Kelly Preston

Written and reviewed by Emma Carter Updated August 26, 2026 Fact checked August 26, 2026

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Kelly Preston biography — photo instagram.com/therealkellypreston

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John Travolta (husband)

photo instagram.com/johntravolta

Date of birth: February 18, 1954

Some people say that the role of Travolta’s wife was the main in Kelly’s career. The couple appeared in many common projects, like “Battlefield Earth”, “Old Dogs” and “Gotti”.

They met many years ago at the set of the film “The Experts” and immediately fell in love. In 1991 they got married. The first wedding ceremony took place in France (but that was considered as illegal in the USA), and on September 12, 1991, they married officially in their home country. Their marriage lasted for years (till Kelly’s death) and resulted in three kids. Kelly was asked numerous times, what was the secret of her happy family life. And she answered that it was the attention to the partner’s needs within their couple.

Kelly’s husband is a creative personality, too. The famous actor, singer and dancer John Travolta broke lots of hearts. He dated actresses Diana Hyland, Catherine Deneuve, and Brooke Shields when finally met the main woman in his life – Kelly Preston.

John comes from the acting breed – his parents, sisters, and brother were actors. He gained initial popularity in the 1970s when he had portrayed Vinnie Barbarino on “Welcome Back Kotter”. Later he featured on many commercially successful movies like “Pulp Fiction” (directed by Quentin Tarantino), “Face/Off”, “Killing Season” and others. John loved his wife Kelly till her last breath and it was he, who shared the sad news on her tragic death through Instagram.

Kevin Gage (the first husband; were married in 1985-1987)

photo twitter.com/kevingage

Date of birth: May 26, 1959

Kelly used to date many famous Hollywood men, like George Clooney and Charlie Sheen. In the late 1980s, she attempted to build a happy family with another actor, Kevin Cage. Kevin is mostly known as Waingro from “Heat”.

He was born in Wisconsin and spent the early years on his grandfather’s dairy farm. After graduation from school, he moved to Florida and from there to California. Kevin wanted to make a career in the construction business, but his great looks helped him to start acting in Hollywood.

He was 21, when he was scouted by an agent and began to study drama. He started his career as a theater actor and then continued with supportive movie roles.

In his early 30s, he was involved in a terrible car crash. After that, the actor spent a year in a wheelchair. But he managed to recover – and fate smiled at him. Finally, he got the breakthrough role – in “Heat”.

After that Kevin got lots of interesting offers and appeared in many films, which turned into box office hits. He was cast to the comedy “SpaceCamp”, and although his scenes were cut off the film, this work turned to be successful for him. At the set of the space movie, he met young and beautiful Kelly Preston. He fell in love with a tender blond woman and put lots of effort to capture her heart. The duo started dating and soon got married.

In her interview with the “Bravo” channel, Kelly told, that she was not happy with Kevin. She met John Travolta, when she was still married to Cage. In 1987 the couple divorced officially.

Cage has a son from his second marriage.

Jett Travolta (late son)

photo instagram.com/therealkellypreston

Date of birth: April 13, 1992

Date of death: January 2, 2009

Jett Travolta was the first child in the family of John and Kelly. He was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder – Kawasaki disease. The boy had several seizures during the years of his short life. One of them caused his death at the age of 16 when he was on vacation with his family.

Ella Bleu Travolta (daughter)

photo instagram.com/ella.travolta

Date of birth: April 3, 2000

Kelly Preston and John Travolta were blessed with their second child – a daughter – in 2000. Ella Bleu was very close with both her parents, and it was she, who convinced her mother Kelly to join Instagram.

The girl inherited great genes from both her parents, and she decided to enter the family business. She tried her hand as an actress for the first time in 2009 in her father’s film “Old Dogs”. She is supported by her famous dad till now, but the girl has already proved, that she is talented, too. Recently, she has presented the movie “The Poison Rose”, where John Travolta played the main role, and she appeared as Becky Hunt.

Benjamin Travolta (son)

photo instagram.com/therealkellypreston

Date of birth: November 23, 2010

In her interview with “Health Magazine,” Kelly told that she had never hesitated to welcome a baby at such a late age. John and she tried to get pregnant for several years, and finally, God gave him a son. Ben was born after Jett’s tragic death, and he reunited the family.

Ben is a primary school pupil as of 2020. His main interests are computers and sports. He is a cute little boy, who often features on his mother’s and father’s Instagram photos.

Linda Carlson (mother)

photo instagram.com/kamalalehua

Kelly and her mother Linda Carlson were very close. Linda was a Hawaii resident. Her short marriage to Mr. Smith gave her a luxurious gift – a beautiful fair-haired baby girl Kelly Smith. After the death of her husband, Linda remarried Peter Palzis, and he adopted Kelly. Thus, in her youth, she was known under the name “Kelly Palzis” and started her career in the movie industry under that name, but later she changed it for the stage moniker “Preston”.

Linda earned her living as a mental health center administrator. Her daughter Kelly was in her teens when she separated from Peter and left Hawaii for Australia. The future Hollywood star spent two years of her life in that country. Later Linda re-married Lee Carlson. She bears his last name till now.

Father

Kelly’s biological father was a farm worker. He drowned, when his beautiful daughter was still a baby, so she remembers practically nothing about him.

Peter Palzis (adoptive father)

photo instagram.com/therealkellypreston

Date of birth: July 26, 1937

Date of death: October 29, 2004

Kelly considered Peter as her father and she proudly wore his name “Palzis”. But she had to change it because it was too hard to pronounce and remember. She chose the name “Preston” almost by the occasion when asked her colleagues at a film set to invent a new “P” name for her, and someone told “Preston”.

Mr. Palzis was a Hawaii resident. He worked as a personnel director. With his wife Linda, he welcomed a son Chris. He remained close with his children even after his divorce from their mother. He liked to watch Kelly’s films but was shocked by nudity scenes, which were in some of Kelly’s movies.

He didn’t like Kelly’s first husband Kevin and considered their relationships as “tumultuous”. But he was happy to welcome John Travolta in their family.

Peter passed away at the age of 67. The reason for his death was pancreatic cancer.

Chris Palzis (younger half-brother)

photo instagram.com/kamalalehua

Date of birth: October 2, 1968

Kelly had just one sibling, a younger half-brother Christopher Palzis. He is a son of Peter and Linda Palzis. Chris spent his childhood years in Kaimuki, Hawaii. He graduated from Punahou School. Later he moved to Playa del Rey, CA, and started the career of a screenwriter there. One of his most successful screen projects is the comedy “Bad Trip”.

He works as a real estate agent as of now. He is married to a woman, named Marian, and raises two daughters with her.

Chris and Kelly were closely-knitted. “I considered him as my own baby”, the actress gushed in one of her interviews. Chris really misses his stellar sister now.