Angie, brief biography

Full name: Angelina Jolie Voight (only Jolie - court order of 09/2002)
Nicknames: Angie, Catwoman, Ange, AJ, Jellybean, Catwoman, Bunny
Date of Birth: June 4, 1975 (9:09 am-PDT)
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Astrological sign: Gemini
Current partner: Brad Pitt (2005 - present)
Past husbands: Billy Bob Thornton (5 May 2000 - 27 May 2003), Jonny Lee Miller (28 March 1996 - 3 February 1999)
Children: Maddox Chivan (5th August 2001, Cambodia - adopted 10th March 2002), Zahara Marley (8th January 2005, Ethiopia - adopted 6th July 2005), Shiloh Nouvel (27th May 2006), Pax Thien (29th November 2003, Vietnam - adopted in 15th March 2007), Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline (12th July 2008)
Family: Jon Voight (father), Marcheline Bertrand (mother), James Haven (brother)
Height: 5' 8" (1.73 m)

Early years

Angelina and her brother were raised by their mother after, who abandoned her acting ambitions and moved to Palisades, New York after her separation with John Voight.
When she was eleven years old, they moved back to Los Angeles and Jolie decided she wanted to act and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she trained for two years and appeared in several stage productions. She later recalled her time as a student at Beverly Hills High School, where she felt isolated among the children of some of the area's more affluent families, since her mother survived on modest income, and she often wore second-hand clothes. She was teased also because for her distinctive features, for being extremely thin, and for wearing glasses and braces.
Her self-esteem was further diminished when her initial attempts at modeling proved unsuccessful, and she started to cut herself.
At the age of 14, she dropped out of her acting classes and dreamed of becoming a funeral director, she started wearing black, dyed her hair purple and she started living with her boyfriend. Two years later, when the relationship ended, she rented an apartment above a garage a few blocks from her mother's home. She returned to theatre studies and graduated from high school.

Modeling and first roles

When she was 14 Angelina began working as a fashion model, in both the United States and Europe, working mainly in Los Angeles, New York and London. At that time she also appeared in numerous music videos, including those of Meat Loaf ("Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through"), Antonello Venditti ("Alta Marea"), Lenny Kravitz ("Stand by My Woman"), and The Lemonheads ("It's About Time").
At 16, she returned to theatre and played her first role, a German dominatrix.
Although appearing in five student films directed by her brother James, her professional movie carreer started in 1993, when she got her first leading role in a low-budget movie called Cyborg 2.
In 1995, on the set of Hackers, she met Jonny Lee Miller, her future husband. The movie become a cult after the video release.
She then starred in Love Is All There Is, a modern-day loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Mojave Moon (1996) and Foxfire, and even in Rolling Stone's video "Anybody Seen My Baby?".

Breakthrough

Angelina's career began to improve after her role of Cornelia Wallace in George Wallace (1997) for which she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Emmy, followed by HBO's Gia, where she potraided a supermodel addicted to drug and eventually died from AIDS. Feeling she had "nothing else to give", she moved to New York and stopped acting, enrolling University.
She made her return with gangster movie Hell's Kitchen, and appeared in some movies including Playing by Heart (1998), The Bone Collector (1999) and Pushing Tin, where she co-starred with her future second husband Billy Bob Thortnton, but her role of sociopathic Lisa Rowe in Girl, Interrupted made her won her third Golden Globe, her second Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
In 2000, Angelina appeared in her first summer blockbuster, Gone In 60 Seconds, alongside Nicolas Cage.

Success

Her acting abilities now known, Angelina could star in blockbuster Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), that made her an international superstar and a a female action star. In this movie she made 95% of the stunts and trained in martil arts. After some critical failures like Original Sin (2001) and Beyond Borders (2003), and Tomb Raider's sequel, she starred in alongside Ethan Hawke in Taking Lives (2004) and as Olympias in Oliver Stone's Alexander (2004).
In 2005 she starred in only a movie, the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, alongside Brad Pitt. The film was well received and generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads
Angelina made her debut as director in 2007, with the documentary A Place in Time, which captures the life in 27 locations around the globe during a single week and features actors as Jude Law, Hilary Swank, Colin Farrell and Jonny Lee Miller.

Relationships

On 28th March 28 1996, Angelina married British actor Jonny Lee Miller, met on Hackers' set. She attended her wedding in black leather pants and a white shirt, upon which she had written her husband's name in her blood. They separated the following year and divorced on 3rd February 1999. They remained on good terms, but, as she later said, they were "simply too young".
On 5th May 2000 she married American actor Billy Bob Thornton, her co-star in Pushing Tin. They quickly became topic of the entertainment media thanks to their frequent public declarations of passion and gestures of love, like wearing one another's blood in vials around their necks. The suddendly divorced on 27th May 2003. Angelina later claimed that their priorities no longer meshed after having adopted a child.
After the making of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Angelina was involved in a scandal when she was accused of being the reason for the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston: the allegation was that she and Pitt had started an affair during filming. She denied this on several occasions, insisting that, because her mother had been hurt by adultery, she herself could never participate in an affair with a married man.
While both never publicly commented on the nature of their relationship, speculations continued throughout the year. The first intimate paparazzi photos emerged in April, one month after Aniston had filed for divorce; they showed Brad, Angie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya. During the summer they were seen together with increasing frequency and most of the entertainment media considered them a couple, dubbing them "Brangelina".
On 11th January 2006, Angelina confirmed to People that she was pregnant and confirmed their relationship for the first time in public.

