Actress Kelly Preston Dies From Cancer at Age 57

It is with great sadness that ComingSoon.net (via CNN) must report that actress Kelly Preston has passed away at age 57 after a two-year battle with breast cancer. Her husband, actor John Travolta, released the following statement on Instagram…

 

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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. She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. 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, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side. Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered. 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

A post shared by John Travolta (@johntravolta) on

Preston began her career studying drama and theater at the University of Southern California. She became a model at age 16, and auditioned for the lead role in The Blue Lagoon eventually won by Brooke Shields. She made her big screen debut in three 1983 cult movies: The Charles Bronson crime flick 10 to Midnight, the 3D Mad Max ripoff Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, and the John Carpenter killer car horror thriller Christine. Her first major film roles came in the teen sex comedies Mischief and Secret Admirer, both in 1985.

In 1986 she appeared in the box office dud Space Camp alongside future star Joaquin Phoenix, but finally had her first blockbuster success as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love interest in Ivan Reitman’s 1988 smash Twins. She would work with Schwarzenegger again in 1992 in the Tales From the Crypt episode “The Switch,” one of The Governator’s only two directorial credits. She appeared in the 1989 box office bomb The Experts, but the film proved fortuitous for Preston because it was on this project that she met her future husband John Travolta, whom she married in 1991 and would remained married to for three decades. The pair went on to appear together in the comedy hit Old Dogs (2009) and the much maligned bombs Battlefield Earth (2000) and Gotti (2018).

Arguably Preston’s most well-known role was as Tom Cruise’s fiance in the romantic comedy classic Jerry Maguire (1996). Other notable roles include Alexander Payne’s debut film Citizen Ruth (1996), Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Griffin Dunne’s Addicted to Love (1997), Sam Raimi’s For Love of the Game (1999) opposite Kevin Costner, The Cat in the Hat (2003) opposite Mike Meyers, superhero comedy Sky High (2005) opposite Kurt Russell, and James Wan’s Death Sentence (2007) opposite Kevin Bacon.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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