The big fans of Happy Days might recognize Ellen Travolta as Chachi Arcola’s mother Louisa in five episodes of the series. She’d continue to portray his Mom in the spin-off series Joanie Loves Chachi in seventeen episodes. And since she did such a great job playing the mother of Scott Baio in those two series, she was recruited to play the same actor’s mother for 70 episodes of his follow-up series Charles in Charge. That’s a lot of mothering Scott Baio.
But if you’re not a big fan of Happy Days, chances are all that you’re going to recognize in this actress is her last name. As the older sister of actor John Travolta, she did in fact get to share some time on screen with him; she played Arnold Horshack’s mother in three episodes of Welcome Back Kotter and played a waitress in Grease. One might also see around the sitcom circuit in shows such as Diff’rent Strokes, All in the Family, Three’s Company, and What’s Happening!!
She was one of the guests at the Chiller Theatre show in Parsippany, New Jersey, on April 30, 2011. I concentrated more on the Happy Days connection than the Travolta name. She was a nice lady, and willingly posed for a photo with me for free after I purchased my signed photo.
Celebrities of the Spring 2011 Chiller Theatre Show will continue…
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