80’s Drought and His Comeback With Pulp Fiction He had launched a music career in 1974 and in 1976 released a hit single entitled “Let Her In” which peaked at #10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Travolta who is also blessed with amazing vocals recorded most of the soundtracks used in these two movies. However, it was later surpassed by Mery Streep’s 2008 musical film “Mamma Mia!” which grossed over $609 million.
Grease grossed about $400 million against a budget of $6 million to become the highest-grossing live-action movie musical of all time. Throughout the remaining part of the 1970’s, Travolta established himself as an international star with two widely acclaimed and global commercial hits “Saturday Night Fever” (1977) and “Grease” (1978).įor the former, he received an Oscar nod for Best Actor but lost to Richard Dreyfuss. Travolta’s TV success paved the way for better film roles. After a few other minor TV roles, Travolta was propelled to stardom with the main role of Vincent “Vinnie” Barbarino in ABC sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter”, a role he played until its final season in 1979. In Los Angeles, he made his first TV debut in the Season 2, Episode 2 of “Emergency!”. Subsequently, Travolta moved to California to improve his chances of success in Hollywood. In New York, Travolta made his debut in an off-Broadway production of “Rain” (1972) and was also cast in the Broadway musical “Grease”. He dropped out of Dwight Morrow High School at the age of 17 and relocated to Manhattan in order to actively pursue a career in acting.
At the age of 12, Travolta had joined a local actor’s group and began appearing in dinner theatre performances and musicals.