John Travolta he was married to a late wife Kelly Preston 29 years before his tragic death at the age of 58 in 2020.
The couple had one of the most enduring love stories in Hollywood history, welcoming three children over the years. The family has also faced many tragedies, including John and Kelly's son Jett Travolta dying at the age of 16 from a seizure in 2019.
After Preston's death in 2020 from cancer, Travolta and her two living children often pay tribute to her dedication as a wife, mother and Hollywood star herself.
“You did a great job!! We love you,” Travolta wrote to his late wife on Instagram in May 2025.
Keep scrolling for a look at John Travolta's family life through the years:
Kelly Preston
John Travolta and Kelly Preston
Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch via Getty ImagesA modern-day Travolta Eight is Enough star Diana Hylandan icon of French cinema Catherine Deneuve again A taxi star Marilu Henner before she met Preston while filming the 1989 comedy The experts. Travolta and Preston stayed in Paris at the Hotel de Crillon in 1991.
During the 2018 edition of the Stay with Kelly and RyanPreston envisioned a couple who skip overseas despite originally planning to tie the knot in New York City.
“The wedding got too big and too crazy, I thought, when the assistant florist got an assistant, I was done,” he joked. “We ran away, we ran away to Paris.”
Travolta and Preston lived a private life away from the limelight in Ocala, Florida. In 2005, Travolta put an end to his marriage by regularly attending couples therapy sessions.
“I know we wouldn't be together if we hadn't received counseling,” he said. “We used to get counseling every six months for 12 years.
Michelle Williams, Lea Michele and other stars have opened up about dealing with their grief following unexpected deaths in their lives. The Dawson's Creek alum met Heath Ledger after playing husband and wife in 2004's Brokeback Mountain. The couple welcomed daughter Matilda the following year. Williams and Ledger decided to quit […]
“So we review our needs and what we want from each other every six months. As we've developed and gotten to know each other over the years, we don't use much counseling.
“You start to know the methods used by the counselor, so if there is a problem we say, 'Okay, let's do it with you and me.' Then you understand it. However, I could see us breaking up without counseling.”
Preston made his big screen icon opposite the movie icon Charles Bronson in the 1983s 10 to midnight, but his breakout role was in the 1985 romantic comedy Evil. He went on to make memorable appearances in the Twins, Jerry Maguire, Jack Frost again What does a girl want?. She shared the screen with husband Travolta in the 2010 comedy Old dogs.
Travolta announced on July 12, 2020 that Preston had died following a private, two-year battle with breast cancer.
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer,” he wrote on Instagram. “She fought a brave battle with the love and support of so many. My family and I will always be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical facilities that helped her, and her many friends and loved ones who were by her side. Kelly's love and life will always be remembered.”
Us Weekly reported that Preston died at her home in Clearwater, Florida and that her husband and children considered her “the heart and soul that kept the family together.”
Jett Travolta
Preston and Travolta's son Jett was born in April 1992.
Jett died at the age of 16 after collapsing during a family vacation in the Bahamas on January 2, 2009. After Jett's death, Kelly revealed on the daytime series. Doctors that her son had a history of seizures and developed Kawasaki syndrome – a condition associated with inflammation of the blood vessels – when he was “very young.” Jett was also diagnosed with autism in his youth.
“I've lost so much. No one should lose a child. It's unbelievable,” Kelly said at the time. But I'm here to tell you that you can get through it. Don't live again, want to live again.
John released his own statement on Jett's death in 2009, saying, “Jett was the best son two parents could have asked for.
I Saturday Night Fever the actor bluntly called Jett's death “the worst thing that ever happened [his] life” during a 2014 interview on stage at the Theater Royal Drury Lane in London.
“The truth is, I didn't know if I would succeed,” he admitted. “Life was no longer fun for me, so it took a lot to get better.”
Kelly and John launched the Jett Travolta Foundation in February 2009 to raise funds and awareness for children with special needs.
John posted a loving tribute to Jett on what would have been her 33rd birthday in April 2025.
Alongside a throwback photo of the actress holding her son, she wrote, “Have a great birthday Jett – miss you so much! Love you forever!”
Ella Bleu Travolta
John Travolta, Kelly Preston and their children Jett and Ella pose
Rogers and Cowan via Getty Images)Ella was born in April 2000. She followed in her parents' footsteps with a supporting role in the 2009 comedy John. Old dogs. John lovingly described his daughter as “kind, generous, peaceful, kind and beautiful” in 2019 while speaking to People.
In recent years, Ella has pursued music and even dedicated her 2025 EP, Colors of Loveto his late mother. He told NBC Today in November 2024 he turned to Father John for advice as he navigated the music industry.
“He's amazing and very protective because he's been in this industry – in the film industry, in the music industry – forever, so he knows how to protect me in that sense,” she said.
In May 2025, Ella marked five years since Kelly's death with a sweet Mother's Day post on social media.
“Happy Mother's Day to the strongest, most beautiful, loving, funniest, smartest woman I know. I love you,” she wrote.
In May 2026, Ella appeared with her father at the Cannes Film Festival to promote their film Propeller One-Way Night Coach.
Benjamin Travolta
Kelly and John announced the birth of their son Benjamin in November 2010 – just two months before the two-year anniversary of Jett's passing.
“John, Kelly and their daughter Ella Bleu are thrilled and excited about the new addition to the family,” a family spokesperson said at the time. “Both mother and child are healthy and doing well.”
After Kelly's death in 2010, John opened up about the devastating impact of losing their 10-year-old son.
“[Benjamin said] 'Because my mother is dead, I'm afraid she's going to live',” John revealed on Kevin Hart's Hart to Heart talk show. “I said, 'It's very different.' I said, 'But you know, Ben, you always love the truth and I'm going to tell you the truth about life. No one knows when they will leave or when they will stay.'”
He went on to say:[I told him]'Your brother [Jett] I left when I was 16. I am very young. Your mother passed away at the age of 57. That was too small. But who will say it? I could die tomorrow. You may. Anyone can. So let's look at it like it's part of life. You don't know well. You're doing your best in trying to live as long as you possibly can.'”
John's Siblings
John Travolta and his sister Ellen at the Sheraton Hotel
Tom Wargacki/WireImageJohn has five siblings – sisters Ellen, Ann again Margaret and brothers Sam again Joey. Sam and Ann lived out of sight while their four siblings became actors.
Joey pursued a career in music in the late 1970s, before switching to acting in the early 1980s. He worked with a famous director John Landis in four movies, incl Sylvester Stallone1991 comics Oscar and 1994 Beverly Hills Cop III. Sam later became a disability advocate and founded Inclusion Films to make filmmaking more accessible to people with disabilities.
Margaret had many small roles in big Hollywood hits, such as this one Sandra Bullock1995 rom-com While You Were Sleeping again Martin Lawrence2003 Comedy National Security. He appeared in small roles in many of his brother John's films.
Ellen was a successful TV star in the 1980s, originally playing Fonzie's aunt Louisa Arcola Delvecchio Happy Days and a spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi. He spent four seasons as a cast member Charles in chargehe played in it Scott BaioMother of the screen. In recent years, Ellen played Gloria Cerullo on General Hospitall in many stages.
