Kelly Preston Silent Child Birth

Bizarre Celebrity Birthing Trends - Starpulse Entertainment News: "Kelly Preston, a longtime practitioner of Scientology, endeavored to follow these austere, mum's-the-word guidelines during the 13 hour-long, at-home birth of her daughter, Ella Bleu. But in an interview with 'Redbook' magazine, Preston reports that she eventually cracked and hollered at hubby, John Travolta, 'Throw me in the car. I want an epidural!' Honestly though, who could blame her?"

Dianatic

There is no misspelling in the title. Shortly after meeting Dianetic/Scientology, John Travolta also met with Diane Hyland.

Douglas Thompson, John Travolta's biographer, reports in an excellent article the impact this had on John, as well as the dramatic outcome, and the link it has with the tragedy through which he and his family are going through presently.

One of the irony of this story, something that is not highlighted in the article, is that John met Diana through his part in the TV movie, "The Boy In The Plastic Bubble" about a boy born with a deficient immune system.

Biographer: Family man John Travolta will persevere after death of son, Jett

In 1976, when John was a 22-year-old teen idol receiving 10,000 fan-letters a week, he was offered a part in the TV movie, "The Boy In The Plastic Bubble" about a boy born with a deficient immune system. The "Peyton Place" star, Diana Hyland played his on-screen mother and would become one of the greatest influences in John's life.

Travolta's perpetual charm kicked in from day one of "Bubble." But he found something happening to him. His attitude to women had been, to put it kindly, cavalier. He hid deeper feelings for them out of fear of a fun relationship turning permanent.

But with Diana it was different. "On our first meeting I was just incredibly attracted to this woman," he told me. "She'd gone through a rough marriage (divorcing actor Joe Goodson and keeping their three-year-old son, Zachary), a lot of career ups and downs, and had come out at peace with herself. [...]

The couple began an intense affair but in the Christmas of that year, tragedy struck. Diana thought she had caught flu and was plagued by back trouble, aches and pains throughout the Christmas of 1976. By the time she saw her doctor in the New Year, she was told that cancer had spread throughout her body. There was nothing anyone could do.

John was filming "Saturday Night Fever" but on March 26th, 1977, he flew to Diana's family home in Ohio. Within 24 hours she was dead. [...]

His sister Ellen once explained to me: "He was devastated not only by the loss but because there was nothing he could do. [...]

He was never the same. Something like that changes you forever."

He turned down the Richard Gere role in "American Gigolo" and found himself more and more drawn to the Scientology movement which the actress Joan Prather had converted him to the previous year.

Travolta Sings Again

I remember seeing Grease as it came out. It was released after Saturday Night Fever even though it was actually realized before. The comment from a surprised spectator as Travolta started to sing the splendid "Summer Nights" was "and he can sing too"? Amazed that not only could he dance superbly be could sing as well.

Subsequently, not only the film but the songs and the clips became a big hit for Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Remember "You're The One That I Want" - WOW! It gives me frills up to this day... and it came after another big hit from the film, Sandy.

Now Travolta sings again, and he shows that he has not lost anything of his talent. To be fair, I am not sure he can still dance like in his younger years, but he surely can still sing.

Check this video, in duet with Miley Cyrus, his co-star of his new movie Bolt.

And here is Travolta's Bolt interview.

Dec 14 update: That singing duet has now been nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best original Song - Motion Picture. As for Bolt itself, it has also been nominated for Best Animated Feature Film.

Travolta - A Cut Above the Lot

"From a performance standpoint, the new cast is just as capable as the old, with one odd exception. Mock his love of Scientology, but John Travolta was a much more effective villain in the original Punisher than Dominic West’s Don of Douchebags, Billy Russoti, aka Jigsaw."

From http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/66557-this-punisher-goes-to-war-with-the-audience/

Easy Anti-Scientology Jabs

The venerable Gregg Roughley of the no less venerable UK newspaper "The Guardian" should check his facts better before launching in easy anti-Scientology jabs.

Indeed, he writes about one Paulie Malignaggi:

"He doesn't possess a 'lights out' punch, but he can move like Travolta (pre-Scientology days of course) and deliver rapid-fire jabs to outscore his opponents."

He no doubts refers to "Saturday Night Fever", that came out in 1977 and maybe also to "Grease" that came out in 1978.

Travolta joined Scientology in January of 1975 as he was working on his first film in Mexico (Durango). He already was a Scientologist when he made all his other films, including of course "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease".

If Travolta moved better before he met Scientology then hardly anybody would know about it, since he was at the time a nobody.

If you are a journalist and especially is you write for a major news media, then check your facts before acting like a mindless fanatical anti-Scientologists. In our Internet days it only takes a few seconds.