(4 of 4)
A partial key to that enigma may come from James Cagney, that master of lovable hardness (and the occasion for Mailer's musings on tough guys). Cagney too was a self-invented, utterly self-reliant actor-hoofer, and when Travolta was a kid starting out, he sought out the older actor for advice. Cagney later recalled telling him, "Start with one thing: they need you. Without you, they have an empty screen. So when you get on there, just do what you think is right and stay with it. If you listen to all the clowns around, you're just dead." Obviously, Cagney spoke directly, indelibly to the young actor's heart. Travolta is, against the odds, against the conventional wisdom, triumphantly alive.
--With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles