Age: 62
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Kelly Preston (born October 13, 1962) is an American actress and former model. She has appeared in more than 60 television and film productions, most notably including Mischief, Twins and Jerry Maguire. She is married to John Travolta, for which they collaborated for the fantasy film Battlefield Earth, and she also starred in the films The Cat in the Hat, Old Dogs, and Broken Bridges.
Kelly Kamalelehua Smith was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother Linda, was an administrator of a mental health center and her father, who worked for an agricultural firm, drowned when Preston was only three years old. Her mother married Peter Palzis, a personnel director, who subsequently adopted her; she used his name when she first began her acting career until 1984. She has a younger half-brother, Chris Palzis. As a child, she spent time living in Iraq and also in Australia, where she attended Pembroke School in Adelaide. She went on to Punahou School and studied drama and theater at the University of Southern California.
While living in Australia, Preston was discovered at 16 by a fashion photographer who helped her get work in commercials and other small parts, and organized Preston's first film audition in 1980 for the role of Emmeline in The Blue Lagoon (1980), which she lost to the younger Brooke Shields. At that time she changed her last name to Preston.
Her first prominent film roles came in 1985, firstly as Marilyn McCauley in romantic comedy teen flick Mischief and then as the beautiful but shallow Deborah Ann Fimple in another teen romantic comedy, Secret Admirer. Other notable roles included SpaceCamp (1986), Twins (1988) with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, Avery Bishop in Jerry Maguire (1996) with Tom Cruise and Kate Newell in Holy Man (1998) with Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum.
She played the girlfriend of her husband, John Travolta's, character "Terl" in the 2000 film Battlefield Earth, and received "Worst Supporting Actress" at the 21st Golden Raspberry Awards for her role in the film. In 2005 she appeared as the flying, superheroine mother of the protagonist in the film Sky High.
Preston was featured in the chart-topping Maroon 5 music video, "She Will Be Loved" in 2004. The video features a love triangle and romantic scenes between Preston and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. In 2008, she was cast in a television pilot for a potential show called Suburban Shootout. She had a short term recurring role on Medium.
In 2008, Preston starred in the Lifetime movie The Tenth Circle, directed by Peter Markle. The film was shot in Nova Scotia and featured Ron Eldard, Brittany Robertson, Michael Riley, Jamie Johnston and Geordie Brown.
She is a spokeswoman for Neutrogena since 2005 and appears in print and television advertisements. Preston played Victoria Gotti in the upcoming John Gotti biopic Gotti: In The Shadow of my Father.
Preston was married to actor Kevin Gage from 1985 until their divorce in 1987. She also had a relationship with George Clooney, who gave her Max, a pet pig that he kept after the couple split up. She was briefly engaged to Charlie Sheen in 1990, but ended the relationship shortly after he accidentally shot her in the arm.
Preston first met John Travolta in 1987 while filming The Experts. They married in 1991, traveling to Paris on an Air France Concorde for a wedding ceremony at the Hotel de Crillon (close to Place de la Concorde) on September 5, 1991. However, a second ceremony was required because the first, performed by a French Scientology minister (both Preston and Travolta are Scientologists), was considered invalid. This second ceremony took place on September 12 in Daytona Beach, Florida. They had three children: son Jett (April 13, 1992 - January 2, 2009), daughter Ella Bleu (born 2000), and son Benjamin (born 2010).
Preston's son Jett Travolta was described as suffering from Kawasaki disease as an infant and had a history of seizures. In 2003, Preston appeared on the Montel Williams show to promote L. Ron Hubbard's Purification Rundown, which she credited with helping her son.
On January 2, 2009, Jett Travolta died while the family was on a holiday vacation in The Bahamas. His death was attributed to a seizure. In September 2009, Travolta and Preston confirmed longstanding speculations when they testified that their son had autism and suffered regular seizures. This revelation came during their testimony at the trial resulting from an extortion attempt related to their son's death.
