Bath Beach

Travolta makes triumphant return to Brooklyn

February 23, 2017 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
State Sen. Marty Golden (left) was among the fans who greeted movie idol John Travolta in Bath Beach. Photo by John Quaglione
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John Travolta, who skyrocketed to superstardom 40 years ago playing Bay Ridge disco dancer Tony Manero in “Saturday Night Fever,” has returned to Brooklyn to film scenes from his latest movie.

Travolta filmed scenes from “The Life and Death of John Gotti” on Bath Avenue on Feb. 21.

The film depicts the rise and fall of John Gotti, the infamous Mafia boss known to many New Yorkers by his nickname, “The Dapper Don.”

State Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn), whose senate district includes Bath Beach, was among the fans that got to meet Travolta when the movie idol took breaks from filming his scenes.

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Travolta earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Tony Manero in “Saturday Night Fever,” which was released in 1977. Much of the movie was filmed in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst.

Even before that film shot him to movie stardom, Travolta was familiar to Brooklyn through his role in the hit television show “Welcome Back Kotter,” which aired in the mid-1970s on ABC and took place in a fictional Brooklyn high school that bared a striking resemblance to New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst.

 


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