Kelly Preston

Actor

Name at birth: Kelly Palzis

Kelly Preston is a television and film actor whose body of work is often overshadowed by her famous marriage to actor John Travolta. Preston was born and raised in Hawaii, and also lived in Iraq and Australia while growing up. After beginning a modelling career, she moved to Los Angeles and studied acting. After small roles in Christine (1983) and 52 Pick-Up (1986), her first notable performance was in the 1988 comedy Twins (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger). In 1991 she married Travolta and slowed her career to raise children. In the late '90s she returned to the screen as a foxy character actor in films including Jerry Maguire (1996, starring Tom Cruise), Addicted to Love (1997, with Matthew Broderick) and For the Love of the Game (1999, with Kevin Costner). More recently, she has appeared in the 2003 movie version of Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat, played Amanda Byne's mom in What a Girl Wants (2003) and Hank Azaria's sister in Eulogy (2004).