there
you just forget that it's me, and you ride this trip with this very large woman. - [Announcer] This movie was yet another comeback
for Travolta, earning him another
Golden Globe nomination and wining over
a large audience. - I wanna thank all
of you on behalf of the cast of "Hairspray," the team, the
studio, the producers for choosing us as
your favorite movie. Each and every one
of you made it a hit, so I thank you personally. - [Announcer] Up to
that point Travolta had managed to stay a relevant and respected man
in the industry. His family life also
seemed under control. She's very creative as a mother. She likes to do projects, likes to have fun. It never gets too
boring with the kids, they always have
something fun to work on and look forward to. - [Announcer]
Travolta's life finally seemed stable and peaceful, but the decade would
end in tragedy. After their marriage in 1991, Travolta and Kelly Preston had a son, Jet, and their
daughter, Ella Bleu, was born in 2000. On January 2, 2009, the family
was on Christmas vacation in the Bahamas when
the worst happened. Travolta's son Jet died
at age 16 from a seizure. Jet had reportedly suffered
from Kawasaki disease since the age of two. - Which is an
autoimmune disorder, which they had promoted as being from the use of
chemicals and toxins in certain fabrics. But it was believed that
he had other disabilities and they didn't want to admit it because the church
of Scientology has their specific ways where they believe
that you treat disease. The question at the time was, was he being treated adequately? - [Announcer] Travolta
later confirmed speculations that his son had Autism and suffered regular seizures. It later emerged that
paramedics arrived at Travolta's home
shortly after a nanny found Jet unconscious
in the bathroom. But the nightmare
didn't end there, shortly after his son's death Travolta was
blackmailed by a man who reached Travolta's
representative and threatened to sell stories to news outlets suggesting that John Travolta
was somehow at fault for his son's death. - Allegedly they waited quite a long time to
call the paramedics because they didn't
want anything exposed about his disease or that
he had had a seizure. They didn't want him
taken to the hospital. They wanted to put him
on the private plane and take him back to the
United States immediately, which is not legal. So they would have
had to sign a form to state that they didn't want
him taken to the hospital, and go through this legal thing. So allegedly he signed the form and then recanted and
said no, it's okay we can take the body
to the hospital. The scandal that
formed around that was that essentially did they, what were they
trying to cover up? Did they not want him treated? So the paramedic had threatened
to release this form, and that's when he said
he was being blackmailed and they wanted $25
million for that. - [Announcer] The
actor sued him, but Travolta later
withdrew from the trial. The prosecutor explained "this matter has caused
them unbelievable stress "and pain and they now wish "to put this whole
thing behind them." In May 2010, nearly 16 months
after their son's death, the couple announced that they
were expecting another child. Benjamin was born in
November of that year, bringing the family
closer in an attempt to put the tragedy behind them. But Travolta's problems
were far from over. 2010 began a decade of
accusations toward the actor. Accusations that are
linked once again to rumors about his homosexuality. In 2012, Travolta was
sued over accusations that he tried to have sex with a male massage therapist during a session
at the luxurious Beverly Hills Hotel. He was said to have touched the unnamed therapist's genitals during a $200 per hour
massage appointment. The accuser claimed that
Travolta stripped naked and appeared aroused. And after the session was over, Travolta supposedly touched
the man's scrotum and penis. Shortly after, a second
anonymous massage therapist came forward and made
similar accusations. - You know they were
consistent with stories that had been coming
out about him for years. But ultimately they were dropped or put into some
sort of litigation where they were buried. And Travolta has been very
successful in doing that in the many cases
that have come up. But they were pretty
much consistent with what happens again
and again in his life. - [Announcer] At the time,
Travolta's lawyer, Marty Singer, issued a vehement denial. "This lawsuit is complete
fiction and fabrication. "None of the events
claimed in the suit "ever occurred. "The plaintiff, who
refuses to give their name, "knows that the suit
is a baseless lie. "On that date when the
plaintiff claims John met him, "John was not in California, "and it can be proved that
he was on the East Coast." But a third man, cruise
ship worker Fabian Zonzi claimed on a Chilean TV show that the actor offered
him $12,000 to have sex while on a cruise in 2009. But then again the
case went silent. - At the time he had been
called into John's room to give him a massage. These things happened. He said at the time he did
report it to his superiors on the cruise ship, and so there was
