From Hollywood wild-child to Academy Award winner to respected U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, actress Angelina Jolie underwent a series of metamorphic transformations over the course of her career. An exceedingly beautiful, strikingly talented performer, Jolie broke onto the scene in the mid-1990s, quickly gaining a reputation for both her on-screen work as well as her outrageous off-camera antics. Interestingly enough, however, within a decade, Jolie shed her reckless image and successfully managed to re-invent herself – not only as an artist, but also as a celebrity humanitarian of the highest order. Only half-chidingly dubbed by Esquire magazine as “the best woman in the world, in terms of her generosity, her dedication and her courage,” Jolie seemed intent on remaking her image on her own terms, even as the tabloids struggled to scandalize it. In the mid-2000s, Jolie’s public profile exploded into another stratosphere when she became romantically linked with the "sexiest man alive," Brad Pitt. After his then scandalous divorce from wife Jennifer Aniston, Pitt and Jolie slowly came out as a couple to the delight of the world’s paparazzi. Now one half of the “most gorgeous couple on earth,” Jolie used her celebrity to bring attention to a number of worthwhile causes – winning the grudging respect of even the most cynical of her critics. The daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina Jolie (Voight) was born on Jun. 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, CA. Like her older brother by two years, director James Haven (Voight,) Jolie seemed destined for a career in the arts. At the age of 11, she began studying at the famed Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in NYC. Even before commencing her formal training, Jolie made her screen debut as a tyke in a bit part in the Hal Ashby-directed comedy "Lookin' to Get Out" (filmed in 1980; released 1982). While reviewers savaged the movie (which was co-scripted and co-produced by her father, Jon), its littlest thespian fortunately emerged unscathed.
The experience briefly turned young Angelina off of show business – she even briefly considered going into funeral directing for a time – but because it was in her blood, she eventually bounced back. With two extremely photogenic parents, it came as no surprise that Jolie inherited gorgeous good looks – most striking of all were lush lips which made her a standout from all other young girls. Her comeliness allowed her to segue back into show business, first as a professional model, and later, as an actress in music videos. In addition to appearing in five student films directed by her older brother, Jolie became a member of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Theatre Company, where she honed her craft alongside such veteran players as Holly Hunter, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. Jolie made her return to the screen playing a heroic human-machine hybrid in the above-average direct-to-video sci-fi actioner, "Cyborg II: Glass Shadows" (1993), but the entry went virtually unnoticed by critics. Luckily, her flashy role as Kate (a.k.a. 'Acid Burn') in the cyber-thriller "Hackers" (1995) garnered her more attention and better notices. Paired with rising young British actor Jonny Lee Miller, Jolie played a teen computer whiz battling an evil genius. “Hackers” fizzled at the box office, but the romantic leads sizzled – both on-screen and off. Jolie and Miller’s chemistry eventually culminated in their wedding in 1996. Though the two would divorce just three years later, Jolie and Miller would remain close friends even after their break-up. More film work readily followed for Jolie, initially in small-scale character-driven indies. In an indifferently received adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' novel "Foxfire" (1996), Jolie played a mysterious outsider named Legs Sadovsky – described in Variety as "sort of a female James Dean" – who helps some other teenaged girls stand up for their rights. In Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna's romantic comedy-drama "Love Is All There Is" (1996), Jolie displayed a humorous and innocent light as half of a pair of star-crossed lovers divided by their families' feud. That same year, the actress appeared in the high-minded suspense drama "Without Evidence,” playing a drug-addicted teen, and "Mojave Moon,” opposite Danny Aiello. Next came "Playing God" (1997), in which Jolie capably essayed a woman torn between her gangster boyfriend (Timothy Hutton) and a discredited doctor (David Duchovny) in his employ. While the films remained largely unseen by most moviegoers, Jolie received strong notices for each of these projects. Unlike many feature stars, Jolie showed no compunction about working on the small