Earlier today, we reported that Hollywood star John Travolta had revealed that his beloved wife Kelly Preston died yesterday after a secret two-year battle with breast cancer at the age of 57. Now, it’s been revealed that losing someone close to him to breast cancer is nothing new for Travolta, as he lost his first love Diana Hyland to the disease 43 years-ago.
The New York Post reported that Hyland died of breast cancer back in 1977 at the age of 41. At the time, she had been dating Travolta for one year after meeting him while playing his mother in the TV movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.”
Travolta was only 23 at the time, which meant the couple had an 18 year age difference, but this did not stop them from falling in love.
“I thought I was in love before — but I wasn’t,” Travolta told People magazine in 1977 right after her death. “From the moment I met her, I was attracted. We were like two maniacs talking all the time on the set of ‘Bubble.’ After a month it became romantic.”
Travolta would go on to find his greatest success just after Hyland died, making Saturday Night Fever in 1977 and the movie musical Grease in 1978. Meanwhile, Hyland had been known mostly for television roles in shows like “Peyton Place” and “Eight is Enough.” She had shown a great deal of promise in the role of Heavenly in Tennessee Williams’ “Sweet Bird of Youth” on Broadway opposite Paul Newman, and it was thought the best was yet to come for her career had she lived.
Travolta remained devoted to Hyland until the end and was even with her when she died, saying afterwards that he “felt the breath go out of her.” He never saw the romance that he shared with Hyland as a simple fling.
“I picked out a house, and Diana and I were planning on moving in right after this movie,” he told People. “If she was alive, it is very possible I would have married her.”
Preston’s battle with breast cancer had to have brought back painful memories for Travolta, who only revealed to the public that his wife of 28 years was fighting the disease after she died.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer,” Travolta wrote on Instagram on Sunday night. “She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. ”
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Travolta went on to thank all the medical staffers who had helped Preston through her battle.
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“Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered,” he added. “I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while. But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal. All my love, JT.”
This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.
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