The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)

My Review

“The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” is a made-for-television movie about a teenager who has lived in a hermetically sealed environment his whole life due to his being born without an immune system. John Travolta portrays the young man in one of his early roles, delivering a convincing performance under the guidance of director Randall Kleiser from a teleplay by Douglas Day Stewart. The film is based on the real life story of David Vetter, born in Texas in 1971 with SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency), and died in 1984 at the age of 12.

Co-stars include Robert Reed and Diana Hyland as his parents, Glynnis O’Connor as the girl next door, Ralph Bellamy as Dr. Gunther, and Anne Ramsey as Rachel. The watchable “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” was produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and aired on the ABC “Movie of the Week” on November 12, 1976. It was filmed at the 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City in Los Angeles. “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” received four Emmy nominations, winning one posthumously for Hyland, who passed away from cancer on March 27, 1977.