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Biography: Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (who was born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress and humanitarian. She is renowned for her award winning acting talent and known for her exotic looks, full lips, wild child image, numerous tattoos and her humanitarian work with refugees. She has received three Golden Globes as well as an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Lisa Rowe in the movie Girl, Interrupted.
In July 2005, Jolie became the third actress to join the coveted "$20 Million Club" of actresses commanding fees of $20 million per movie. She joined Cameron Diaz and Julia Roberts when she signed to do Mr. & Mrs. Smith for that amount. Jolie became a citizen of Cambodia by decree of its King Norodom Sihamoni on August 11, 2005; the citizenship was awarded to her in honor of her environmental work in the country, but has no effect on her U.S. citizenship.
Biography
Jolie is the daughter of divorced actors Jon Voight and American born Marcheline Bertrand. She is the niece of Chip Taylor and the goddaughter of Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. In an article in Vogue (2004) she stated that her mother is from Chicago. At the Premiere Magazine "Women in Hollywood" Awards she said her mom was born in a bowling alley. She has stated that because of her name people often assume that her mother is French. Jolie's grandparents were French Canadian. Her mother also studied with Lee Strasberg himself. She is of Czech, French-Canadian, English, and Iroquois descent. As a child she dreamed of becoming a funeral director. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute from the age of 11, later attending Beverly Hills High School. Though she enrolled at the film school at New York University after finishing Gia, she did not complete her studies.
On March 28, 1996 she married British actor Jonny Lee Miller, with whom she had co-starred in the movie Hackers. Jolie attended her wedding in black leather trousers and a white shirt, which had her husband's name painted in her blood on the back. Jolie and Miller divorced on February 3, 1999. Jolie then married American actor Billy Bob Thornton on May 5, 2000, and together they adopted a son from Cambodia, Maddox Chivan Thornton Jolie, who was born on August 5, 2001. Jolie and Thornton divorced on May 27, 2003, and Jolie now has custody of Maddox.
Jolie has been long estranged from her father, though a reconciliation was attempted by his appearing with her in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. In the October 2004 issue of Premiere Magazine, Jolie indicated that she was no longer interested in pursuing a relationship with her father, but that she did not hate him but that she realized that "...we only have so much energy in this life." Soon after, he claimed that she has "serious emotional problems" on Access Hollywood, and she legally dropped Voight as her last name, taking Angelina Jolie as her legal name.
In 2003, Jolie published a collection of journals made during missions for the UNHCR. Her proceeds from the book went to the UNHCR.Jolie has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees since 2001, and frequently travels to remote countries to draw attention to the plight of people in Third World nations. In 2003, she published Notes from My Travels, a collection of journal entries chronicling her early work with the U.N.. In a January 2005 interview with Reuters, Jolie criticized fellow actors for not being committed enough in helping others, and stated that she gives one-third of her income to charitable organizations.
Jolie was also one of the first celebrities to accept an invitation to be one of the bearers of the Olympic Torch during the 2004 Olympic Games, though she was ultimately unable to participate due to filming commitments.
In the fall of 2004, it was reported that Jolie has started proceedings to adopt another child, this time from Russia. However, no adoption ever took place. On March 8th, Jolie took part in a Washington Press club luncheon. [1] It was there that she announced the founding of the National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children in Washington, D.C. It's an organization that provides free legal aid to children who prior to this had no legal representation. Jolie donated $500,000 to the center which will help keep it afloat for the first two years of its operation. At that same conference she stated that she never intended to adopt a Russian orphan boy. Jolie expressed a deep sadness at the media's exploitation of the child. Jolie stated that she was on business through the United Nations and not looking for a child to adopt. She also mentioned that her son wanted an "African brother" because of his love of Africa and the work he knows she does in that region.
Around the same time, Lauryn Galindo, the Hawaii-based adoption facilitator whose services Jolie had used to adopt Maddox, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to visa fraud and money laundering charges. She had been falsifying records of children to be adopted in visa applications to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and several of the children she placed had not been abandoned at all but were enticed away or bought from their birth families. There is no evidence that Maddox was among them, although the investigation is continuing. Maddox Jolie, as he is legally named, was naturalized as a United States citizen some time ago, and there is no indication that that will be rescinded.
Besides her acting and humanitarian endeavors, Jolie also worked as a professional model in London, New York and Los Angeles and appeared in numerous music videos including those of Meat Loaf, Lenny Kravitz, and The Rolling Stones.
For several years prior to mid 2005, Jolie did not have a hit movie. Several of her movies, such as Alexander, Sky Captain, and Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life were major box office disappointments although Jolie usually received good notices. She did provide the voice of Lola in the successful animated film, Shark Tale. Nonetheless she remains one of Hollywood's most "in-demand" actresses.