On January 23, 2009, three people were arrested in the Bahamas in connection with a multimillion-dollar extortion plot against Travolta and Preston concerning the circumstances of their son's death. One of the men, Obie Wilchcombe, a member of the Bahamian Parliament and former Bahamian Minister of Tourism, was described as a "close friend" of Travolta and Preston. Two others allegedly involved were an EMT named Tarino Lightbourne and a Bahamian senator named Pleasant Bridgewater. Bridgewater was charged with abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort and resigned from the Senate as a result of the allegations.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | 10 to Midnight | Doreen | |
1983 | Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn | Dhyana | |
1983 | Christine | Roseanne | |
1985 | Mischief | Marilyn McCauley | |
1985 | Secret Admirer | Deborah Anne Fimple | |
1986 | SpaceCamp | Tish Ambrosé | |
1986 | 52 Pick-Up | Cini | |
1987 | Love at Stake | Sara Lee | |
1987 | Tiger's Tale, AA Tiger's Tale | Shirley Butts | |
1987 | Amazon Women on the Moon | Violet | Segment: "Titan Man" |
1988 | Spellbinder | Miranda Reed | |
1988 | Twins | Marnie Mason | |
1989 | Experts, TheThe Experts | Bonnie | |
1991 | Run | Karen Landers | |
1992 | Only You | Amanda Hughes | |
1994 | Double Cross | Vera Blanchard | Video |
1994 | Love Is a Gun | Jean Starr | |
1994 | Cheyenne Warrior | Rebecca Carver | |
1995 | Mrs. Munck | Young Rose | |
1995 | Waiting to Exhale | Kathleen | |
1996 | Citizen Ruth | Rachel | |
1996 | From Dusk till Dawn | Newscaster Kelly Houge | |
1996 | Curdled | Kelly Hogue | |
1996 | Jerry Maguire | Avery Bishop | |
1997 | Addicted to Love | Linda | |
1997 | Nothing to Lose | Ann Beam | |
1998 | Holy Man | Kate Newell | |
1998 | Jack Frost | Gabby Frost | |
1999 | For Love of the Game | Jane Aubrey | |
2000 | Battlefield Earth | Chirk | |
2001 | Daddy and Them | Rose | |
2003 | View from the Top | Sherry | |
2003 | What a Girl Wants | Libby Reynolds | |
2003 | Cat in the Hat, TheThe Cat in the Hat | Joan Walden | |
2004 | Eulogy | Lucy Collins | |
2004 | Return to Sender | Susan Kennan | |
2005 | Sky High | Josie Stronghold / Jetstream | |
2006 | Broken Bridges | Angela Delton | |
2007 | Death Sentence | Helen Hume | |
2008 | Struck | Trista | Short film |
2009 | Old Dogs | Vicki | |
2010 | Last Song, TheThe Last Song | Kim | |
2010 | Casino Jack | Pam Abramoff | |
2014 | Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father | Victoria Gotti | Pre-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | Hawaii Five-O | Wendy | Episode: "For Old Times Sake" |
1982 | Capitol | Gillian McCandless | TV series |
1983 | Lone Star | Redhead | TV film |
1983 | Quincy, M.E. | Ginger Reeves | Episode: "On Dying High" |
1983 | Renegades, TheThe Renegades | Lisa Primus | Episode: "Back to School" |
1983 | CHiPs | Anna | Episode: "Things That Go Creep in the Night" |
1983-1984 | For Love and Honor | Mary Lee | Regular role (12 episodes) |
1984 | Riptide | Sherry Meyers | Episode: "The Hardcase" |
1984 | Blue Thunder | Amy Braddock | Episode: "The Long Flight" |
1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Linda | Episode: "The Switch" |
1991 | Perfect Bride, TheThe Perfect Bride | Laura | TV film |
1993 | American Clock, TheThe American Clock | Diana Marley | TV film |
1994 | Cheyenne Warrior | Rebecca Carver | TV film |
1996 | Little Surprises | Ginger | TV short |
2000 | Bar Hopping | Bebe | TV film |
2004 | Joey | Donna Di Gregorio | Episodes: "Joey and the Dream Girl: Parts 1 & 2" |
2005 | Fat Actress | Quinn Taylor Scott | Recurring role (4 episodes) |
2008 | Suburban Shootout | Camilla Diamond | Unsold TV pilot |
2008 | Medium | Meghan Doyle | Recurring role (4 episodes) |
2008 | Tenth Circle, TheThe Tenth Circle | Laura Stone | TV film |
2013 | Adopted | Karey | TV film |
2013 | Stafford Project, TheThe Stafford Project | Tabitha | Episode: "White Secret" |
2016 | CSI: Cyber | Greer Latimore | Recurring role (3 episodes) |
Year | Award | Category | Production | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Golden Raspberry Award | Worst Supporting Actress | Battlefield Earth | Won |
2004 | Golden Raspberry Award | Worst Supporting Actress | Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat | Nominated |
2010 | Golden Raspberry Award | Worst Supporting Actress | Old Dogs | Nominated |
Charities
Kelly Preston supports the following charitable causes: Cancer, Children, Environment, Education, AIDS, Health Education.