JOHN TRAVOLTA - TRAVOLTA: 'I WAS LEDGER'S IDOL'

JOHN TRAVOLTA has explained his outpouring of grief for HEATH LEDGER, who he only briefly met - the young actor was the GREASE star's leading inspiration. While many stars have offered brief tributes to the 28-year-old actor, who died on Tuesday (22Jan08), Travolta has gushed about the Brokeback Mountain star, calling him his "favourite actor". Speaking at the Australia Plays Broadway gala in New York on Tuesday night (22Jan08), the Pulp Fiction star told the audience, "I would give back all of my awards and my nominations just to have him back again... We love you Heath, wherever you are." And now Travolta is explaining why he's so "devastated" by Ledger's shock death. He tells Woman's Day magazine, "He was my favourite actor and my favourite talent. It's like losing James Dean. "I wanted to meet him because I was very impressed with him from the very beginning. His agent introduced me to him at a party, and I just fell (in love). Actors need other actors to be inspired by, and he was my actor." Travolta recalls telling Ledger this at the party, adding, "He was beautiful in his reaction; I was an idol of his - my reacting that way to his work really blew him away, but he was very modest and almost bashful about the compliment." And Travolta admits Ledger's performance as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain left him stunned: "I don't think anyone will ever beat that performance, I don't know if it's possible."