Bronx, New York-born and Long Island-raised,[2] Travalena moved to Los Angeles and developed a multifaceted career with his characterizations of visible public figures.

His television credits began in the 1970s, as a regular performer on The ABC Comedy Hour, where he once did a split screen impression of John Lennon on one side and Paul McCartney on the other, and the Dean Martin roasts.

In 1978, Travalena portrayed Top-40 DJ "Mad Man" Mancuso in The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey in the title role.

Among his guest appearances on game shows, he was on Password Plus, hosted by Tom Kennedy, with Dallas star and The Huggabug Club star Audrey Landers, as well as Super Password and Body Language, hosted by Tom Kennedy and Bert Convy, and appeared on Match Game and Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour several times.

tour to entertain troops overseas, and was honored in 2004 by Club Italia with a Merit Achievement Award for his contributions to society.