John Travolta's nephew Sam dies months after wife Kelly Preston's tragic death, fans say 'year just gets worse'
John Travolta's nephew Sam Travolta Jr died just four months after the actor's wife Kelly Preston lost her battle to breast cancer. Travolta is now mourning the death of his 52-year-old nephew, Sam, after losing his wife in July, The Sun reported. Sam died on September 23 at his home in Mount Horeb in Wisconsin, as per an obituary that was posted online, the portal reported.
The cause of his death is currently unknown. Sam was the son of Travolta's oldest brother Sam Travolta Sr. Sam's friend Nick Mavrostomo, who was a high school friend of his and currently works as a chiropractor in New Jersey, shared with the publication, "He will be greatly missed, but he will always be with us. I found out through high school friends, they reached out to me to let me know. We had a great time when we used to hang together in high school. Sam was definitely proud of being related to John Travolta. He was happy go lucky and a good friend, good-spirited," Mavrostomo said.
Sam had earlier spoken about his relationship with his famous uncle and had also claimed that his uncle would send him $1,800 a month as allowance. In 2015, Sam had spoken to the National Enquirer and shared, "I’m a struggling screenwriter living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment, so John’s money helps."
He also spoke about how he had struggled to leave the Church of Scientology. After a suicide attempt and 28 days in a mental institution, Sam decided to leave the religion that his famous uncle has been a part of since the mid-1970s. While doing an interview at the time, Sam had got candid and said, "Scientology almost killed me. It’s psychological warfare and after a while, it gets to you. Things got so bad that I tried to jump off a bridge in Los Angeles in 2007, trying to kill myself."
Reacting to Sam's death, social media users expressed their sympathies for the Travolta family. One user shared, "My sympathy goes out John Travolta and his family. Addio Sam, aveva 52 anni." Another user wrote, "Jesus the year just gets worse for most."
@ElisaDospina My sympathy goes out John Travolta and his family. Addio Sam, aveva 52 anni
— j paul (@carisbrook5) October 20, 2020
Recently, Travolta had taken to his Instagram to share a picture of his late wife on what would have been her birthday. He had captioned the image, "Happy Birthday hon! I found this photo of my mom and dad‘s wedding. It was nice to see ours alongside theirs. All my love, John."
Many of his fans and followers had commented on the picture as well. One Instagram user wrote, "She’s your angel. Some day you will be together again. We all miss her! Happy Birthday." Another added, "My thoughts are with you, John and your children as you celebrate and honour Kelly’s life. She was a true beacon of light, strength, gentleness and kindness. Sending light Remember the happy times and her beautiful smile and love of life and her family. An incredible person, mother, wife and actress."