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Page last updated at 10:27 GMT, Saturday, 3 January 2009

John Travolta's teenage son dies

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Travolta lawyer gives statement

The teenage son of American actor John Travolta has died suddenly while on a family holiday in the Bahamas.

The actor's lawyer, Michael Ossi, said Jett Travolta, who was 16, suffered a seizure, and attempts to revive him at the scene failed.

The family were staying in a property in the grounds of the Old Bahama Bay Hotel on Grand Bahama Island.

Jett, who had a history of seizures, was the eldest child of Travolta and his actress wife, Kelly Preston.

The couple also have a daughter, Ella Blue, who was born in 2000.

Obie Wilchcombe, a parliament member and former tourism minister in the Bahamas, said an autopsy is planned for Monday.

John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston
John Travolta and Kelly Preston married in 1991

"John spoke with the minister of health and the doctors and police are at the hospital. They're very, very quick to resolve things," he said.

Mr Wilchcombe said Travolta "spent a tremendous amount of time with Jett".

"He always brought him along. There was a close affectionate relationship and lots of love," Mr Wilchcombe told CNN's Larry King Live show in a live telephone interview.

The family arrived in the Bahamas on a private plane on Tuesday and were staying at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community.

Friends and family

Travolta and Preston have previously said Jett became ill when he was two years old.

He was later diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, which causes inflammation of the blood vessels in young children.

It is unclear whether Jett was taking any medication for his seizures.

A spokeswoman for Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport, where Jett was taken, said she could not release any information because of privacy concerns.

Travolta's corporate and commercial attorney, Michael McDermott, said the actor had a very strong relationship with his son.

"There was unspoken communication between the two... It's just so hard," he said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

"Kelly is very quiet and both are grieving."

Mr McDermott said his family and other friends were with the couple in the Bahamas.

Travolta rose to international stardom in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever and is now one of Hollywood's biggest names, starring in hit movies such as Grease, Pulp Fiction and Primary Colors.

He married fellow actor Preston in 1991.

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