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outside my body,” Travolta later said. “It was like the body was sort of on its own and I
was outside walking round it. I got real frightened, and she said, ‘Oh my goodness,
you’ve gone exterior.’ ”
When he returned to Los Angeles, Travolta began taking the Hubbard Qualied
Scientologist Course at the Celebrity Centre with about 150 other students. He conded
to the teacher, Sandy Kent, that he was about to audition for a television show, Welcome
Back, Kotter. After roll call, Kent instructed everyone to point in the direction of ABC
Studios and telepathically communicate the instruction: “We want John Travolta for the
part.” At the next meeting, Travolta revealed he had gotten the role of Vinnie Barbarino
—the part that would soon make him famous. “My career immediately took o,”
Travolta boasted in a church publication. “I would say Scientology put me in the big
time.”
Gillham adored Travolta and constantly told him he was going to be a star. To prove
it, she gave him Spanky.
Although Travolta craved fame, he was taken aback by the clamor that came along
with it. Spanky managed his relationship with his fans. She went to the tapings of his
television show, accompanied him to his many public appearances, and persuaded
Paramount Pictures to buy a large block of Scientology auditing for his birthday. She
was his liaison with the church—in Scientology language, his terminal (“any person who
receives, relays or sends communications”). She also became a conduit between the
rising young star and other Scientologists in the industry, such as Paul Haggis, who gave
Spanky a spec script for Welcome Back, Kotter to pass on to Travolta (it was never
made).
Travolta generously credited the church for advancing his career and giving him the
poise to handle his burgeoning celebrity. “You always have the fear, ‘Success is terric
now, but will it last forever?’ ” he observed in one interview. “When you hit it quickly,
you don’t know where it will go.… Scientology makes it all a lot saner.” He introduced a
number of fellow actors to Scientology, including Forest Whitaker, Tom Berenger, and
Patrick Swayze, as well as the great Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. (Travolta’s
friend Priscilla Presley was the only one who actually stuck with the church.) Spanky
Taylor was a visible reminder of Travolta’s increasing devotion to Scientology, as well
as the church’s investment in his fame, which could be jeopardized by the indiscreet
behavior of a talented but entitled movie star.
When the FBI raid on the Church of Scientology took place on July 8, 1977, Taylor
was six months pregnant and living with her husband, Norman, in the squalid Wilcox
Hotel. Norm was an executive in the legal bureau. Early on the morning of the raid, he
frantically called Spanky and told her to get over to Yvonne’s oce right away to get
the loaded gun she had been given by a friend, which she kept in her desk. By the time
Taylor arrived, there were FBI agents everywhere—more than 150 of them at two
Scientology buildings, the Advanced Org and Château Élysée. It was the largest FBI raid
in history, and it went on all day and night. They brought battering rams and
sledgehammers to break the locks and knock down walls. In addition to the 200,000
documents they were carting o—many of them purloined by Guardian’s Oce