Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie is an Oscar-winning actress who has become popular by taking on the title role in the "Lara Croft" series of blockbuster movies. Off-screen, Jolie has become prominently involved in international charity projects, especially those involving refugees. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press. See below on more about Angelina Jolie

In her earliest years, Angelina began absorbing the acting craft from her parents at home -- her father was the Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and her mother was Marcheline Bertrand, who had studied with Lee Strasberg. At age 11, Angelina began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. She undertook some film studies at New York University and later joined the renowned Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. At age 16, she took up a career in modeling and appeared in some music videos. Her exotic good looks may derive from her mixed ancestry which is Czech, French-Canadian, Iroquois and English. In the mid-1990s, Angelina Jolie appeared in various small films where she got good notices, including Hackers (1995) and Foxfire (1996). Her critical acclaim increased when she played strong roles in the made-for-TV movies True Women (1997) (TV), and in George Wallace (1997) (TV) which won her a Golden Globe award and an Emmy nomination. Angelina Jolie's acclaim increased even further when she played the lead role in the HBO production Gia (1998) (TV). Angelina Jolie's performance in Gia (1998) (TV) again garnered a Golden Globe award and another Emmy nomination, and she additionally earned a SAG Award. Angelina got a major break in 1999 when she won a leading role in the successful feature The Bone Collector (1999), starring alongside Denzel Washington. In that same year, Angelina Jolie gave a tour de force performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999) playing opposite Winona Ryder. The movie was a true story of women who spent time in a psychiatric hospital. Angelina Jolie's role was reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), the role which won Nicholson his first Oscar.

Angelina Jolie divorced her Hackers (1995) co-star Jonny Lee Miller and, in 2000, she married her Pushing Tin (1999) co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Angelina Jolie had now become the fifth wife of a man twenty years her senior. At her wedding to Miller, she had displayed her husband's name on the back of her shirt painted in her own blood. During her marriage to Thornton, the spouses each wore a vial of the other's blood around their necks. In addition, Angelina Jolie was estranged from her famous father. In 2000, Angelina Jolie was asked to star in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). At first, she expressed disinterest but then decided that the required training for the athletic role was intriguing. The Croft character was drawn from a popular video game. Lara Croft was a female cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. When the film was released, critics were unimpressed with the final product, but critical acclaim wasn't the point of the movie. The public paid $275 million for theater tickets to see a buffed up Angelina Jolie portray the adventuresome Lara Croft. Angelina Jolie's father Jon Voight appeared in "Croft", and during filming there was a brief rapprochement between father and daughter. One of the Croft movie's filming locations was Cambodia. In 2004, Angelina Jolie began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) with co-star Brad Pitt. The film became a major box office success. Angelina Jolie's marriage to Billy Bob Thornton had come apart in 2002, and there were rumors that Pitt and Angelina Jolie had an affair while filming "Smith". Angelina Jolie insisted that because her mother had been hurt by adultery, she herself could never participate in an affair with a married man, therefore there had been no affair with Pitt at that time. Nonetheless, Pitt separated from his wife Jennifer Aniston in January 2005 and, in the months that followed, he was frequently seen in public with Angelina Jolie, apparently as a couple. Pitt's divorce was finalized later in 2005. Angelina Jolie and Pitt announced in early 2006 that they would have a child together, and Angelina Jolie gave birth to daughter "Shiloh" that May. They said that they wish to adopt another child as well. The couple continues to pursue movie and humanitarian projects