# Ellen Travolta
**Ellen Travolta** is an American actress best known for playing Louisa Arcola Delvecchio, the mother of [Scott Baio](https://www.edgepedia.org/scott-baio)'s character Chachi, on the sitcoms *Happy Days* and its spin-off *Joanie Loves Chachi*, and for playing Baio's mother again as Lillian on *Charles in Charge*. She is the sister of actor [John Travolta](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-travolta) and has built an independent career in television, film, and regional theater.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ellen-travolta/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | October 6, Englewood, New Jersey; sources give 1939 (IMDb) or 1940 (TV Insider, Rotten Tomatoes, Fandom, elCinema)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ellen-travolta/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/ellen_travolta) |
| Signature TV roles | Louisa Arcola Delvecchio on *Happy Days* and *Joanie Loves Chachi* (17 episodes, 1982–1983); Lillian on *Charles in Charge* (70 episodes, 1987–1990)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) |
| Film | The waitress in *Grease* (1978); Ida in *Lonely Hearts* (2006)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) |
| Long-running soap role | Gloria Cerullo on *General Hospital*, 1994–2025, 22 episodes[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) |
| Family | One of six children of Helen Travolta (born Helen Cecilia Burke); siblings John, Joey, Sam, Margaret, and Ann Travolta[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871455/bio/) |
| Marriage | Married actor Jack Bannon on April 9, 1983; the marriage lasted until his death on October 25, 2017; daughter Molly Fridley[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) |
## The Scott Baio mother roles
Travolta played the mother of actor Scott Baio's characters on three different television shows. On *Happy Days*, the sitcom set in 1950s and 1960s [Milwaukee](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee), she played Louisa Arcola Delvecchio, the mother of Baio's Chachi Arcola and the aunt of Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli ([Henry Winkler](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-winkler)). She carried the same character into *Joanie Loves Chachi*, the spin-off centered on Chachi and Joanie Cunningham, which lasted one season.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ellen-travolta/)
She returned as Baio's mother, Lillian, on *Charles in Charge*, the sitcom in which Baio starred as a teenage live-in babysitter. IMDb credits her with 70 episodes as Lillian between 1987 and 1990.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ellen-travolta/) Despite the shared actress and the shared first name, the Charles character was not a continuation of Chachi: the two characters were unrelated, grew up in different places and different eras, and Chachi married Joanie in the final episode of *Happy Days*.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086681/faq/)
## Television and film career
**Early work.** Travolta's first big break came on the high school sitcom *Welcome Back, Kotter*, which starred her real-life younger brother John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ellen-travolta/) Her screen credits from the late 1970s include the waitress in *Grease* (1978), the [John Carpenter](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-carpenter) television film *[Elvis](https://www.edgepedia.org/elvis-1979-film)* (1979) in which she played Marion Keisker, and the film *Human Experiments* (1979).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) • [6](https://happydays.fandom.com/wiki/Ellen_Travolta) A TV Guide credits list also shows guest appearances across decades on series such as *All in the Family*, *Three's Company*, *Murder, She Wrote*, *The Love Boat*, *The Pretender*, and *Judging Amy*.[7](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ellen-travolta/credits/3000261914/)
**Later work.** From 1994 to 2025 she played Gloria Cerullo on the soap opera *General Hospital* across 22 episodes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) In film she appeared as Ida in the 2006 crime drama *Lonely Hearts*, which starred her brother John alongside [Salma Hayek](https://www.edgepedia.org/salma-hayek), James Gandolfini, and [Jared Leto](https://www.edgepedia.org/jared-leto).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) More recently she played Mary Louise in the Hallmark holiday films *Haul Out the Holly* (2022), *Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up* (2023), and *Haul Out the Halloween* (2025).[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/ellen_travolta)
## Theater
Travolta has worked extensively in regional theater. With her husband, the actor Jack Bannon, she played Dolly Levi and Horace Vandergeller in *Hello, Dolly!* at the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre in Idaho during its 2000 season, and the theater announced the pair for the revival opening its 45th anniversary season in 2012.[8](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ellen-Travolta/) BroadwayWorld also lists a stage credit as a show girl in the first national tour of *Gypsy* in 1961.[8](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ellen-Travolta/)
## Family
Travolta was born in [Englewood, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/englewood-new-jersey), into a family of performers. Her mother, Helen Travolta (born Helen Cecilia Burke), was an actress credited on *Saturday Night Fever* (1977) and died on December 3, 1978, in Los Angeles.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871455/bio/) Ellen is one of six children, the sister of John, Joey, Sam, Margaret, and Ann Travolta.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871455/bio/) She is the aunt of John Travolta's daughter Ella Bleu Travolta.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0998183/bio/)
Sources disagree on her birth year: IMDb states October 6, 1939, while TV Insider, Rotten Tomatoes, the [Happy Days](https://www.edgepedia.org/happy-days) wiki, and elCinema state October 6, 1940.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ellen-travolta/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/ellen_travolta) • [6](https://happydays.fandom.com/wiki/Ellen_Travolta)
## References
1. [Ellen Travolta, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871454/)
2. [Ellen Travolta, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/ellen-travolta/)
3. [Ellen Travolta, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/ellen_travolta)
4. [Helen Travolta, Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871455/bio/)
5. [Charles in Charge FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086681/faq/)
6. [Ellen Travolta, Happy Days Wiki](https://happydays.fandom.com/wiki/Ellen_Travolta)
7. [Ellen Travolta Credits, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ellen-travolta/credits/3000261914/)
8. [Ellen Travolta, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Ellen-Travolta/)
9. [Ella Bleu Travolta, Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0998183/bio/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Sw to T*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license