John Travolta at 72: A Hollywood Legend’s Journey Through Unimaginable Heartbreak and Triumphant Skies

LOS ANGELES: John Travolta just celebrated his 72nd birthday in the most fitting way possible: thousands of feet in the air. On Wednesday, the Hollywood icon announced to his millions of fans that he had officially earned his pilot’s license for the Bombardier Global Express, a state-of-the-art, long-range business jet.

“Aviation has always bailed me out of anything in my mind that is blue,” Travolta once remarked. For a man who has experienced the absolute pinnacles of global fame and the darkest depths of personal tragedy, the skies have offered more than just a hobby; they have provided salvation.

Here is the story of how the kid from Englewood, New Jersey, survived the rollercoaster of Hollywood fame and the shattering heartbreak of unimaginable loss to keep flying high.

The Stratospheric Rise and the Heavy Fall

In the 1970s, John Travolta didn’t just star in movies; he defined American pop culture. Following his breakout TV role as Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter, his back-to-back cinematic hits—Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978)- made him one of the youngest actors ever nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. At 24, he was a global phenomenon.

However, the 1980s proved to be a punishing decade. A string of critical and commercial disappointments saw the former box-office king effectively written off by Hollywood executives. But Travolta’s professional resilience is legendary. In 1994, director Quentin Tarantino cast him as the lovable, disheveled hitman Vincent Vega in the indie sensation Pulp Fiction. The role earned him his second Oscar nomination, sparking one of the greatest career comebacks in cinema history and leading to blockbusters like Face/Off and Get Shorty.

A Heartbreak No Parent Should Endure

While his career saw soaring highs, Travolta’s personal life has been marked by profound, staggering grief. In 1977, just as his star was rising, he lost his first love, actress Diana Hyland, to breast cancer. Years later, he found lasting joy with actress Kelly Preston, whom he married in 1991.

Together, they built a beautiful family, but tragedy struck in January 2009. While vacationing in the Bahamas, their 16-year-old son, Jett, who had a history of seizures and Kawasaki disease, tragically passed away after suffering a seizure. The loss devastated the family.

“I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” Travolta later confessed. “Life was no longer interesting to me.”

Through immense strength, the family slowly began to heal, welcoming their son Benjamin in 2010. But the cruelty of life was not finished. In July 2020, after a private two-year battle with breast cancer, Kelly Preston passed away at age 57. Travolta was left to navigate the world without his soulmate of 29 years.

Finding Perspective in the Clouds

Grief is a deeply isolating experience, but Travolta has been remarkably candid about his journey in hopes of helping others. He has spoken openly about learning to mourn on his own terms and the profound wisdom he received from his youngest son, Benjamin.

Shortly after Kelly’s passing, Travolta admitted to his son that he feared aging and entering the final stages of his life. Benjamin, then just 10 years old, offered a simple but profound perspective: “Doesn’t 30 years seem like a long time ago? Don’t you think you have 30 more years in your life to live? What’s wrong with that?”

That shift in perspective, and his lifelong passion for aviation, has kept Travolta moving forward. He has been a licensed pilot since age 22, owning multiple aircraft and holding ratings for massive commercial planes like the Boeing 707 and 747.

Earning his certification to co-pilot the Bombardier Global Express at 72 is more than just a birthday milestone. It is a testament to a man who refuses to let life’s tragedies ground him. Supported by his daughter, Ella Bleu, 25, and son Benjamin, 15, John Travolta remains a fiercely devoted father, a cinematic legend, and a survivor who continues to find the courage to soar above the clouds. Read more