Sad news this morning, as the much-loved actress Kelly Preston has passed away at the age of 57. She had been privately battling breast cancer for two years. “On the morning of July 12, 2020, Kelly Preston, adored wife and mother, passed away following a two-year battle with breast cancer,” a family representative has said in an official statement. “Choosing to keep her fight private, she had been undergoing medical treatment for some time, supported by her closest family and friends,” the family representative continued. “She was a bright, beautiful and loving soul who cared deeply about others and who brought life to everything she touched. Her family asks for your understanding of their need for privacy at this time.”
Preston was born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith on October 13, 1962, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and studied acting at the University of Southern California. Preston began her on-screen career in the early 1980s with several one-off roles on the small screen, before launching onto the silver screen with her first major movie role in the 1985 romantic comedy Mischief alongside Doug McKeon.
Over the next few years, Preston would prove herself to be a endearing, charming, warm presence on screen, with roles in the likes of the sci-fi family adventure SpaceCamp in 1986, the mismatch comedy Twins starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, and Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire in which she starred opposite Tom Cruise. Preston’s also starred in the 2018 gangster flick Gotti in which she played Victoria Gotti, the wife of Mafia boss John Gotti, opposite her real-life husband John Travolta. Preston’s final role will be in the upcoming comedy Off the Rails, the story of four friends who recreate an inter-rail journey across Europe, the movie is currently in post-production.
Along with her career, Preston shared a treasured, decades-long romance with husband John Travolta, who took to social media to pay tribute to his beloved wife, and let fans know that he and his family would be taking some time away to mourn her passing.
Writing on Instagram, Travolta said “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”
Preston is survived by her husband John Travolta and their two children, daughter Ella, 20, and 9-year-old son Benjamin.
“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”
