John Travolta: Italian of the Week

John Joseph Travolta was born on February 18, 1954 in Englewood, NJ. His father, Salvatore, was a second-generation Italian American, and worked as a semi-professional football player and, later, as a tire salesman. After graduating high school, John moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. In 1972, he landed his first role in the television series Emergency! By the end of the 1970s, he was a household name after starring in Welcome Back, Kotter, Saturday Night Fever, and Grease. He took a brief break in the 1980s and came back into the spotlight in the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction. John wowed audiences and critics alike in Primary Colors, Hairspray, and, most recently, as Robert Shapiro in the television series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.