John Joseph Travolta, a household name in Hollywood, shot to fame as an American actor in the vibrant 1970s. Born on February 18, 1954, his career in showbiz has been awe-inspiring. Starting on TV, he won many fans with his magnetic role in “Welcome Back, Kotter” from 1975 to 1979.
Related: 10 Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time, Ranked by US Box Office
But it was in movies that Travolta started to shine. In this blog post, we’ll journey through the highlights of his stellar career, looking at how he rose to stardom and his memorable roles.
10 ‘Bolt’ (2008)
IMDb: 6.8/10 222K | Popularity: 3073 | Metascore: 67
Duration: 1h 36m | Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy | Director: Chris Williams, Byron Howard
Cast: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman
Debuted in 2008, ‘Bolt’ shines as a touching computer-animated comedy adventure from Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film highlights a standout cast, with John Travolta voicing the lead character Bolt and contributions from Miley Cyrus,...
Related: 10 Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time, Ranked by US Box Office
But it was in movies that Travolta started to shine. In this blog post, we’ll journey through the highlights of his stellar career, looking at how he rose to stardom and his memorable roles.
10 ‘Bolt’ (2008)
IMDb: 6.8/10 222K | Popularity: 3073 | Metascore: 67
Duration: 1h 36m | Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy | Director: Chris Williams, Byron Howard
Cast: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman
Debuted in 2008, ‘Bolt’ shines as a touching computer-animated comedy adventure from Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film highlights a standout cast, with John Travolta voicing the lead character Bolt and contributions from Miley Cyrus,...
- 9/1/2023
- by Israr Ahmed
- buddytv.com
Paramount Pictures has tapped Shainee Gabel to adapt Sharon Krum's novel The Thing About Jane Spring. Gabel, who wrote, directed and produced A Love Song for Bobby Long, will adapt the novel, which was published in July by Viking. Christine Peters (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) is producing the romantic comedy through her Paramount-based CFP Prods.
- 4/10/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screened at the Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy -- There are a lot of fine literary quotes in "A Love Song for Bobby Long", from Dylan Thomas to George Sand to T.S. Eliot, but it's one from Robert Frost that best sums up the film's appeal: "Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length." This may not be a big picture, but its pleasures will linger long.
The film will benefit from smart promotion and the loyalty of Travolta fans, and should gain support from audiences who wish to see the latest in a growing list of astonishing performances by the hot young actress Scarlett Johansson ("Lost in Translation", "Girl With a Pearl Earring").
First-time director Shainee Gabel, working from her own script inspired by the novel "Off East Magazine St". by R.E. Capps, has pulled off a remarkable feat in creating a community of characters reminiscent of an early Steinbeck novel. These are people who travel through life like bruised fruit but who always cling to the promise of a fresh harvest.
Travolta takes on a genuine character role in Bobby Long, a dissolute former professor of literature who shares a run-down New Orleans home with a clever but self-doubting young writer named Lawson, played with bright intelligence by Gabriel Macht. In their household, any liquid found in a jar that doesn't smell is a good enough mixer for vodka, while beer and tomato juice is the breakfast of champions.
The film opens following the death of a singer named Lorraine Will, who was adored by even those she abandoned, which was pretty much everybody including a daughter, Purslane (Johansson). When Pursy shows up two days late for her mother's funeral, she discovers that she owns one-third of the house Bobby and Lawson reside in, left to them by Lorraine. Perversely, she moves in.
It's obvious to Purslane, and the audience, that there is more to the story of Bobby and Lawson than meets the eye, but her interest is in finding out about a mother who abandoned her but whom everyone speaks of with affection. As she begins to have a cleansing effect on the misbehavior of the two men, a sense of family develops. While the plot doesn't hold too many surprises, it does play out satisfyingly as mysteries are revealed.
Travolta is gray-haired, unshaven and a bit stooped, but his grizzled and booze-soaked intellect can bring the poets readily to mind and he can still charm the local waitresses with a smiling "Cheese on our grits, darlin', please." Although Bobby has a damaged toe, Travolta even gets to dance a sedate Alabama shuffle.
Johansson is a study in naturalistic acting with her Florida panhandle accent pitch perfect and her ability to convey tough-mindedness and vulnerability, not to mention that the camera adores her.
The film benefits hugely from atmospheric production design by Sharon Lomofsky, which cinematographer Elliot Davis has shot beautifully. There is also a masterful soundtrack with an insightful score by Nathan Larson and a killer set of tracks from music supervisor Jim Black.