screen. Case in point: during the late 1990s, the actress appeared in a handful of exceptional made-for-TV productions that effectively allowed her to strut her stuff on her own terms. In 1997, Jolie received top notices for her co-starring turn alongside Annabeth Gish and Dana Delaney as Texas pioneers in the 1997 CBS historical miniseries, "True Women." Jolie then brought a fiery passion to her portrayal of Cornelia Wallace, the politician's first wife, in the biographical miniseries "George Wallace" (TNT, 1997). But it was her dazzling turn as another real-life figure – the late supermodel Gia Carangi – that catapulted Jolie into the public consciousness. Jolie’s brave, sensitive performance as the drug-addicted, AIDS-stricken title character in HBO's excellent biopic "Gia" (1998) brought the beauty widespread critical acclaim. For her efforts, Jolie was twice Emmy-nominated in the supporting category for "George Wallace" (which she lost to co-star Mare Winningham) and in the leading category for "Gia" (which she ended up losing to Ellen Barkin). Fortunately, Jolie received more-than-adequate consolation for her Emmy losses by picking up two back-to-back Golden Globe Awards for both performances. After this spate of acclaimed television appearances, Jolie found her way back into in films, landing roles that similarly showcased her acting strengths. In 1998, Jolie received special notice for her work in the comedy-drama "Playing By Heart" (1998), as Joan, an outgoing club kid smitten with the sullen Keenan (Ryan Phillippe). Vivid and engaging, Jolie easily held her own among an ensemble cast featuring such luminaries as Gena Rowlands and Sean Connery. The following year, the actress joined John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton in Mike Newell's Big Apple-set comedy about air traffic controllers, "Pushing Tin" (1999). Jolie later got her feet wet in the increasingly crowded crime-drama pond playing a tough rookie cop assisting a quadriplegic detective (Denzel Washington) in "The Bone Collector” (1999), a flawed, but well-acted serial-killer thriller directed by Philip Noyce. Jolie finally rounded out the year by landing the much sought-after co-starring role of the disturbed Lisa Rowe in "Girl, Interrupted.” Based on author Susanna Kaysen's best-selling memoir of her own two-year stay in a psychiatric hospital, Jolie’s showy turn as the sociopathic inmate netted Jolie a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. But public respect would come neither immediately nor easily for Jolie, even after winning Hollywood’s highest honor. Far more interested in her girl-gone-wild ways, the tabloids tended to dismiss her talents in favor of her more unorthodox personal life. Among the gossip fodder were her exotic tattoos, extensive collection of knives and her past “cutting” experiences, her provocative revelations and her intimations of a profoundly edgy sex life. The tabloids also made much hay out of Jolie’s close relationship with her look-alike brother, James Haven – a bond which raised many eyebrows after Jolie planted a passionate kiss on his lips in plain view of drooling paparazzi. It did not help matters when she declared she was “in love with her brother” upon accepting the Oscar. Media saturation would reach a boiling point, however, in mid 2000, when Jolie became the fifth wife of her “Pushing Tin” co-star – the equally eccentric and significantly older actor Billy Bob Thornton. A match made in tabloid heaven, the couple's constant declarations of love and erotic devotion to each other was capped by the wacky revelation that the two wore vials of one another's blood around each other’s necks and had sex in the car on the way to the “Pushing Tin” premiere. Her off-screen quirks notwithstanding, the actress continued portraying tough young women on the big screen. In the flashy but unfulfilling car heist thriller "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000), Jolie crackled in scenes even opposite notorious scene-stealing star, Nicolas Cage. Jolie’s next project was as the flesh-and-blood embodiment of the titular adventuress in "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" (2001). Based on the wildly popular “Tomb Raider” video game franchise, Lara Croft launched an Indiana Jones-style adventure series which failed to impress critics, but racked up a healthy box office take. The film also marked Jolie’s first adult collaboration with her father, Jon Voight, who played her character's father in the film. Shortly after their on-screen pairing, however, Voight made a series of disparaging comments regarding his daughter’s mental emotional stability (or lack thereof) to the American entertainment newsmagazine “Access Hollywood” (Synd., 1996-). Outraged by the insult, Jolie immediately responded by painting