Joey Travolta
Encyclopedia
Joseph "Joey" Travolta is an American
actor
, producer
, director
and writer
. His brother is actor John Travolta
.
, an inner-ring suburb of New York City
. His father, Salvatore Travolta, was a semi-professional football
player turned tire salesman and partner in a tire company. His mother, Helen Cecilia (1912–1978) (née
Burke), who was 38 when Travolta was born, was an actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama and English teacher. His father was a second-generation Italian American
and his mother was Irish American
.
He attended Shepherd University
in West Virginia
while rooming with future West Virginia historian and special education vanguard, Dave Lind. Travolta also graduated from Patterson State College with a degree in special education.
Travolta began a singing career in 1978 as a recording artist on Casablanca Records
. The following year he made his acting debut starring in the feature film Sunnyside for Filmways Productions
. He then became a guest star in the 1980s television show Simon & Simon
in the episode, The Hottest Ticket in Town. Additional acting credits include work with director John Landis
on multiple feature film projects: Beverly Hills Cop III
(1994) with Eddie Murphy
and Hector Elizondo
, Oscar
(1991) with Sylvester Stallone
and Chazz Palminteri
, and Susan's Plan
with Adrian Paul
and Dan Aykroyd
. He was also a series regular on the WB
television hit Movie Stars
(1999). Stage performances include starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Guys and Dolls
, and West Side Story
.
After several development deals with Paramount Pictures
and Universal Studios
, Travolta entered the independent film route to maintain greater control of his projects, with a greater concentration on directing and producing. He wrote and directed Diva Las Vegas in 1989, which went on to win the Italian Funny Film Festival.
In 1991, he produced and starred in Da Vinci's War with James Russo
and Michael Nouri
. He later produced and starred in the sequel, To the Limit (1995), which also featured Nouri and Anna Nicole Smith
.
Travolta made directing his main priority in 1994. He immediately directed the action thrillers Hard Vice (1994) starring Shannon Tweed
and Navajo Blues (1996) starring Steven Bauer
. Subsequent titles include Earth Minus Zero (1996) starring Academy Award nominee Pat Morita
, Laws of Deception
(1997) starring C. Thomas Howell
and Brian Austin Green
, Detour (1999) starring Michael Madsen
and Academy Award nominee Gary Busey
, Mel (1996) starring Jack Scalia
and Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine
, Partners (2000) starring Casper Van Dien
, Enemies of Laughter (2000) starring Peter Falk
, and Waiting to Live (2002) starring Lee Majors
and second generation star Alison Eastwood
.
For television audiences he directed the police drama L.A. Heat (1999), Friday Night After the Movies (2010), and the syndicated Disney series Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
(2007). Lately he has been directing many music videos. He is responsible for huge hits like Aqua's
Doctor Jones
and most recently Latvia's
smash hit entry, in Eurovision Song Contest 2008
, Pirates of the Sea
.
Travolta has also gained national acclaim for his mission of helping students develop self-esteem, confidence, and creativity through acting and digital film making. He founded Inclusion Films, which involve individuals with special needs in the process of making films. The first of these, Sweet Sixteen, was made in 2008. Another film entitled Spud is in the works for 2009.
He has also collaborated with a non-profit organization called HEAL, based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to form another film camp in association with Inclusion Films and Jacksonville-based Filmlab Productions, called the HEAL Film Camp with Joey Travolta.
Joey is married to Wendy Shawn (daughter of comedian Dick Shawn
) and they have one daughter, Rachel.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. His brother is actor John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
.
Early life
Travolta, one of six children, was born and raised in Englewood, New JerseyEnglewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
, an inner-ring suburb of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His father, Salvatore Travolta, was a semi-professional football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player turned tire salesman and partner in a tire company. His mother, Helen Cecilia (1912–1978) (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Burke), who was 38 when Travolta was born, was an actress and singer who had appeared in The Sunshine Sisters, a radio vocal group, and acted and directed before becoming a high school drama and English teacher. His father was a second-generation Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
and his mother was Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
.
He attended Shepherd University
Shepherd University
Shepherd University, formerly Shepherd College, is a state-funded university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, United States. The University currently serves more than 4,200 students.- Accreditation :...
in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
while rooming with future West Virginia historian and special education vanguard, Dave Lind. Travolta also graduated from Patterson State College with a degree in special education.
Travolta began a singing career in 1978 as a recording artist on Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
. The following year he made his acting debut starring in the feature film Sunnyside for Filmways Productions
Filmways
Filmways, Inc. was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff in 1958...
. He then became a guest star in the 1980s television show Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon is an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker.-History:The original 1978 pilot called Pirate's Key was set in Florida...
in the episode, The Hottest Ticket in Town. Additional acting credits include work with director John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
on multiple feature film projects: Beverly Hills Cop III
Beverly Hills Cop III
Beverly Hills Cop III is a 1994 action-comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Murphy on Trading Places and Coming to America...
(1994) with Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
and Hector Elizondo
Hector Elizondo
Héctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
, Oscar
Oscar (1991 film)
Oscar is a 1991 American comedy film directed by John Landis. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is can be considered a remake of the 1967 film of the same name, but the settings has been moved to the Depression era New York City and centers around a mob boss trying to go straight...
