Jon Voight

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see John Voight.

Jon Voight
Voight in 2012
Born
Jonathan Vincent Voight

(1938-12-29) December 29, 1938 (age 85)
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
Alma materCatholic University of America (BA)
OccupationActor
Years active1961–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1962; div. 1967)​
​
​
(m. 1971; div. 1980)​
ChildrenJames Haven
Angelina Jolie
FamilyBarry Voight (brother)
Chip Taylor (brother)
AwardsNational Medal of Arts
See Awards and nominations

Jonathan Vincent Voight (

National Medal of Arts.[1] Films in which Voight has appeared have grossed more than $5.2 billion worldwide.[2]

Associated with the angst and unruliness that typified the late-1960s

bank robber Oscar "Manny" Manheim in Runaway Train (1985) and as sportscaster Howard Cosell in Ali (2001). Other notable films include Deliverance (1972), The Champ (1979), Heat (1995), Mission: Impossible (1996), The Rainmaker (1997), Enemy of the State (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Zoolander (2001), Holes (2003), Glory Road (2006), Transformers (2007), and Pride and Glory (2008). He is also known for his role in the National Treasure
film series.

Voight is also known for his television roles, including as

24
in its seventh season.

Despite originally adopting liberal views, Voight has gained attention in his later years for his outspoken conservative and religious beliefs.[4][5] He is the father of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven.

Early life and education

Jonathan Vincent Voight[6] was born on December 29, 1938, in Yonkers, New York,[7] to Barbara (née Kamp) and Elmer Voight (né Voytka),[8] a professional golfer.[9] He has two brothers, Barry Voight, a former volcanologist at Pennsylvania State University,[10] and James Wesley Voight, known as Chip Taylor, a singer-songwriter who wrote "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning". Voight's paternal grandfather and his paternal grandmother's parents were Slovak immigrants,[11] while his maternal grandfather and his maternal grandmother's parents were German immigrants.[8] Political activist Joseph P. Kamp was his great-uncle through his mother.[12]

Voight was raised as a Catholic[13] and attended the Catholic boys' Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, where he first took an interest in acting. Following his graduation in 1956, he enrolled at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he majored in art and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1960. After graduation, Voight moved to New York City, where he pursued an acting career. He graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre,[6] where he studied under Sanford Meisner.[6][14]

Career

1961–1969: Early roles and breakthrough

Voight as Prince Hamlet in Hamlet in 1976

Voight started his off-Broadway career in a

Twelve O'Clock High, in 1966 and Cimarron Strip in 1968. Voight's theater career took off in January 1965, playing Rodolfo in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in an Off-Broadway revival. Voight's film debut did not come until 1967, when he took a part in Phillip Kaufman's crimefighter spoof, Fearless Frank. He also took a small role in 1967's western, Hour of the Gun, directed by veteran helmer John Sturges
. In 1968 he took a role in director Paul Williams's Out of It.

In 1968, Voight was cast in the groundbreaking

con artist. The film explored late 1960s New York and the development of an unlikely, but poignant friendship between the two main characters. Directed by John Schlesinger and based on a novel by James Leo Herlihy, the film struck a chord with critics and audiences. Because of its controversial themes, the film was released with an X rating and would make history by being the only X-rated feature to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Both Voight and Hoffman were nominated for Best Actor, but lost out to John Wayne in True Grit
.

1970–1989: Stardom and acclaim

Voight at the Academy Awards in April 1988

In 1970, Voight appeared in

Studio Arena Theater, in Buffalo, New York, in the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire from 1973 to 1974 as Stanley Kowalski
.

Voight played a directionless young boxer in 1973's The All American Boy, then appeared in the 1974 film

Nazis still operating within Germany. This film first teamed him with the actor-director Maximilian Schell, who acted out a character named and based on the "Butcher of Riga" Eduard Roschmann, and for whom Voight would appear in 1976's End of the Game, a psychological thriller based on a story by Swiss novelist and playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt
.

Voight was

Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, for his portrait of a cynical, yet noble paraplegic, reportedly based on real-life Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar-activist Ron Kovic, with whom Jane Fonda's character falls in love. The film included a much-talked-about love scene between the two. Fonda won her second Best Actress award for her role, and Voight won for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Oscars.[20] In 1979, Voight once again put on boxing gloves, starring in 1979's remake of the 1931 Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper vehicle The Champ, with Voight playing the part of an alcoholic ex-heavyweight and a young Ricky Schroder
playing the role of his adoring son. The film was an international success, but less popular with American audiences.