A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG
Presented by Columbia TriStar and El Camino Pictures
Credits:
Director and screenwriter: Shainee Gabel
Producers: Paul Miller, David Lancaster, Bob Yari
Director of photography: Elliot Davis
Production supervisor: Sharon Lomofsky
Costume designer: Jill Ohanneson (cq)
Editors: Lee Percy, Lisa Fruchtman
Composer: Nathan Larson
Cast:
Bobby Long: John Travolta
Purslane: Scarlett Johansson
Lawson: Gabriel Macht
Georgianna: Deborah Kara Unger
Cecil: Dane Rhodes
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 119 mins...
VENICE, Italy -- There are a lot of fine literary quotes in "A Love Song for Bobby Long", from Dylan Thomas to George Sand to T.S. Eliot, but it's one from Robert Frost that best sums up the film's appeal: "Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length." This may not be a big picture, but its pleasures will linger long.
The film will benefit from smart promotion and the loyalty of Travolta fans, and should gain support from audiences who wish to see the latest in a growing list of astonishing performances by the hot young actress Scarlett Johansson ("Lost in Translation", "Girl With a Pearl Earring").
First-time director Shainee Gabel, working from her own script inspired by the novel "Off East Magazine St". by R.E. Capps, has pulled off a remarkable feat in creating a community of characters reminiscent of an early Steinbeck novel. These are people who travel through life like bruised fruit but who always cling to the promise of a fresh harvest.
Travolta takes on a genuine character role in Bobby Long, a dissolute former professor of literature who shares a run-down New Orleans home with a clever but self-doubting young writer named Lawson, played with bright intelligence by Gabriel Macht. In their household, any liquid found in a jar that doesn't smell is a good enough mixer for vodka, while beer and tomato juice is the breakfast of champions.
The film opens following the death of a singer named Lorraine Will, who was adored by even those she abandoned, which was pretty much everybody including a daughter, Purslane (Johansson). When Pursy shows up two days late for her mother's funeral, she discovers that she owns one-third of the house Bobby and Lawson reside in, left to them by Lorraine. Perversely, she moves in.
It's obvious to Purslane, and the audience, that there is more to the story of Bobby and Lawson than meets the eye, but her interest is in finding out about a mother who abandoned her but whom everyone speaks of with affection. As she begins to have a cleansing effect on the misbehavior of the two men, a sense of family develops. While the plot doesn't hold too many surprises, it does play out satisfyingly as mysteries are revealed.
Travolta is gray-haired, unshaven and a bit stooped, but his grizzled and booze-soaked intellect can bring the poets readily to mind and he can still charm the local waitresses with a smiling "Cheese on our grits, darlin', please." Although Bobby has a damaged toe, Travolta even gets to dance a sedate Alabama shuffle.
Johansson is a study in naturalistic acting with her Florida panhandle accent pitch perfect and her ability to convey tough-mindedness and vulnerability, not to mention that the camera adores her.
The film benefits hugely from atmospheric production design by Sharon Lomofsky, which cinematographer Elliot Davis has shot beautifully. There is also a masterful soundtrack with an insightful score by Nathan Larson and a killer set of tracks from music supervisor Jim Black.
A LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG
Presented by Columbia TriStar and El Camino Pictures
Credits:
Director and screenwriter: Shainee Gabel
Producers: Paul Miller, David Lancaster, Bob Yari
Director of photography: Elliot Davis
Production supervisor: Sharon Lomofsky
Costume designer: Jill Ohanneson (cq)
Editors: Lee Percy, Lisa Fruchtman
Composer: Nathan Larson
Cast:
Bobby Long: John Travolta
Purslane: Scarlett Johansson
Lawson: Gabriel Macht
Georgianna: Deborah Kara Unger
Cecil: Dane Rhodes
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 119 mins...
- 1/13/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lions Gate Films has acquired North American theatrical and pay TV distribution rights to A Love Song for Bobby Long, starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson, from El Camino Pictures. The Shainee Gabel-directed film, which had its world premiere this month at the Venice International Film Festival, was financed by El Camino along with Columbia TriStar. According to sources, the financing arrangement gave Columbia the option of releasing the film through one of its distribution labels, however, Lions Gate stepped up and offered a domestic deal with a release date before year's end. Because the filmmakers and Travolta were eager to release the film before year's end to capitalize on the momentum sparked by its recent showing in Venice, they opted to go with Lions Gate. Columbia retains rights to release the film on DVD and home video.