In early 2005, Jolie found herself at the center of a well-publicized Hollywood scandal when she was accused of being the "other woman" in the marital break-up of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. The allegation was that she and Pitt had started an affair during filming of the spy comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, something she denies. In several interviews she has denied starting an affair with Pitt. In an interview with Marie Claire magazine recently she stated that she could never have a relationship with a married man because she has seen what relationships like that did to her mother. Her father has acknowledged that he cheated on Jolie's mom when they were married. Jolie stated she "could not, could not look herself in the mirror" if she had an affair with a married man.
Thanks to a mixture of generally good reviews and advance publicity due to all the rumors, Mr. & Mrs. Smith opened in the No. 1 position at the box office after it was released in early June 2005, providing Jolie with her first box-office success in several years. In March 2005, Jolie was named the third sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine, from fifteen million votes worldwide.
Angelina on the cover of Men StyleSince taking on her goodwill ambassador duties, Jolie has on numerous occasions made public statements that she wants to quit acting and concentrate on her UN work (for example, see Ireland On-Line in June 2005 [2]). However, she has also stated that her work provides the income necessary for her to continue travelling the world on behalf of the UN.
Jolie continues to balance the demands of being a movie star with that of being a humanitarian, despite an apparently grueling schedule. On June 7, 2005, the Associated Press wire service reported on Jolie giving a presentation in Islamabad, Pakistan. That very same day, she attended the premiere of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in Los Angeles. She now lives full-time in Buckinghamshire, England, and owns property in Cambodia,which she had to have demined. Angelina Jolie spent the new year of 2005 by going abroad to film a documentary called "A Moment in the World." She called on several actors and actresses to film in various locations around the world at the same time for three minutes. This was done in order to capture random moments that are happening across the world at the same time. Some confusion has arisen between this project and the independent endeavor A Moment on Earth, in which 60 filmmakers around the world captured two separate moments on August 5th and 6th, 2004. No release dates for either project are known at this time.
In late June 2005, the New York Post reported a claim that Jolie is pregnant, a report republished on June 30 by Britain's Sky TV, Sun Media Corporation in Canada, and the Asian Hindustan Times, among others. Her publicists presently deny this report. On July 5, 2005, People magazine reported that Jolie was in the final stages of adopting a baby girl, who was orphaned by AIDS, from Ethiopia, through the agency Wide Horizons for Children. Jolie has named her daughter Zahara Marley Jolie. A woman in London has been claiming she is Zahara's birth mother since August of 2005. There has been no legal development regarding this claim. Ms. Jolie has contacted a lawyer in London to look into the matter. Earlier in the summer another woman came foward claiming to be the grandmother of Zahara. That claim too proved to be false. On September 28th 2005 while making an appearance to discuse American's financial involvment with fighting AIDS globally on CNN's "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer Jolie stated that her daughter is a "AIDS orphan." By that she means her birth mother died from the disease but her daughter does not have the disease. The birth father of Zahara is not known. Her statement made it clear that the birth mother is indeed dead. In late October of 2005 a Ethiopian judge ruled that there is no evidence to suggest that Ms. Jolie would have to file for re-adoption of her daughter Zahara Marley Jolie. The judge ruled that the woman claiming to be her mother is not the birth mother.
In September of 2005 Angelina Jolie was named the new spokesperson for the clothing line St. John Knits starting in the Spring/Fall 0f 2006. The deal with the clothing company includes the startup of a charity headed by Ms. Jolie. The charity will focus on children's issues and causes. It has been reported but not comfired that Angelina Jolie will also sit on the board of directors and have stock in the company. The deal is also believed to be the biggest celebrity clothing endorsement with the actress receiving 10-15 million dollars. Other celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow receive something in the neighborhood of 5 million dollars to promote luxury clothing and accessories. On October 24 Angelina Jolie attended the First Annual Benefit Gala for the Worldwide Orpahns Foundation. While there she pleadged to partner with WWO to treat children in Ethiopia who have been orphaned by AIDS and are HIV positive. "AIDS is chronic and manageable, and does NOT have to kill any longer," said Ms. Jolie. Ms. Jolie announced her plan to support WWO's Pediatric HIV/AIDS Clinic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and pledged an initial grant. The gala helped the organization raise $800,000. Dr. Jane Aronson, the organization's founder, and Ms. Jolie first met through the adoption of her daughter Zahara and Jolie credits the doctor with helping save her daughter's life.
The American magazine US Weekly, in reporting Jolie's second adoption, indicated erroneously that Jolie and Pitt had adopted the girl together. When the magazine realized its error, the presses were stopped and an apology issued to Jolie and Pitt; printing of the issue resumed with the correction made, though a number of copies with the error were still released to the public. Reportedly, however, Pitt was present when Jolie signed the adoption papers. The agency later said Brad Pitt was not present when Angelina Jolie picked up her daughter. [3]
In August 2005, Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni awarded Jolie a Cambodian citizenship for her conservation work in the country.