He next reteamed with director Ashby in 1982's

Golden Globe's award for Best Actor. Roberts was also honored for his performance, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Voight followed up this and other performances with a role in the 1986 film, Desert Bloom, and reportedly experienced a "spiritual awakening" toward the end of the decade. In 1989, Voight starred in and helped write Eternity
, which dealt with a television reporter's efforts to uncover corruption.

1990–2012: Established actor

Voight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993
Voight in June 2013

He made his first acting debut into

Auckland Harbour. For the remainder of the decade, Voight would alternate between feature films and television movies, including a starring role in the 1993 miniseries Return to Lonesome Dove, a continuation of Larry McMurtry's western saga, 1989's Lonesome Dove. Voight played Captain Woodrow F. Call, the part played by Tommy Lee Jones in the original miniseries. Voight made a cameo appearance as himself on the Seinfeld episode "The Mom & Pop Store" airing November 17, 1994, in which George Costanza
buys a car that appears to be owned by Jon Voight. Voight described the process leading up to the episode in an interview on the Red Carpet at the 2006 BAFTA Emmy Awards:

Well what happened was I was asked to be on Seinfeld. They said: "Would you do a Seinfeld?" And I said, and I just happened to know to see a few Seinfelds and I knew these guys were really tops; they were really, really clever guys, and I liked the show. And so I said "Sure!" and I thought they would ask me to do a walk-on, the way it came: "Would you come be part of the show?" And I said "Yeah, sure I'll do it." You know what I mean? Then I got the script and my name was on every page because it was about my car. And I laughed; it was hysterically funny. So I was really delighted to do it. The writer came up to me and he said "Jon, would you come take a look at my car to see if you ever owned it?", because the writer wrote it from a real experience where someone sold him the car based on the fact that it was my car. And I went down and I looked at the car and I said "No, I never had this car." So unfortunately I had to give him the bad news. But it was a funny episode.[22]

In 1992, Voight appeared in the HBO film

Amazon; he played Paul Sarone, a snake hunter obsessed with a fabled giant anaconda, who hijacks an unwitting National Geographic film crew who are looking for a remote Indian tribe. Voight next appeared in a supporting role in Oliver Stone's U Turn, portraying a blind man. He took a supporting role in The Rainmaker, adopted from the John Grisham novel and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He played an unscrupulous lawyer representing an insurance company, facing off with a neophyte lawyer played by Matt Damon. His last film of 1997 was Boys Will Be Boys, a family comedy directed by Dom DeLuise
.

The following year, Voight had the lead role in the television film The Fixer, in which he played Jack Killoran, a lawyer who crosses ethical lines in order to "fix" things for his wealthy clients. A near-fatal accident awakens his dormant conscience and Killoran soon runs afoul of his former clients. He also took a substantial role in

Noah's Ark, and appeared in Second String, also for TV. He also appeared with Cheryl Ladd in the feature A Dog of Flanders
, a remake of a popular film set in Belgium.

Voight next portrayed President

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Director Michael Mann tagged Voight for a supporting role in the 2001 biopic Ali, which starred Will Smith as the controversial former heavyweight champ, Muhammad Ali. Voight was almost unrecognizable under his make-up and toupée, as he impersonated the sports broadcaster Howard Cosell. Voight received his fourth Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for his performance. Also in 2001, he appeared in the television mini-series Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story along with Vanessa Redgrave, Matthew Modine, Richard Attenborough, and Mia Sara. In 2003, he played the role of Marion Seville/Mr. Sir in Holes. In 2004, Voight joined Nicolas Cage, in National Treasure as Patrick Gates, the father of Cage's character. In 2005, he played the title role in the second part of CBS' miniseries, Pope John Paul II.

In 2006, he was

Academi and ThyssenKrupp. Voight made his first appearance in the two-hour prequel episode 24: Redemption on November 23. He then went on to recur for 10 episodes of Season 7. He joined Dennis Haysbert as the only two actors ever to have been credited with the "Special Guest Appearance" card on 24
.