- 9/29/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The incredibly true adventures of two 26-year-old women on the road in search of the American dream, "Anthem" is surprisingly worthwhile. This documentary film falls into the same category as Robert Downey Jr.'s "The Last Party" and, although it does not chronicle a particular political or cultural event, the Zeitgeist Films release (playing for one week at the Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles) reveals the personalities of its makers as it explores the country they range over during one summer.
"Anthem" is the work of Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn, who are generally fearless in pursuing famous interview subjects and capable of handling an ever-changing agenda. Gabel was director of programming for the Independent Feature Project/ West and the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, while Hahn has a background in theater and co-founded a Production Company dedicated to socially conscious projects.
Armed with video cameras, Gabel and Hahn "crave the unpublicized" but seek out many public figures -- starting with George Stephanopoulos, who they chat with at the White House. This scene charmingly sets the tone as the filmmakers whisper to each other excitedly when President Clinton interrupts their meeting and is overheard but unseen.
Other memorable encounters include a rare glimpse of the home life of journalist Hunter S. Thompson and conventionally filmed but illuminating interviews with the likes of John Waters, Studs Terkel, Chuck D, Robert Redford and George McGovern. Aside from an early visit with the Christian Coalition's Dr. Ralph Reed, the vast majority of subjects are liberal-minded, and there's shockingly few noteworthy women.
Gabel and Hahn make it clear, however, that their creation is a "time capsule" and not meant to reach profound conclusions or dwell on negative aspects of the current era. Instead, it's to concentrate on approachable people and what they have on their minds. As such, "Anthem" offers several remarkable and thought-provoking moments, particularly when the filmmakers stop to talk with such common folk as an Iowa waitress and a Pennsylvania gas station attendant.
One wonders about those subjects referred to and seen in a montage near the end who did not make it into the final film, but overall, "Anthem" is a rousing success. With contemporary music on the soundtrack and a self-deprecatingly spunky narration, this is a documentary that could easily have been overly self-indulgent or fashionably irreverent but instead appeals to one's intelligence and provides glimpses of a dynamic country cruising peacefully toward the millennium.
ANTHEM
Zeitgeist Films
An Anthem production
Writers-producers-directors Shainee Gabel,
Kristin Hahn
Executive producer Jo Ann Fagan
Associate producers Edet Belzberg,
Andrea Buchanan
Cinematographer Bill Brown
Editor Lucas Platt
Color/stereo
Running time -- 127 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Anthem" is the work of Shainee Gabel and Kristin Hahn, who are generally fearless in pursuing famous interview subjects and capable of handling an ever-changing agenda. Gabel was director of programming for the Independent Feature Project/ West and the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, while Hahn has a background in theater and co-founded a Production Company dedicated to socially conscious projects.
Armed with video cameras, Gabel and Hahn "crave the unpublicized" but seek out many public figures -- starting with George Stephanopoulos, who they chat with at the White House. This scene charmingly sets the tone as the filmmakers whisper to each other excitedly when President Clinton interrupts their meeting and is overheard but unseen.
Other memorable encounters include a rare glimpse of the home life of journalist Hunter S. Thompson and conventionally filmed but illuminating interviews with the likes of John Waters, Studs Terkel, Chuck D, Robert Redford and George McGovern. Aside from an early visit with the Christian Coalition's Dr. Ralph Reed, the vast majority of subjects are liberal-minded, and there's shockingly few noteworthy women.
Gabel and Hahn make it clear, however, that their creation is a "time capsule" and not meant to reach profound conclusions or dwell on negative aspects of the current era. Instead, it's to concentrate on approachable people and what they have on their minds. As such, "Anthem" offers several remarkable and thought-provoking moments, particularly when the filmmakers stop to talk with such common folk as an Iowa waitress and a Pennsylvania gas station attendant.
One wonders about those subjects referred to and seen in a montage near the end who did not make it into the final film, but overall, "Anthem" is a rousing success. With contemporary music on the soundtrack and a self-deprecatingly spunky narration, this is a documentary that could easily have been overly self-indulgent or fashionably irreverent but instead appeals to one's intelligence and provides glimpses of a dynamic country cruising peacefully toward the millennium.
ANTHEM
Zeitgeist Films
An Anthem production
Writers-producers-directors Shainee Gabel,
Kristin Hahn
Executive producer Jo Ann Fagan
Associate producers Edet Belzberg,
Andrea Buchanan
Cinematographer Bill Brown
Editor Lucas Platt
Color/stereo
Running time -- 127 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/28/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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