Children

Her first child, Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt (originally Jolie-Thornton), was seven-month-old Rath Vibol, adopted on 10th March 2002. He was born on 5th August 5 2001 in Cambodia, and he initially lived in a local orphanage in Battambang. She decided to apply for adoption after visiting Cambodia for the second time, on a UNHCR field trip. After her divorce from Billy Bob Thornton, Angelina received sole custody of Maddox. He, like his future brother and sister, quickly gained celebrity and appears regularly in the tabloid media.
Angelina adopted the six-month-old girl from Ethiopia, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt (originally Jolie) on 6th July 2005. She was born on 8th January 8 of the same year, and was originally named Yemsrach by her true mother. Angelina adopted her from Wide Horizons For Children orphanage in Addis Ababa a took her to United States, where she was hospitalized for dehydration and malnutrition. Brad Pitt was reportedly present when Angelina signed the adoption papers and collected her daughter; later she indicated that they made the decision to adopt Zahara together.
On 19th January 2006, a judge in California approved Pitt's request to legally adopt Jolie's two children. Their surnames were formally changed to "Jolie-Pitt".
Angelina then gave birth to a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, in Swakopmund, Namibia, by a scheduled caesarean section, on 27th May 2006. The first pictures of the baby were sold through Getty Images by herself: People paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, and British magazine Hello! $3.5 million for the international ones. All profits were donated to an undisclosed charity by Jolie and Pitt. Shiloh has also been the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds.
Angelina then adopted a three-year-old boy from Vietnam, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt (originally Jolie) on 15th March 2007. He was born on 29th November 2003 and abandoned at birth at a local hospital, where he was initially named Pham Quang Sang. Jolie adopted the boy from the Tam Binh orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City. The his first name, Pax, was suggested by Angie's mother before her death.
At 2008 Cannes Film Festival, after months of tabloid speculation, Angelina confirmed she was expecting twins. She gave birth to a boy, Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, by caesarean section at the Lenval hospital in Nice, France, on 12th July 2008. The rights for the first images of the twins were sold to People and Hello! for $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The money went to the Jolie/Pitt Foundation.

Family

Even if Angelina attended the Academy Awards twice (1986, 1988) as a teenager with her father Jon Voight, when she started her acting career, Angelina decided not to use "Voight" as a stage name, because she wished to establish her own identity as an actress.
Angelina never had a good relationship with her father, although a reconciliation was attempted. In July 2002, she filed a request to legally change her name to "Angelina Jolie", dropping Voight as her surname; the name change was made official on 12th September 2002. In August of the same year, Voight claimed that his daughter had "serious emotional problems" on Access Hollywood. Angelina later indicated that she no longer wished to pursue a relationship with her father. She also stated that she did not want to publicize her reasons for her estrangement from her father, but because she had adopted her son, she did not think it was healthy for her to associate with Voight.
The relationship with her brother James Haven was equally strong. During her acceptance speech at the 2000 Academy Awards, she declared she was in love with him and this, combined with her affectionate behavior towards him that night, sparked speculation in the tabloid media of an incestuous relationship with her brother. She has denied those rumors vehemently, and later both explained in interviews that after their parents' divorce they relied on one another and because of that they hold on to each other as a means of emotional support.

Humanitarian work

Angelina started visiting refugee camps after filming Tomb Raider in Cambodia. In the following months she visited refugee camps around the world to learn more about the situation and the conditions in these areas, and later met with Afghan refugees in Pakistan where she donated $1 million for Afghan refugees: she insisted on covering all costs related to her missions and always shared the same rudimentary working and living conditions as UNHCR field staff.
On August 27th, she was officially named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.
Since then she been on field mission in more than twenty countries, from Kosovo to Kenya, from Pakistan to Iraq.
Angelina also promoted humanitarian causes even on a political level, regularly attending World Refugee Day in Washington, D.C., speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005 and 2006 and meeting members of Congress. She also started using her public profile to promote humanitarian causes, like filming the MTV special The Diary Of Angelina Jolie & Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa, portraying her and noted economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs on a trip to a remote group of villages in Western Kenya.
In 2005 she announced the founding of the National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children, an organization that provides free legal-aid to asylum-seeking children with no legal representation which she personally funded with a donation of $500,000 for its first two years.
In 2006, Angelina announced the founding of the Jolie/Pitt Foundation which made donations to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders of $1 million each.
She also co-chairs the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, founded at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2006, which helps fund education programs for children affected by conflict, is a a patron of the Adopt A Minefield charity and works with Cambodian Vision and Development (CVD) and the HALO trust.
For her humanitarian work Angelina has received wide recognition. In 2003, she was the first recipient of the newly created Citizen of the World Award by the United Nations Correspondents Association, and in 2005 she was awarded the Global Humanitarian Award by the UNA-USA. Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni awarded her with Cambodian citizenship for her work in the country.
In 2007 she became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and she received the Freedom Award by the International Rescue Committee.