(1991) with Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
and Chazz Palminteri
Chazz Palminteri
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
, and Susan's Plan
Susan's Plan
Susan's Plan is a 1998 black comedy film directed by John Landis and starring Nastassja Kinski, Dan Aykroyd, Billy Zane, Rob Schneider, Lara Flynn Boyle and Michael Biehn. The plot revolves around Susan's plan to kill her former husband and collect his life insurance....
with Adrian Paul
Adrian Paul
Adrian Paul Hewett , better known as Adrian Paul, is an actor best known for his role on the television series Highlander: The Series as Duncan MacLeod. In 1997, he founded The Peace Fund charitable organization.-Early life:...
and Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
. He was also a series regular on the WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
television hit Movie Stars
Movie Stars (TV series)
Movie Stars is an American sitcom that aired on The WB from 1999 to 2000. It stars Harry Hamlin and Jennifer Grant as famous Hollywood actors trying to raise their children.-Synopsis:...
(1999). Stage performances include starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most notably...
, and West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
.
After several development deals with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, Travolta entered the independent film route to maintain greater control of his projects, with a greater concentration on directing and producing. He wrote and directed Diva Las Vegas in 1989, which went on to win the Italian Funny Film Festival.
In 1991, he produced and starred in Da Vinci's War with James Russo
James Russo
James Vincent Russo is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 90 films in three decades.-Early life:...
and Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri
Michael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...
. He later produced and starred in the sequel, To the Limit (1995), which also featured Nouri and Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith
In 1992 Smith was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March issue of Playboy, where she was listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. The centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboys...
.
Travolta made directing his main priority in 1994. He immediately directed the action thrillers Hard Vice (1994) starring Shannon Tweed
Shannon Tweed
Shannon Lee Tweed is a Canadian actress and model. One of the most successful actresses of mainstream erotica, she is identified with the genre of the erotic thriller...
and Navajo Blues (1996) starring Steven Bauer
Steven Bauer
Steven Bauer is a Cuban-American actor. He is known for his role as Manny Ribera in the 1983 film Scarface, and his role on the bilingual PBS show Que Pasa, USA.-Early life:...
. Subsequent titles include Earth Minus Zero (1996) starring Academy Award nominee Pat Morita
Pat Morita
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was an American actor of Japanese descent who was well-known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.-Early life:Pat...
, Laws of Deception
Laws of Deception
Laws of Deception is an erotic suspense thriller produced in 1997. Written by Rollin Jarrett and directed by Joey Travolta, it stars C. Thomas Howell, James Russo, Amber Smith, Nick Mancuso and Brian Austin Green.-Plot Synopsis:...
(1997) starring C. Thomas Howell
C. Thomas Howell
Christopher Thomas "Tommy" Howell , known by his stage name C. Thomas Howell, is an American actor and film director. He starred in the films The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis and in The Hitcher as Jim Halsey. He has appeared in The Da Vinci Treasure,Soul Man, Red Dawn, Secret Admirer, Gettysburg, H. G...
and Brian Austin Green
Brian Austin Green
Brian Austin Green is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of David Silver on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role he played from 1990 to 2000. Green also starred in the sitcom Freddie and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Since 2009, he has appeared in a recurring...
, Detour (1999) starring Michael Madsen
Michael Madsen
Michael Søren Madsen is an American actor, poet, and photographer. He has appeared in more than 150 films, most of them small independent films, though he has starred in central roles in such films as Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco, and Kill Bill, in addition to a supporting role in Sin...
and Academy Award nominee Gary Busey
Gary Busey
William Gary Busey , best known as Gary Busey, is an American film and stage actor and artist. He has appeared in a large variety of films, as well as making regular appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage...
, Mel (1996) starring Jack Scalia
Jack Scalia
Jack Scalia is an American actor. He has had many roles in television series , television movies, and feature films.-Early life:...
and Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
, Partners (2000) starring Casper Van Dien
Casper Van Dien
-Early life:Van Dien was born and grew up in Milton, Florida, the son of Diane , a retired nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien, Sr., a retired U.S. Navy Commander and fighter pilot. There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a...
, Enemies of Laughter (2000) starring Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
, and Waiting to Live (2002) starring Lee Majors
Lee Majors
Lee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....
and second generation star Alison Eastwood
Alison Eastwood
Alison Eastwood is an American film director, Hollywood actress, fashion model, and fashion designer. She made her directorial debut with Rails & Ties , starring Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden.-Early life and education:...
.
For television audiences he directed the police drama L.A. Heat (1999), Friday Night After the Movies (2010), and the syndicated Disney series Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show is an American syndicated science fiction sitcom based on the 1989 film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. It expands upon the original film's concept of a shrinking experiment gone wrong to include a myriad of experiments gone awry...
(2007). Lately he has been directing many music videos. He is responsible for huge hits like Aqua's
Aqua (band)
Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two...
Doctor Jones
Doctor Jones
"Doctor Jones" is a song by Danish dance-pop group Aqua, released as the band's fifth single overall, and the second UK release. The single is their second United Kingdom number one...
and most recently Latvia's
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
smash hit entry, in Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
, Pirates of the Sea
Pirates of the Sea
Pirates of the Sea is a musical project that represented Latvia in Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with their song "Wolves of the Sea". It consists of three members: Italian singer Roberto Meloni who is living in Latvia, dancer Aleksandra Kurusova as well as the TV and radio person Jānis Vaišļa...
.
Travolta has also gained national acclaim for his mission of helping students develop self-esteem, confidence, and creativity through acting and digital film making. He founded Inclusion Films, which involve individuals with special needs in the process of making films. The first of these, Sweet Sixteen, was made in 2008. Another film entitled Spud is in the works for 2009.
He has also collaborated with a non-profit organization called HEAL, based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, to form another film camp in association with Inclusion Films and Jacksonville-based Filmlab Productions, called the HEAL Film Camp with Joey Travolta.
Joey is married to Wendy Shawn (daughter of comedian Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn was an American actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Shawn was born as Richard Schulefand in Buffalo, New York. He played Sylvester Marcus, son of Mrs. Marcus , in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Lorenzo St...
) and they have one daughter, Rachel.