John Travolta has proven the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.
The Saturday Night Fever star, 71, celebrated his son’s 15th birthday with a photo of the teenager posing beside a scenic overlook in the fishing village of Reine, Norway – and bearing a striking resemblance to his famous father.
‘Happy Birthday my dear Ben! I can’t believe how quickly you’ve grown up! I love you!’ Travolta captioned the post, shared Sunday.
Last week Travolta shared another image in which the family resemblance was touchingly uncanny.
The Grease star posted a sweet new Instagram video this week of himself and Benjamin enjoying a snowy mountain trek in Norway.
His son was seen trudging up to a vantage point where he could look out at the breathtaking views of the Scandinavian landscape.
John Travolta has proven the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree as he celebrated his son Benjamin’s 15th birthday
The teenager bore so many similarities to his dad, from his height to his dark hair
Benjamin clearly has inherited his father’s various physical traits, pictured 1977
‘Ain’t no mountain high enough for my son Ben. Love from Norway,’ wrote Travolta, who set the heartwarming clip to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s smash hit 1967 recording.
The Pulp Fiction star welcomed Benjamin with his late wife, Kelly Preston, who died at age 57 of cancer in 2020.
Together they had three children together – Benjamin, daughter Ella, 25, and son Jett, who died tragically aged 16 in 2009.
Jett, who had a history of seizures, suffered one during a family vacation to the Bahamas and died after hitting his head on the bathtub.
This April, Travolta marked what would have been his older son’s 33rd birthday on Instagram, writing: ‘Happy birthday Jett – I miss you so much! Love you forever!’
The family was struck by bereavement yet again when Preston died in July 2020, two years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Travolta announced her death and thanked her medical team, writing: ‘My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped.’
The post ignited rumors that Travolta and Preston had drifted away from Scientology, whose founder, L Ron Hubbard, was against chemotherapy and radiation.
However, the Church of Scientology’s website does urge believers to ‘seek conventional medical treatment for illnesses and injuries’.
Last month, on what would have been Preston’s 63rd birthday, Travolta posted a photo of her with a recording of himself singing the 1940s love song Come Rain or Come Shine, which has been performed by singers including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles and James Brown.
Travolta, pictured circa 1970, welcomed Benjamin with his late wife Kelly Preston
On Mother’s Day 2024, John touchingly posted a picture of Ella and Benjamin with their late mother Kelly Preston, who succumbed to cancer two years after she was diagnosed
‘I recorded this song for Kelly and I want to share it with you all on her birthday. Happy birthday Kelly, we love you. – John, Ella and Ben,’ he wrote.
Travolta spoke candidly about his grieving process in the year following Kelly’s death, in a 2021 profile interview he gave to Esquire Spain.
‘I learned that crying and mourning over someone is something personal. Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing,’ he said.
‘The most important thing you can do to help another when they are in mourning is allow them to live it and not complicate it with yours,’ Travolta observed.
‘Let’s say you lose someone and at the funeral you are very sad, then another person approaches you who is feeling more sadder and doesn’t leave enough space for you to mourn. It would be like two boats plummeting to the bottom. That is my experience,’ the Pulp Fiction star explained.
‘I felt saturated with everyone’s sadness that I didn’t know what to do. The first thing you should do when you experience grief is to go to a place where you can mourn, without any interference,’ he added.
