John Travolta names Hollywood’s five greatest sex symbols: “I thought she had it all”
Before he grew his hideous soul patch, John Travolta was a real heartthrob.
This is reflected in the many glamorous women he enjoyed romances with, both on and off-screen, since he was married to Kelly Preston for almost three decades before her death in 2020, and in character, he had dalliances with Debra Winger, Lily Tomlin, and, of course, Olivia Newton-John, which almost convinced me that they were a real item when I first watched Grease as a kid, such was the strength of their chemistry.
You might go as far as to describe Travolta as a sex symbol. Again, this was before he grew one of the worst beards known to man (look it up if you don’t know what I’m talking about). But which stars does he have posters of on his wall? As revealed by Business Standard, the Saturday Night Fever icon was very fond of one particularly sultry star.
“I loved Liz Taylor,” he said. “If you think of Liz in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – she’s all of that. She’s being a great actor and a sex symbol… I thought she had it all.”
Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Taylor was one of the first major child stars to exploit their sexuality in later life. Having been first introduced to audiences as an adorable youngster, she shed this angelic image in favour of a more mature approach that paid off big time. She was transformed into one of the biggest stars on the planet.
On screen, she was a dazzling goddess with as much legendary allure as his cinematic counterpart, Cleopatra. Off-screen, she was just as magnetic. Her wild personal life fuelled tabloid hacks for years, as she set the template for how celebrities were covered by the media and viewed by the general public.
Travolta wasn’t done there. He named three more big-screen beauties among his all-time greats: Katharine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, and Marilyn Monroe. All three are absolute textbook examples of sex symbols. While their combined acting ability is unquestionable, it was their appearance that was marketed heavily by studios, for better and for worse.
Another lady also captured Travolta’s heart – one that doesn’t often get the admiration she deserves. “I loved Fellini’s La Strada film when I was very young,” he revealed. “Giulietta Masina, she broke my heart. She just had this incredible vulnerability I loved.”
An Italian star often compared to the great Charlie Chaplin, Masina is the beating heart of not just the legendary road movie, but another Fellini masterpiece, Nights of Cabiria, and her potent combination of good looks and emotional appeal made her a fan favourite, probably because she seemed more accessible than many of her contemporaries.
Being called a sex symbol can sometimes be viewed in a negative light, but it doesn’t have to be. Sexuality is as much a part of an actor’s arsenal as anything else, and that goes for performers of all genders. As these five superstars have shown us, being sexy on screen doesn’t mean that you have nothing else to offer.
