Although the most popular of his siblings, John Travolta is the youngest of six children from former footballer turned salesman Salvatore Travolta and performing arts teacher Helen Cecilia Travolta’s marriage. The Grease actor was born and raised in New Jersey with sisters Ellen, Ann, and Margaret, and brothers Samuel and Joseph.
Their mother, who was also an actress and singer, instilled creative skills in John and his older siblings, making them comfortable with the spotlight and being on stage or screen. “I grew up in a family of actors. I remember we always challenged ourselves to be different characters in different scenarios as kids,” John told Youth Time Magazine in 2014. Here’s what to know about the rest of the Travolta children.
Ellen guest-starred in ‘Grease’
John played the lead as Danny Zuko in Grease, however, his older sister Elle also made an appearance as a dinner waitress after she visited him on set. “The next day they wrote me in a part,” she recalled, adding that she never knew “the success it would become.”
“That’s how loose it was. I get residuals every 13 weeks for 40 years. And I only worked two days, maybe one day…and I had a lot of fun,” the actress, who now produces and performs in local theater, admitted.
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Margaret and Sam have been on set with John
John’s sister Margaret and his brother Sam have been in several movies with him, with the former starring in films like Michael, Swordfish, Lonely Hearts, and Old Dogs. She has also acted without John in blockbusters including High Fidelity, Catch Me If You Can, Ocean’s Thirteen, and Enchanted, with appearances on ER and The Drew Carey Show. Sam worked with John on Perfect, A Civil Action, and Old Dogs as well.
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Joey may have inspired one of John’s roles
John had a lot to learn from his older sibling Joseph who is fondly called Joey. The William Paterson University graduate, who studied special education, established his production company focused on people with developmental disabilities. “My father raised us in an environment of inclusivity. Family was important. Kindness was important. Everyone was equal, and everyone was welcome. That’s what first led me to being a special education educator. Partnering that passion for equity with filmmaking has become my life’s work,” he explained last June.
He also taught John some of the iconic moves in Saturday Night Fever, revealing that they come from a family of good dancers. “What John went through with ‘Saturday Night Fever,’ I lived that. In the early ’70s, the club scene was more underground, and then disco died. Disco was dead for a while and he brought it back,” he told Ain’t It Cool in 2020.
Ann has been on screen and stage with John
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Ann was an understudy for several roles while John played Doody in Broadway’s Grease, and they also co-starred in a Falmouth Theater production of Bus Stop. She also served as a pizza waitress on the set of Grease and played hostage in 2001’s Swordfish. Together with John and the rest of the Travolta children, Ann had a modest upbringing and a simple childhood provided by their working-class parents.