John Travolta’s 5 Siblings: All About His Sisters and Brothers

Several of John Travolta's siblings are also entertainers

John Travolta may be a big star in Hollywood, but at home, he is the baby of his big family.

The Grease star was born and raised in Englewood, N.J., along with his five older siblings: sisters Ellen, Ann and Margaret, and brothers Samuel "Sam" and Joseph "Joey." Their father, Salvatore Travolta, was a former football player turned tire salesman. Their mother, Helen Cecilia Travolta, was an actress, singer and high school English and drama teacher who had a love of the performing arts.

The variety of skills she nurtured in the Travolta kids made their respective moves from stage to screen seamless.

"I grew up in a family of actors. I remember we always challenged ourselves to be different characters in different scenarios as kids," John told Youth Time Magazine in 2014.

John's siblings also followed their mother's creative lead — many of them have appeared on-screen with John throughout his over five-decade career.

Here is everything to know about John Travolta's siblings, Ann, Ellen, Margaret, Sam and Joey.

John and his siblings had a modest upbringing

John has said his simple childhood gave him perspective on the importance of family.

"I come from a working class family. My father was making a living doing what he loved, but we never had an overabundance of money," he told Youth Time Magazine. "So any ups and downs were not that significant for me."

The Oscar nominee recalled that his family Christmases were "very standard fare" and that when he was young, he had only $1 to spend on presents for his parents and siblings.

"I had to buy for seven people, and I had a dollar. I was limited to discount stores and school fairs to buy my gifts," John told The Spokesman-Review in 2014, adding that he once bought one of his brothers a clown salt shaker and hoped he'd think it was a figurine. Now, things are slightly different with his family.

"The Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day dinner are almost identical to the ones I grew up with. The only difference is we open some presents on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas Day because the magnitude and the volume of them has grown," he said with a laugh. "So we need to do that.”

Ellen was a sitcom star and acted in Grease

Ellen guest-starred in several episodes of the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter alongside John. As her career grew, she gained fame by acting in an episode of The Love Boat and playing Louisa Arcola in Happy Days and its spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi.

Welcome Back, Kotter wasn't the only time Ellen appeared on-screen with John. She also played a diner waitress in Grease after she visited him on the set. John asked if Ellen could be in the movie and "the next day they wrote me in a part."

She explained to The Spokesman-Review in 2018, "That's how loose it was, and never knowing the success it would become. I get residuals every 13 weeks for 40 years. And I only worked two days, maybe one day ... and I had a lot of fun."

Ellen said her kids "were crazy" for the movie and that strangers still recognize her from the part more than 40 years later.

Now, the actress lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where she produces and performs in local theater, including performances with her family members. John, Ann, Margaret, Joey and Sam have all made appearances in Ellen's productions — and when John isn't onstage for them, he's in the audience.

"I don't think I've missed any of the shows there," the Golden Globe winner told The Spokesman-Review in 2014.

John helped Ellen get a role in a Hallmark movie

Ellen married James Fridley in 1964 and the former couple welcomed a son, Tom Fridley, and a daughter, Molly Allen Ritter, both of whom followed her family's footsteps into acting. Ellen and James divorced in 1977, and she remarried in 1983 to Jack Bannon.

After Bannon died in 2017, Ellen said she found comfort in Hallmark Channel movies, leading John to pull some strings to get her cast in one.

"I was away with John in Austria and all I did was talk about being on Hallmark," she told The Spokesman-Review in 2022. "So when we got back, he called his agent and asked, 'What do we have to do to get Ellen in a Hallmark movie? All she wants is one line.' Lo and behold, they called."

That call led to Ellen's role as Mary Louise in the Hallmark Christmas movie Haul Out the Holly.

Ann has shared the stage and screen with John

When John played Doody in Grease on Broadway, Ann served as an understudy in the production for several roles. In 1976, she and Ellen also costarred with John in a production of Bus Stop at the Falmouth Theatre.

Over 40 years later, John shared a throwback photo from the time of the play on Facebook and wrote a message to his sisters: "Thanks for always being by my side!"

On film, Ann had a small part in Saturday Night Fever as a pizza waitress, while their mother, Helen also appeared in the hit film as a customer in the paint store where John's character worked.

Decades later, Ann appeared with her younger brother as a hostage in his film Swordfish.

Margaret and Sam have been in movies with John

Margaret has appeared in several of John's movies spanning over decades, including as a reporter in Michael, a nurse in Lucky Numbers and Basic, a hostage in Swordfish, a dispatcher in Lonely Hearts and a singing hostess in Old Dogs.

She's also had roles in blockbusters without her brother, including High Fidelity, Catch Me If You Can, Ocean's Thirteen and Enchanted, as well as TV shows including ER and The Drew Carey Show.

Like his sisters, Sam has appeared in several of John's movies, including Perfect, A Civil Action and Old Dogs.

Joey founded a production company focused on training people with developmental disabilities

Joey graduated from William Paterson University in 1974 with a degree in special education, but within four years, he pursued a career in entertainment as well.

He released his eponymous debut album in 1978 with Casablanca Records and worked as an actor and director in addition to a special education teacher in New Jersey. Joey has appeared in movies including Beverly Hills Cop III, Oscar and Susan's Plan, as well as in TV shows like Movie Stars.

Directing soon became Joey's focus, and he combined it with his passion for disability advocacy in 2007. Joey founded the production company Inclusion Films, which creates and distributes projects with casts and crew members who have developmental disabilities.

"My father raised us in an environment of inclusivity," Joey told Four Special Kids in June 2023. "Family was important. Kindness was important. Everyone was equal, and everyone was welcome. That's what first led me to being a special education educator. Partnering that passion for equity with filmmaking has become my life's work."

Joey may have helped inspire one of John's most iconic roles

Joey has said that he taught John some of his signature moves for an iconic movie role.

"What John went through with Saturday Night Fever, I lived that. In the early ’70s the club scene was more underground, and then disco died," he explained to Ain't It Cool in 2020. "Disco was dead for a while and he brought it back. But we're all dancers. All my sisters were dancers. We all move well, but he's a great dancer."

Joey continued, sharing his pride for John, "If you ever meet him, he's a good guy, my brother. He's a special man."

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