Voight as a philandering, self-righteous hypocrite who cheated on her mother. The resulting rift between father-and-daughter would last for several years and several on-camera pleas by Voight to give him another chance. Meanwhile, back on the career front, Jolie – possibly distracted by her tumultuous personal crises – seemed a bit unfocused in her next two features. Starring opposite Antonio Banderas in the dismal noir-wannabe “Original Sin" (2001), Jolie came off less than committed, despite some steamy – and heavily hyped – erotic sequences. Her follow-up, the dramatic vehicle "Life or Something Like It" (2002) – in which she played a superficial, platinum blonde newscaster forced to examine her existence more closely – also died quickly. Jolie subsequently took a significant hiatus from film, but continued to make headlines in her personal life, divorcing Thornton in 2003 amid rumors of his infidelity (which he denied). It was also rumored that Jolie’s recent adoption of a baby boy from a Cambodian orphanage whom she named Maddox, did not help matters. The couple was allegedly at different points in their life and thus, split. The actress returned to familiar territory for her comeback screen vehicle, the sequel "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" (2003), a lackluster follow-up to a lackluster first outing. Reflecting their off-screen internecine tensions, Voight, did not reprise his role in this second follow-up. “Cradle of Life” was followed by a turn in the too-righteous political/romantic drama "Beyond Borders" (2003). After this came a dangerous foray into Ashley Judd territory with a starring role in the routine thriller "Taking Lives" (2004), in which Jolie played an FBI profiler caught up in dangerous and erotic intrigue. Signing up for another purely commercial vehicle, the actress adopted another rich accent as she winkingly played the eyepatch-sporting Captain Frankie Cook, the leader of an all-female amphibious attack squadron, in the retro action-adventure "Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow" (2004). Cast opposite Jude Law and fellow Oscar-winner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jolie joined the CGI-laden action-adventure battling giant robots in an Art Deco, 1930s-era environment. Jolie then lent her voice to the finny femme fatale, Lola, in DreamWorks' CGI-animated underwater underworld opus "A Shark’s Tale" (2004). Finally, Jolie closed out the year with a bizarrely seductive turn as Alexander's mother, Olympias, who raises her son to believe in his impressive destiny, in Oliver Stone's epic historical bomb, "Alexander the Great.” Jolie's profile as both a movie star and public figure rose to even more epic proportions when she co-starred with the equally lovely actor Brad Pitt in the Doug Liman-helmed actionfest "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (2005). In it, the actors played a bored married couple who are actually rival assassins, each hired to kill the other. Almost from the get-go, spurious rumors abounded of an on-set romance between Jolie and Pitt – innuendo that contributed to Pitt's subsequent split from his high-profile marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston. Though both Pitt and Jolie initially refuted the rumors – the two later took a coyer stance after being photographed together numerous times post-Aniston separation. The intense media and public interest in their possible romance propelled “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” to huge box office receipts, thanks in large part to their palpable on-screen chemistry. Needless to say, the "are they or aren't they?" nature of the Jolie-Pitt coupling captivated star watchers and quickly became the most written-about celebrity story of 2005 – even prompting the coining of the term "Brangelina." Taking a page from the playbook of the late Audrey Hepburn, Jolie began using her celebrity status to bring attention to such humanitarian causes as the plight of violence-torn nations. As their relationship gradually emerged in the public eye, Pitt began to accompany Jolie on her missions of mercy to third world nations and grow ever more attached to her son, Maddox. Away from the screen, Jolie expressed a dedication and commitment to increasing awareness and aid to counties devastated by internal and external conflicts, disease and third world conditions. In 2001, after the actress made several trips to the war-torn nations of Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Pakistan, Jolie had been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It was during one of these trips that in 2005, she adopted an infant daughter from an Ethiopian orphanage whom she named Zahara. Later that year, surprising the world at large, Pitt petitioned to adopt the two children as