Kelly Preston

Kelly Preston (born October 13, 1962) is an American actress and former model. She has appeared in more than 60 television and film productions, most notably including Mischief, Twins and Jerry Maguire. She is married to John Travolta.

Early years

Kelly Kamalelehua Smith was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother Linda, was an administrator of a mental health center and her father, who worked for an agricultural firm, drowned when Preston was only three years old. Her mother married Peter Palzis, a personnel director, who subsequently adopted her; she used his name when she first began her acting career until 1984. She has a younger half-brother, Chris Palzis. As a child, she spent time living in Iraq and also in Australia, where she attended Pembroke School in Adelaide. She went on to Punahou School and studied drama and theater at the University of Southern California.

Career

While living in Australia, Preston was discovered at 16 by a fashion photographer who helped her get work in commercials and other small parts, and organized Preston's first film audition in 1980 for the role of Emmeline in The Blue Lagoon (1980), which she lost to the younger Brooke Shields. At that time she changed her last name to Preston.