GREASE fans have been left gobsmacked after discovering John Travolta’s sister starred in his iconic movie more than 40 years after it was released.
Thanks to Grease, the world was gifted the iconic duo of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Although Australia star Olivia died at age 73 in 2022 from breast cancer, the enduring legacy of Grease lives on.
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That legacy actually includes John’s sister Ellen Travolta, too, though fans have only just discovered this fact.
John, now 70, was only 23 when he starred in the 1978 hit musical movie Grease, but he’d already made a name for himself with leading roles in Carrie and Welcome Back, Kotter.
This star power helped him pull some strings to get his sister a cameo in Grease.
Ellen, who is 14 years older than John, makes an appearance as a waitress in the Frosty Palace Diner which is the T-Birds and Pink Ladies’ regular hang out.
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Although her role was pretty small, Ellen gets her moment to shine when she is watching the live stream of the National Dance-Off at Rydell High.
As the wait staff excitedly try to spot some of their regulars, Ellen’s character happily shouts, “Oh, there’s Danny and Sandy!” when she spots them on the screen.
Upon learning of the connection between Ellen and John, Grease fans couldn’t help pointing out how alike they looked.
“Now it’s been pointed out, she does look and sound like him,” said one fan on Reddit.
While another joked about their similar features, writing: “We all know that was just John in a wig.”
A third user also commented that the actor was wise to get his sister a speaking role: “Made sure she got a line, so she has to get full SAG scale. Good move John.”
As Grease fans will know, the 1978 hit movie has grown into an incredible franchise with a number of spin-offs on screen as well as stage productions.
Grease was actually the highest-grossing musical film of all time upon its release and still holds rank in the top 30 musical films even in 2024.
This success has been good for Ellen, who still gets residual cheques for her work.
“I get residuals every 13 weeks for 40 years. And I only worked two days, maybe one day, with Joan Blondell and that group, and I had a lot of fun,” Ellen explained while speaking to The Spokesman Review in 2018.
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During her interview, she also confirmed that her role was all thanks to her brother.
Elaborating, she said: “I was on the lot at Paramount, I was guesting on a sitcom or something, and I came by the set. And (John) said, ‘Do you want to be in the movie? Can my sister be in the movie?’ Literally … So the next day they wrote me in a part.
“That’s how loose it was, and never knowing the success it would become.”
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