Speculation over the nature of Jolie and Pitt's relationship continued throughout the summer of 2005. On August 22, the Calgary Herald ran a front-page story with a photo of Jolie taken during a surprise visit she made to Calgary, Alberta a couple of days earlier, accompanied by Zahara. Brad Pitt was at that time filming a movie in Calgary, as was her father, Jon Voight. It was later reported that Jolie and Pitt visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta together, and CNN and the Calgary Sun reported on September 22, 2005 that they visited West Edmonton Mall together.[4] On September 30, the Calgary Sun reported that Pitt and Jolie had rented a house together in the city of Spruce Grove, Alberta, west of Edmonton where Pitt was filming more scenes for his movie; the same issue printed a photograph of the two actors (dubbed "Brangelina") leaving an Edmonton grocery store.
Tattoos
Angelina Jolie showing off her largest tattoo, a large tiger on her backJolie's inventory of tattoos has become the subject of much media attention, and she infrequently adds or even changes existing tattoos. She has said that all the tattoos she possesses have a special meaning. Her tattoos include:
the letter H (for her brother James Haven) on the inside of her left wrist.
"A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" (Tennessee Williams) on her left forearm.
a large prayer for her son Maddox on her left shoulder which covers up the Chinese/Japanese "death" tattoo.
two pointy black tribals on the lower parts of her back.
Quod me nutrit me destruit (Latin for "What nourishes me destroys me") several inches below her navel.
a tilted Latin cross on the lower left of her abdomen.
a large Asian tiger on her back.
a dragon under the tiger.
XIII (number 13 in Roman numerals) on her left forearm.
Arabic for "strength of will." (العزيمة) on her right forearm.
"know your rights" just under her neck between her shoulders.
Lasered/Covered:
the dragon on her left arm (she has been lasering it for some months now but we can still see some of it).
"Billy Bob", the name of her former husband Billy Bob Thornton, on her left arm.
a Chinese/Japanese character for courage now covered by the Tennessee Williams quote.
a Chinese/Japanese character for death (死) now covered by a prayer for Maddox.
a tattoo both Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina had a copy of. It was on her right forearm, now covered by the "strength of will" tattoo.
a dragon she got in Amsterdam while drunk, now covered by the latin cross.
a window on her lower back. On Inside the Actors Studio, she explained that she covered this tattoo, because, while she used to spend all of her time staring through windows wishing to be outside, she now lives there all of the time.
Jolie has gone on record as saying that a positive effect resulting from the large number of tattoos on her body is that, while she is not opposed to film nudity, filmmakers have been forced to become more creative when plotting any nude or love scenes involving her. Make-up has been used to cover up the tattoos in productions such as the Tomb Raider movies, Alexander, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Other trivia
She has said that she is bisexual and once claimed to have been in love with fashion model Jenny Shimizu, her co-star in the film Foxfire.
She is left-handed.
Jolie once described herself as "most likely to sleep with a female fan".
She speaks French.
The name Angelina actually means "Pretty Little Angel Eyes". Jolie in French means "pretty" or "lovely."
She drives a black Ford truck.
She knows how to Tango.
She has a pilot's license.
She collects knives and has interest in mortuary science.
She was born at 9:09 a.m. in Los Angeles.
She used to own a pet rat snake--therefore, she had no problem shooting the snake scene in Alexander.
She claims to have a fondness for Liverpool Football Club, having revealed that her baby son, Maddox, "only wants to play for Liverpool" after he was admitted to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool for treatment.
She has continually denied rumors of an incestuous relationship with her brother, James Haven. During her acceptance speech for winning the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award for Girl Interrupted during the 2000 Academy Awards, Jolie stated "I'm so in love with my brother" which, combined with her affectionate behavior towards her brother that night, sparked the rumors. On Inside the Actor's Studio she stated that she never had an incestuous relationship with her brother, stating that "the world is a lot sicker than I thought," in reference to the conclusion everyone jumped to. Also in an interview with People Magazine she and her brother stated that being children of divorce they relied on each other and because of that they hold on to each other, as a means of emotional support. Jolie has starred in five student movies, all of which were directed by her brother.
In October 2005, The Sun tabloid in Britain, as well as several American entertainment news programs, reported that Jolie is in the running to appear with her Lara Croft: Tomb Raider co-star Daniel Craig in the next James Bond film, Casino Royale.
Filmography
Esquire, November 2004Lookin' to Get Out (1982)
Cyborg 2 (1993)
Angela & Viril (1993) (short subject)
Alice & Viril (1993) (short subject)
Without Evidence (1995)
Hackers (1995)
Mojave Moon (1996)
Love Is All There Is (1996)
Foxfire (1996)
Playing God (1997)
Gia (1998)
Hell's Kitchen (1998)
Playing by Heart (1998)
Pushing Tin (1998)
The Bone Collector (1999)
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Original Sin (2001)
Life or Something Like It (2002)
Trading Women (2003) (documentary) (narrator)
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
Beyond Borders (2003)
Taking Lives (2004)
Shark Tale (2004) (voice)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
The Fever (2004)
Alexander (2004)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
The Good Shepherd (2006)
Beowulf (2007) (voice)