his own. A year later, on May 27, 2006, Jolie and Pitt welcomed their biological firstborn child into the world – a daughter named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. Clearly serious about starting a family, in March 2007 – Jolie and Pitt made headlines once again by adopting a fourth child – a three-year-old boy from Vietnam whom they named Pax. And no one was surprised when the couple gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008. Returning to the big screen later that summer, Jolie next starred as Marianne Pearl, the wife of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, in the gripping drama “A Mighty Heart” (2007). Though Jolie’s casting initially sparked a furor of controversy among minority groups, as Marianne Pearl was of Afro-Cuban/Dutch ancestry, much of the complaints dissipated upon the film’s release. Hailed by many as quite possibly the boldest performance of her career, Jolie’s portrayal of Marianne Pearl was rooted in dignity and reflected a tragic truthfulness free of exploitative sentimentality. Unfortunately, the serious film was released during the summer box office season, rendering it lost amidst all the big-budget special effect movies. Also that year, Jolie became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, then received the International Rescue Committee’s annual Freedom Award for her contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom. Back on the big screen, Jolie starred in the high-action comic book thriller, “Wanted” (2008), playing a supersensory assassin who mentors an office-bound wimp (James McAvoy), turning him into a highly-skilled member of a centuries-old order of hit men. Following a leading voice role as Tigress in the blockbuster animated family comedy, “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), Jolie returned to Oscar-caliber form with “Changeling” (2008), a period thriller inspired by true events directed by Clint Eastwood. Jolie played a distressed mother taking on the Los Angeles Police Department in 1928 when her son mysteriously reappears after having gone missing. Sure that the boy is not her son and in search of answers, she fights a corrupt bureaucracy that tries to publicly declare her unfit and delusional. Jolie’s strong performance earned her nominations at both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards for Best Actress.
* Also Credited As:
Angelina Jolie Voight, Angie
* Born:
Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California
* Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
* Brother: James Haven. Born c. 1973; studied filmmaking at USC; directed sister in five student films
* Daughter: Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. Born May 27, 2006 in Namibia; father is Brad Pitt; first pictures of baby Shiloh were sold to People Magazine for a reported sum of $4.1 million
* Daughter: Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt. Twin of Knox Leon; born July 12, 2008 in Nice, France; father, Brad Pitt
* Daughter: Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt. Born Jan. 8, 2005; adopted July 2005, from an Ethiopian orphanage at six months; mother died of AIDS and father is unknown; legally adopted by Brad Pitt in 2006
* Father: Jon Voight. Separated from Jolie s mother when Angelina was one-year-old; estranged from father
* Mother: Marcheline Bertrand. Born c. 1950; part-Iroquois; separated from Jolie s father when Angelina was one-year-old; died of cancer in 2007
* Son: Knox Leon Jolie-Pitt. Twin of Vivienne Marcheline; born July 12, 2008 in Nice, France; father, Brad Pitt
* Son: Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt. Adopted at seven months from a Cambodian orphanage in 2002; legally adopted by Brad Pitt in 2006
* Son: Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt. Adopted at three years old from a Vietnamese orphanage in 2007; Jolie adopted the boy as a single parent because Vietnam s adoption regulations don t allow unmarried couples to co-adopt; name was legally changed to Jolie-Pitt three months after his adoption
Significant Others
* Companion: Brad Pitt. Met while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005); rumored to be romantically involved throughout filming, but this was denied by both parties; began being photographed together as a couple in spring 2005
* Companion: Colin Farrell. Rumored to have dated for a brief period during the filming of Alexander (2004)
* Husband: Billy Bob Thornton. acted together in Pushing Tin (1999); eloped to Las Vegas on May 5, 2000; Jolie has a tatoo on her arm that reads Billy Bob; reportedly split in June 2002; Jolie filed for divorce on July 17, 2002
* Husband: Jonny Lee Miller. British; met during filming of Hackers ; married in March 1996; separated in 1997; divorced in February 1999; rumored to have dated again in 2002 and in 2004