contemporary testimony that this had happened. But then when he made the claim Travolta sued him
for defamation. He was gonna counter sue. Travolta's lawyer
made him put up a bond for legal costs, which
would have been $75,000, which he couldn't afford. And then suddenly the
suite was dropped. These suits come up and they go away. - [Announcer] In 2014,
a former Travolta pilot, Douglas Gotterb made a
different kind of claim. He argued he was hired
in 1981 by the actor and became his secret
lover for six years. "I'd stay in the room next
to John in luxury hotels. "Sometimes he'd bring
women along as beards, "but he would ask me to
join him in his suite "and we'd spend nights together. "It was our little secret." But even though Gotterb
didn't accuse the actor of anything, his testimony
was met with great hostility. - When he came out
with that story, again he was going to be sued for actually breach of
contract in that case where he had signed a
nondisclosure agreement, and then he was, he said that
non-disclosure agreement didn't necessarily comply to
their personal relationship and he was gonna write a book. And, you know, went
back and forth. A lot of this played
out in the media. And then once again
it disappeared. - [Announcer] And as always
the actor's response was brief and dismissive. "This is every
celebrity's Achilles heel. "It's just about people
wanting money, that's all. "It happens on many levels." - That has been his
consistent statement. And his lawyer, Mary
Singer, is well known, or notorious, depending
on how you look at it, for sort of defending
these kind of cases. He's worked with Bill Cosby, Brian Singer, any
of those people that have these sort
of sexual assault or harassment cases, and Marty makes it go away. - [Announcer] All
these accusations were made public in the press, but the actor never faced
serious legal threat. And surprisingly his family life didn't seem to be
impacted by these rumors. - And he has that facade
of this happy marriage. He has the facade of
these beautiful children that he always puts out. And I think because
of the generation that he comes from
people are willing to sort of believe that. And so he still sort
of managed to keep it all under control, and is still well
respected by people. We also shared a
lot of information on social media about
them traveling together and them taking trips. They're a unit and
it's hard to describe sort of how they work together, what the root of that bond is. But they are publicly together and support each other
as much as possible. - Here we are at the Gator game. Yeehaw. - [Announcer] And even though all these accusations were made, he was still able
to work constantly. He has managed to stay
likable to the general public even though many of his movies in the late 2010s
have been unnoticed. - He shaved his head. I mean he had worn these
terrible wigs for years. It was quite well known. He shaved his head
and just went with it, and people still love him. His career, not so much. - [Announcer] "Gotti," his
mafia film released in 2018 was poorly reviewed, and considered by many as a
new low in Travolta's career. - Beyond "Power on
the Battlefield," this was one of the
worst movies ever. That was another passion project that he had put
his own money into and tried to get off
the ground for years. Around he world just sort of got terrible,
terrible reviews for being not only poorly acted, poorly directed, but also being very pro-mafia, and very sympathetic to someone who was a known killer. So it was pretty badly panned. - [Announcer] His only
acclaimed acting credit of the decade has
been in the series "The People Versus
O.J. Simpson," in which he plays famous
lawyer Robert Shapiro. The series debuted
on February 2, 2016, and later that year
Travolta received a Golden Globe nomination
for his supporting role. John Travolta appears
to be a survivor. He survived oblivion
in the 80's, suffered a great loss, and has been under
nearly constant attack. And the accusations
made against him, although not yet proven, could have, in today's culture, made him disappear for good. He seems to be an
exception to the rule. - Again, he's maybe one of the last real movie stars. I don't know that we
have people like that that have such a
cultural impact again that can sort of blow up and really be movie stars. I mean I think that love
is still there for him. Also, being in
"Greece," which is so, such a cultural touchstone and so beloved for people, that passion's still there. - [Announcer] John
Travolta is unique. Everybody knows the rumors
surrounding his sexuality, his involvement in a
much criticized religion, the accusations of
sexual misconduct and assault made against him, but his image still
remains closely attached to his most successful movies, "Saturday Night
Fever," "Greece," and "Pulp Fiction." Whatever the gloomy
reality might be, Travolta remains
a passionate actor and fascinating dancer that people like to think
about with nostalgia for their teenage years. His career seems to
be back at a new low, but this comeback specialist might surprise us once again. (upbeat music)
