Kelly Preston’s death from breast cancer on Sunday was not the first time that John Travolta lost someone to the deadly disease.
Diana Hyland, an actress the now-66-year-old actor dated for a year, died of the same cause 43 years ago in 1977.
At 41, Hyland was 18 years older than Travolta, who was 23 at the time, the New York Post reported. She played her mother in the 1976 television movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble”.
“I’ve never been more in love with anyone in my life,” Travolta told People magazine in 1977. “I thought I was in love before, but I wasn’t.” From the moment I met her I was drawn to it. We were like two maniacs talking all the time on the set of ‘Bubble’. After a month it became romantic. “
According to the media, the couple became inseparable during filming.
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John Travolta and Diana Hyland.
(Photo by Tom Wargacki / WireImage / Getty)
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“I had more fun with Diana than ever in my life,” said Travolta. “And the strange thing is that just before we met, I thought that I would never have a successful relationship. She told me that she had also thought the same. So, bam.
Travolta admitted that before Hyland’s death, the couple had planned to take their relationship to the next level, and the future looked bright.
“I chose a house, and Diana and I were planning to move in right after this movie,” said Travolta, referring to “Saturday Night Fever,” which premiered months after Hyland’s death.
“If she were alive, it is very possible that I would have married her,” he added.
Although Hyland had a mastectomy two years earlier, Travolta said, “He did not know for sure that he was going to die until two weeks earlier.”
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Actor John Travolta w. She hugs actress Diana Hyland’s girlfriend and their 4-year-old son Zachary, sitting together at home.
(Photo by Julian Wasser / The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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During the middle of the production of “Saturday Night Fever”, Hyland died in Travolta’s arms, the medium shared.
“I felt his breath catch,” he admitted.
At the Hyland memorial service, the store noted that Travolta was wearing the white suit they had bought together for their planned trip to Rio after “Saturday Night Fever” ended.
Travolta said Scientology, as well as Hyland’s words, kept him active as he immersed himself in work. Before Hyland passed away, she said, “I’m leaving now, but you’re going to have this job.”
At the time, Travolta said that he had always considered himself a one-woman man and that there was no one else since Hyland.
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Diana Hyland in 1977.
(Photo from Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives / Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)
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“I gave him great joy in the last months of his life,” he said. “I always feel that she is with me, I mean that her intentions are. Diana always wanted the world for me in every way possible. “
Travolta then found love again. She met Preston, an actress, while filming “The Experts” in 1988. They married in 1991 and remained together until her death at age 57.
Travolta confirmed Preston’s death on Instagram and said it followed a two-year battle with breast cancer.
“It is with a 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. “She bravely fought with the love and support of many.”
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He continued, “My family and I will always be grateful to their doctors and nurses at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers they have helped, as well as their many friends and loved ones who have been by their side. Love and Kelly’s attention to life will always be remembered. I will take time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you have not heard from us for a while. But keep in mind I will feel your outpouring. of love in the coming weeks and months as we heal. All my love, JT. “
Preston is survived by Travolta, as well as his 20-year-old daughter Ella and 9-year-old son Benjamin. Her son Jett died in 2009 at the age of 16.
