The Biography of Angelina Jolie

“There’s something about death that is comforting. The thought you could die tomorrow frees you to appreciate your life now.”

This type of quote by Angelina Jolie is typical of the sometimes whimsical, often macabre, and always interesting actress and major Hollywood power player. Angelina Jolie is one of the most unique celebrity figures with a real life that is often more compelling than the characters she portrays on film.

Born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, CA, she hit the ground with an acting pedigree that has paid off in spades. Proud parents, Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight and actress Mircheline Bertrand welcomed their daughter together, but almost immediately following this event they split. Angelina’s take on this event, “My father was the perfect example of an artist who couldn’t be married. He had the perfect family, but there’s something for him that is very scary about that.” Her father’s departure from the family was the start of a lifetime of a highly public strained relationship between father and daughter.

Angelina started honing her future trade early. At age 7 she first appeared on film, although very briefly, alongside her father in the movie Lookin’ To Get Out. Jolie grew up in California and at age 11 began formal training by attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. While there Angelina appeared in several stage productions where her performances began to attract some well-deserved attention. In the meantime, Angelina worked professionally as a model in Los Angeles, New York and London. She also landed roles in several music videos most notably for the artist Meatloaf and the Rolling Stones.

Angelina then relocated to New York and continued her study of acting at New York University before returning to L.A. to participate in the Met Theatre Group. There she sharpened her trade next to acting greats such as Holly Hunter and Ed Harris. Also during this time, she starred in five independent films made by the UCLA Cinema School and all under the direction of her famous brother, James Voight.

Angelina’s first major role came in 1993’s Cyborg II, which came and went almost unnoticed. However, shortly to follow was the role that launched her star and entrenched her beauty in the minds of many techies and early cyber-geeks. Playing Kate Libby in the movie Hackers, Angelina was now a growing force to be reckoned with. Incidentally, Angelina met her first husband on the set of Hackers, and in May 1996 she married John Lee Miller. In a stunt that helped form her reputation as macabre, she, as the bride, wore black rubber pants and a white t-shirt with the groom’s name sprawled across the back written in her own blood in lieu of gown during the ceremony.

More roles shortly followed (see the career information page for more on this) with her next break-out role occurring in the 1998 movie Gia, named for the movies inspiration, Gia Carangi, a 1970’s supermodel who lived a tumultuous, drug addicted life and then died of AIDS. Angelina’s portrayal attracted much critical acclaim and she was awarded two of her many awards. She took home a SAG and Golden Globe. Ever since, Angelina has worked steadily. She continues to be a favorite with critics, even winning an Oscar for her role in 1999’s Girl’ Interrupted.

All along the way, Angelina has found time to engage in some of the most talked about and fascinating personal relationships in Hollywood. After her break-up to John Lee Miller, Angelina was rumored to be involved in many flings with other various actors, but her well publicized marriage to 20-years-her-senior Billy Bob Thornton takes the cake. Billy Bob and Angelina were married and soon shocked the public with tales of animal-type sex, blood vial necklaces and all other types of odd philosophies on love and life. Unfortunately the pair did not last. Things came apart coincidentally around the time when Angelina adopted her Cambodian son Maddox. Also, coincidentally her already strained relationship with her father, Jon Voight exceeded the breaking point when her father told the media that he felt Angelina suffered from mental problems and needed professional help. Fearing that this would jeopardize her adoption, Angelina severed all contact with her father and still does not speak to him to this day.

Her adoption of Maddox began a new path in life for Angelina as one of the most active celebrities in working for peace and relief in the many troubled nations of the world. The United Nations soon recognized an opportunity and recruited her as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland after her well publicized visits to Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Pakistan. In 2003 she was named the first recipient of the Citizen of the World Award from the UN's Correspondents' Association for her work as a goodwill ambassador. In 2004 she was made an honorary citizen of the country of Cambodia by the Prime Minister of Cambodia for her humanitarian work there. In 2005 she was granted full citizen status of Cambodia by the king of Cambodia himself.

Meanwhile, Angelina has now officially made it into the realm of the acting world called the $20 million per picture club. She was paid this amount for her portrayal of Jane Smith in the recent movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Who knows how long we will still see Angelina on the big screen. She has recently express an interest in simply retiring to England and becoming a full-time mother to her son Maddox and her newly adopted Ethiopian, AIDS orphaned daughter whom she named Zahara.  “I want to quit movies, be a great mum and join the P.T.A.,” she has been quoted as saying. Hopefully she won’t walk away too soon because she truly is one of the most fascinating stars today.