Roger Lodge

Credit: ZAK BRIAN/GAMMA

How John Travolta Keeps It Hot

Originally posted 12/10/2004 10:00AM

John Travolta and Kelly Preston have one of Hollywood's enduring marriages, having been hitched since 1991. So, how do they keep their spark? "Sometimes I make him be Bud," his character from 1980's Urban Cowboy, Preston told the audience at a special salute to Travolta by the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. "And I'm (Debra Winger character) Sissy." Hey, whatever works. Also at the event was James Gandolfini, who had this to say about Travolta: "We grew up about 15 minutes away from each other in New Jersey, and his father used to own a tire store. My father used to buy tires from his father. And we'd go in there and there'd be a picture of John, in the white suit and all. And I'm saying, 'If this man can do this – forgetting that he was like three times better looking than I was – so can I.' " Gandolfini eventually got to work with Travolta in 1995's Get Shorty, in which Travolta "beat the crap out of me." Others who paid tribute to the star: Oprah Winfrey; Ron Palillo, who played Horshack on Welcome Back Kotter; Grease stars Jeff Conaway and Didi Conn; Entourage's Jeremy Piven, who claims Travolta's was the first autograph he ever got; Kathy Bates, his costar in 1998's Primary Colors; and Kyra Sedgwick, who shared the big screen with Travolta in 1996's Phenomenon. The tribute airs on the USA Network on Dec. 12.

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