Tattoos

Angelina is famous for having a lot of tattoos, both current and covered ones.
Currently the tattoos are thirteen, as we know.
Thanks to SoulieJolie, I have been able to build the list including photos, you can view it here.

Trivia

As a child, Angelina wanted to become a funeral director.

Angelina is left handed. For this she had to have guns specially made for Tomb Raider, so that she could reload them easily.

When younger, Angelina used to have a pet lizard named Vladimir, and a snake named Harry Dean Stanton.

Angelina is of Czechoslovakian, English, French, and Native American lineage, and from these may derive her exotic good looks.

Angelina is openly bisexual, and "most likely to sleep with a female fan".
"Of course. If I fell in love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that it's okay to want to kiss and touch her? If I fell in love with her? Absolutely! Yes!"

Angelina has taken Cocaine, Ecstasy, LSD and Heroin, but has vowed never to touch them again. She also used to smoke, but has quit.

Angelina is not, and has never been, happy with her appearance, she thinks she looks like a Muppet. Her favorite feature about herself is the way her veins take shape on her forearms.

Angelina has has been cited often as one of the world's most beautiful women by many magazines, including People (2000, 2005, 2006), Esquire (2004), Maxime (2005, 2006, 2007). She also ranked in #3 in the 2008 Forbes The Celebrity 100 list and was included in "Time 100", a list of the world's 100 most influential people in the world, in 2006

Angelina became the third actress to join the coveted $20 Million Club (after Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz), when she signed to do Mr. & Mrs. Smith. [2005]

Angelina has been taking flying lessons since 2004, and has a private pilot license; she owns a Cirrus SR22 airplane.

Although Angelina teaches Buddhism to her son Maddox (because she considers it part of his culture), she has not stated definitively whether or not she believes in God.
"For the people who believe in it, I hope so. There doesn't need to be a God for me." [2000]

The filmography

The comprehensive list of movies and tv series Ewan has played or guest starred in. I'll try to keep it updated as long as a new film hit the screen.
For upcoming movies, keep yourself updated by heading over to Imdb or an Angie fansite.

2008

Wanted -- Fox
Changeling -- Christine Collins
Kung Fu Panda (voice) -- Tigress

2007

Beowulf -- Grendel's Mother
A Mighty Heart -- Mariane Pearl

2006

The Good Shepherd -- Margaret 'Clover' Russell

2005

Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- Jane Smith

2004

Alexander -- Olympias
The Fever -- Revolutionary
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow -- Franky
Shark Tale (voice) -- Lola
Taking Lives -- Illeana

2003

Beyond Borders -- Sarah Jordan
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life -- Lara Croft

2002

Life or Something Like It -- Lanie Kerrigan

2001

Original Sin -- Julia Russell / Bonny Castle
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider -- Lara Croft

2000

Gone in Sixty Seconds -- Sara 'Sway' Wayland

1999

Girl, Interrupted -- Lisa Rowe
The Bone Collector -- Amelia Donaghy
Pushing Tin -- Mary Bell

1998

Playing by Heart -- Joan
Hell's Kitchen -- Gloria McNeary

1997

Playing God -- Claire

1996

Foxfire -- Legs Sadovsky
Mojave Moon -- Eleanor 'Elie' Rigby
Love Is All There Is -- Gina Malacici

1995

Hackers -- Kate Libby / 'Acid Burn'
Without Evidence -- Jodie Swearingen

1993

Cyborg 2 -- Casella 'Cash' Reese
Alice & Viril -- Alice
Angela & Viril -- Angela

1982

Lookin' to Get Out -- Tosh

Television

Gia (1998) -- Gia Carangi
George Wallace (1997) -- Cornelia Wallace
True Women (1997) -- Georgia Virginia Lawshe Woods

Director

A Place in Time (2007)

Music video

Rolling Stones: Anybody Seen My Baby? (1997) -- youtube
Lemonheads: It's About Time (1993)
Meat Loaf: Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through (1993) -- youtube
Antonello Venditti: Alta Marea (1991) -- youtube
Lenny Kravitz: Stand by My Woman (1991)

She also starred in these videos, from her movie's Soundtracks:

Korn: Did My Time (2003) -- youtube
U2: Elevation (2001) -- youtube
The Cult: Painted On My Heart (2000) -- youtube

Advertise

Shiseido (2006)
Kraft Macoroni & Cheese Deluxe (2005) -- only voice
Jeep (2003) -- Related to "Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life"
Tissot (2003) -- Prints, related to "Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life"
Animal planet

Links

AJolie.org. News and images. Recently revamped.
SoulieJolie. By far the most comprehensive gallery I've found during my search for images. Worth registering!
TeamJolie. Videogallery. Every Angie fan should visit it at least once! ^^
Imdb. Angie page at Internet movie database.