Kelly Preston, ‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Twins’ actress, dies aged 57

US actress Kelly Preston, star of Jerry Maguire, Twins, and Mischief, has died aged 57.

Preston had been receiving treatment for breast cancer for two years, a diagnosis she had chosen to keep private.

Her husband, actor John Travolta, confirmed the news in a post on Instagram, below.

 

 

 

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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

A post shared by John Travolta (@johntravolta) on Jul 12, 2020 at 10:20pm PDT

The couple had been married for almost 29 years; they recently appeared together in Kevin Connolly’s 2018 Gotti, the biopic of crime boss John Gotti.

Born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1962, Preston’s breakthrough film role came as Marilyn McCauley, the object of a teenage boy’s obsession in 1985 comedy Mischief.

She went on to play Marnie Mason, girlfriend to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character Julius in Twins, and Avery Bishop, fiancée to Tom Cruise’s titular character in Jerry Maguire. Her other credits included Geoff Burrowes’ Run, Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, and Bo Welch’s The Cat In The Hat.

Preston met Travolta while filming 1989’s The Experts, and also starred alongside him in 2000’s Battlefield Earth, and 2009’s Old Dogs.

Her final role is set to be in UK inter-railing comedy Off The Rails opposite Jenny Seagrove, Sally Phillips, Franco Nero, and Judi Dench. Produced by Bill Kenwright for his Bill Kenwright Films, it shot last spring in the UK and Mallorca, Spain.

Preston and Travolta’s son Jett died aged 16 in 2009 following a seizure during a family holiday in the Bahamas.

They have two other children, Ella Bleu and Benjamin; the former paid tribute to her mother on Instagram, saying “I have never met anyone as courageous, strong, beautiful and loving as you.”