* Companion: Timothy Hutton. dated in 1998 and 1999; co-starred together in Playing God ; Jolie was reportedly tattooed with an H ; no longer together
Education
* New York University, New York, NY, film
* The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, New York, NY
Milestones
* 1976 Moved to Palisades, New York with mother and brother
* 1980 Feature debut in Hal Ashby s Lookin to Get Out ; co-produced and co-written by her father; credited as Angelina Jolie Voight (released in 1982)
* 1986 At age 11, began studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in NYC
* 1993 Co-starred in the direct-to-video sci-fi film Cyborg II: Glass Shadows
* 1995 First lead in a theatrical release, Hackers ; co-starred with future husband, British actor Jonny Lee Miller
* 1996 Starred in the feature Foxfire
* 1997 Portrayed the politician s first wife Cornelia Wallace in the TNT miniseries George Wallace ; received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress
* 1998 Earned raves reviews for her performance as Gia Carangi, a drug addicted, bisexual model who died of complications from AIDS, in the HBO film Gia ; received an Emmy nomination for Best Actress
* 1998 Had supporting role as a club kid in the ensemble comedy-drama Playing By Heart
* 1999 Cast as a tough detective assisting a quadriplegic colleague (Denzel Washington) in tracking a serial killer in The Bone Collector
* 1999 Portrayed the wife of an air traffic controller (Billy Bob Thornton) in Mike Newell s Pushing Tin
* 1999 Won an Academy Award for her supporting role in Girl, Interrupted a drama based on the memoirs of a woman s two-year stay in a psychiatric hospital
* 2000 Acted opposite Nicolas Cage in Gone in 60 Seconds
* 2001 Achieved international fame playing the videogame heroine Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
* 2001 Starred opposite Antonio Banderas in Original Sin
* 2002 Appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
* 2002 Portrayed a TV reporter forced to question her choices in Life or Something Like It
* 2003 Reprised her role as Lara Croft for Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life: Tomb Raider 2
* 2003 Starred opposite Clive Owen in Beyond Borders
* 2004 Co-starred with Colin Farrell in Oliver Stone s Alexander playing Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great
* 2004 Portrayed Captain Franky Cook in the Sci-fi thriller Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow opposite Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow
* 2004 Starred as Special Agent Illeana Scott in the thriller Taking Lives also starred Ethan Hawke and Kiefer Sutherland
* 2004 Voiced Lola in the animated feature Shark Tale
* 2005 Appeared in the MTV special The Diary of Angelina Jolie & Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa, which will follow their trip to Sauri, a remote group of villages in western Kenya
* 2005 Starred opposite Brad Pitt, as a bored married couple that is surprised to learn that they are assassins hired to kill each other in Mr. and Mrs. Smith
* 2006 Played a CIA agent s (Matt Damon) long-suffering wife in Robert De Niro s The Good Shepherd
* 2007 Made directorial debut with the documentary A Place in Time
* 2007 Portrayed Grendel s mother in Robert Zemeckis big-budget film version of the epic poem Beowulf
* 2007 Starred in A Mighty Heart, as Marianne Pearl, the wife of Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and killed in 2002 while reporting in Pakistan; produced by her partner Brad Pitt; earned an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Actress; also received Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actress
* 2008 Co-starred as an assassin in the comic book adaptation of Wanted
* 2008 Nominated for the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (“Changeling”)
* 2008 Nominated for the 2008 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Female Action Star
* 2008 Nominated for the 2008 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Female Star
* 2008 Nominated for the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (“Changeling”)
* 2008 Potrayed Christine Collins, a woman fighting for her missing son, in Clint Eastwood s drama Changeling
* 2008 Voiced a Master Tigress in the animated feature, Kung Fu Panda
* 2009 Nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (“Changeling”)
* Acted in five student films directed by her brother, James Haven Voight
* Appeared in music videos by Meat Loaf, The Lemonheads, Rolling Stones and others
* As part of the Met Theater group in Los Angeles, worked with such veteran actors as Holly Hunter, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan
* Briefly worked as a professional model
* Made stage debut in Room Service playing a German dominatrix
