- Born
- Died
- Birth nameKelly Kamalelehua Smith
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Kelly Preston was born on October 13, 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii. A talented and captivating performer, she first garnered international attention with her role as "Marnie Mason" in Ivan Reitman's Twins (1988), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. With her diverse character portrayals in films, such as director Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996); Citizen Ruth (1996) for Alexander Payne; and For Love of the Game (1999), directed by Sam Raimi, she continued to capture audience attention.
In the early part of her career, Kelly worked with notable director John Frankenheimer in the Elmore Leonard film, 52 Pick-Up (1986), alongside Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret. Her career saw her cast her beside some of Hollywood's most notable names, including Kevin Spacey in Casino Jack (2010); Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney, and Harvey Keitel in Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn (1996); Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence (2007); Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick in Addicted to Love (1997); Debra Winger, Zooey Deschanel, and Hank Azaria in Eulogy (2004); Mike Myers in The Cat in the Hat (2003); and Rod Steiger and Julie Harris in the Academy Award-nominated short, Little Surprises (1996).
Kelly was actively involved in education, drug reform and many charitable organizations. She was acknowledged with numerous awards as a result of her work. She married John Travolta on September 12, 1991, and they had three children.
Kelly died on July 12, 2020, in Ocala, Florida, after a two-year battle with breast cancer. She was 57.- IMDb mini biography by: KP
- SpousesJohn Travolta(September 12, 1991 - July 12, 2020) (her death, 3 children)Kevin Gage(December 14, 1985 - 1987) (divorced)
- ChildrenBenjamin Travolta
- ParentsLinda Carlson
- Born and raised in Hawaii, except for 15 months at age 5 where she resided in Iraq and two years residing in Australia as a teenager (1976-78). The Iraq sojourn came about as her stepfather was working with the Ministry of Agriculture to improve Iraq's farming conditions. She resided in South Australia with her mother after their marriage's break-up, attending school at Pembroke College.
- Her first child with John Travolta, son Jett Travolta, was born April 13, 1992. He passed away on January 2, 2009 from a seizure as a result of Kawasaki's Syndrome. He reportedly hit his head in the family's bathtub in their home in the Bahamas.
- She resided with Charlie Sheen from 1989-90. She was shot by accident in their apartment in 1990.
- After her child Jett was diagnosed with "Kawasaki's Syndrome", an illness more common affecting children of Asian and Pacific Islander descent, which resulted in severe allergies and asthma attacks, Kelly worked tirelessly on behalf of CHEC, the Children's Health Environmental Coalition, a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating parents about environmental toxins that can affect children's health and informing them of the many potential health hazards in the environment. Olivia Newton-John is also a CHEC board member.
- Gave George Clooney his infamous pet pig named Max, which passed away on December 1, 2006 after it had resided with Clooney for 18 years.
- [While speaking to People magazine about John Travolta] Everything about my husband is sexy, especially his lips.
- When I married John, I put my career on hold to be a wife and to have a child. Before that I didn't have a fabulous career, but I was working. When I decided to resume acting, I had become Mrs. Travolta in many people's eyes so I had to prove myself all over again.
- People have generally been very respectful and we've not been tabloid fodder.
- There's the jiggle factor in Hollywood. Once I was at an audition and they told me "You must show your breasts!" and I was like "Get outta town." I just laughed and slammed the door on my way out.
- I've wanted to have babies since I was 11. I always babysat. I was making thousands and thousands of dollars doing commercials and still babysitting for $2.50 an hour. Children are our future -- literally. It's such a cliche, but it's so true.
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