Fans of Kelly Preston were saddened and shocked to hear of her recent death. The 57-year-old actress died on Sunday, July 12, of breast cancer after battling the illness quietly for two years.
Kelly's husband, John Travolta, announced her death in a heartfelt Instagram post. As condolences poured in, many remembered the life the two shared. They were married just shy of 29 years. The couple had three children together. Their oldest son, Jett, died in 2009 at the age of 16. Ella is 20 years old, and Benjamin is 9 years old.
Many remembered Kelly as a wife and mother, but her acting career was nothing to gloss over. Kelly appeared in more than 70 films and television shows in her 40 years as an actress. She worked with a number of greats, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy, Kevin Costner, and, of course, John.
Kelly spoke about how her career changed after her high-profile marriage. "When I married John, I put my career on hold to be a wife and to have a child. Before that, I didn't have a fabulous career, but I was working," she once said.
"When I decided to resume acting, I had become Mrs. Travolta in many people's eyes so I had to prove myself all over again." There's no denying that Kelly did just that. Some of her most iconic roles came from that period. All of Kelly's work is spectacular, and we haven't seen the last of it yet. Her final project was already filmed and currently is in postproduction.
Kelly Preston was born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Hawaii, where she grew up nearly all her childhood. Her mother was a mental health center administrator. Her father died when she was just 3.
Kelly lived in Iraq for 15 months when she was 5 when her stepfather was working with the minister of agriculture to improve Iraq's farming conditions.
As a teen, her family would briefly move to Australia. It was while she lived in Australia that she was discovered by a fashion photographer. He helped her build a portfolio of small roles and commercial work before setting her up with her first major audition. She tried out for the role of Emmeline in The Blue Lagoon, but the role went to a younger Brooke Shields.
Kelly broke into film in a big way in 1985 with a pair of teen rom-coms. She played Marilyn McCauley in Mischief with Catherine Mary Stewart. She also played Deborah Ann Fimple in Secret Admirer with Lori Loughlin.
Kelly kept at it, playing Tish in Space Camp in 1986. The next year, she scored the role of Bonnie in The Experts, where she met John Travolta. Though the film bombed following its release in 1989, the meeting would put their love story into motion.
The romance didn't start immediately. Kelly was married to her first husband, Kevin Gage, at the time. They divorced in 1987, and Kelly began dating other people shortly after.
By the time The Experts came out, she was linked to George Clooney. That was followed up by a whirlwind romance with Charlie Sheen, which ended with a rumor that he shot Kelly, although they both would refute that claim.
Kelly married John in 1991. The following year, they welcomed their first child, Jett. It would be about two years before she had another acting project released. It was at this point that Kelly was prepared to redefine herself as an actress and prove her talents.
Kelly delivered on that promise to herself in a major way. She starred opposite Eric Roberts in Love Is a Gun. She appeared in a number of other films before her shining role as Avery Bishop, Tom Cruise's ruthless girlfriend in Jerry Maguire.
Kelly had many more iconic roles throughout her career. Some of her most cherished moments as an actress were when she got to work with John on passion projects. In Battlefield Earth, the two brought Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's sci-fi novel to life. The couple also teamed up with Robin Williams in Old Dogs, where they played a divorced couple co-parenting twins.
Most recently, they transformed themselves into the infamous John and Victoria Gotti in 2018's Gotti.
"We have the friendship and we have the rapport, so you can see the intimacy," Kelly told Entertainment Tonight.
"I looked at him and the way he looked at me was so completely … I felt like I was in John Gotti's arms. It sent chills."
Getting to flex their creativity in the field they loved and shared was an important and special experience for them. "For us to be in a movie where we're playing other people is so much fun, and that's what we kind of live for — to have that creative experience together," Kelly shared.
Kelly hadn't done much work since Gotti. It was presumably around the time of its release that she was diagnosed.
Kelly does have one final project audiences will get to enjoy. She stars in Off the Rails with Judi Dench, Jenny Seagrove, and Sally Phillips. The film is currently in postproduction with no word on a release date. For fans of Kelly, it will be a bittersweet farewell to an actress who brought so many laughs to people all over the world.