That same year Voight also lent his voice talents in the Thomas Nelson audio Bible production known as The Word of Promise. In this dramatized audio, Voight played the character of Abraham. The project also featured a large ensemble of other well-known Hollywood actors including Jim Caviezel, Louis Gossett Jr., John Rhys-Davies, Luke Perry, Gary Sinise, Jason Alexander, Christopher McDonald, Marisa Tomei and John Schneider.[25][26]

2013–present

In 2013, Voight made his much-acclaimed appearance on

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 96th Academy Awards. In 2022, Voight was cast in the science fiction epic Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.[31]

Political views

Voight with President Donald Trump after receiving the National Medal of Arts in 2019

In his early life, Voight's political views aligned with American liberal views, and he supported President John F. Kennedy, describing his assassination as traumatizing to people at that time.[32] He also worked for George McGovern's voter registrations efforts in the inner cities of Los Angeles.[33] Voight actively protested against the Vietnam War.[34] In the 1970s, he made public appearances alongside Jane Fonda and Leonard Bernstein in support of the leftist Popular Unity group in Chile.[35]

In a July 28, 2008,

Killing Fields.[34]

In the same op-ed, Voight also criticized the Democratic Party and Barack Obama's bid to become president, claiming that the Democrats had created "a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure (Obama)" who would "demoralize this country and help create a socialist America."[34] He claimed that Obama had grown up with the teachings of very angry, militant white and black people around him.[34]

Voight endorsed Republican presidential nominees Mitt Romney and Donald Trump in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections respectively.[36][37] Speaking at an inauguration rally for Trump in January 2017, Voight said, "God answered all our prayers" by granting Trump the White House. In May 2019, Voight released a short two-part video on Twitter supporting Trump's policies, and calling him "the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln."[38]

In November 2020, after the United States presidential election, Voight released a statement through his Twitter account, in which he stated he was very angry that Joe Biden had won the election. In the complete absence of actual proof, he further implied that Biden had committed electoral fraud and proclaimed that the United States was engaged in "our greatest fight since the Civil War – the battle of righteousness versus Satan, because these leftists are evil, corrupt, and they want to tear down this nation." He finished the statement by imploring his followers to not let the 2020 presidential election be certified without attempting to make sure it was accurate first. After the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and after Biden's victory was confirmed in Congress on January 7, Voight released one more video on his Twitter account for his followers telling them to cease protesting.[39][40]

In 2022, following

Israel-Hamas war and accusing her of spreading misinformation. While Jolie called for a ceasefire, Voight defended Israel's right to protect its people and emphasized the conflict's significance in preserving the Holy Land and the history of the Jews.[43][44] Voight once again endorsed Donald Trump's candidacy for president in 2024.[45]

Personal life

In 1962, Voight married actress Lauri Peters, whom he met when they both appeared in the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music. They divorced in 1967. He married actress Marcheline Bertrand in 1971. They separated in 1976, filed for divorce in 1978, and finalized it in 1980. Their children, James Haven (born 1973) and Angelina Jolie (born 1975), went on to enter the film business as actors and producers. Through Jolie, he has six grandchildren.

Voight has never remarried in the 45-plus years since splitting from his second wife. Over the decades, he has dated Linda Morand, Stacey Pickren, Rebecca De Mornay, Eileen Davidson, Barbra Streisand, Nastassja Kinski, and Diana Ross.[46][47]

Acting Credits

Main article: Jon Voight on screen and stage

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Jon Voight

See also

References

  1. National Archives
    .
  2. ^ "Top Stars at the Worldwide Box Office (Rank 301-400)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  3. ^ "Jon Voight". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  4. ^ "Jon Voight: "I have to say my piece"". CBS News. April 25, 2021. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  5. ^ "Jon Voight Thinks He and Donald Trump Are in "Our Greatest Fight Since the Civil War"". Vanity Fair. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Jon Voight | Biography, Movies, & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  7. ^ Hal Erickson (2008). "Jon Voight bio". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
  8. ^ a b Reitwiesner, William Addams. "Ancestry of Angelina Jolie". wargs.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  9. ^ "New York club professional Elmer Voight raised a geologist, a singer and an Academy Award-winning actor". Golf Magazine. August 6, 2014. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  10. ^ Barry Voight Biography Archived September 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  11. ^ "Is Jon Voight Slovak?". University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
  12. ^ The Middle East: Abstracts and index, Part 2. Northumberland Press. 2006. p. 53. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  13. ^ "Sunday Catholic weekly". sunday.niedziela.pl. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  14. ^ "Jon Voight | Encyclopedia.com". encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  15. ^ "The New York Times: Best Pictures". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  16. ^ "Billboard". February 6, 1961.
  17. ISBN 978-1-4950-2595-2
    .
  18. ^ "Jon Voight | Biography, Movies, Midnight Cowboy, & Facts | Britannica". December 25, 2023. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  19. ISBN 978-0-306-80900-2, p.236. Excerpt available[permanent dead link] at Google Books
    .
  20. ^ "The 51st Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  21. ^ Cassavetes on Cassavetes, Ed. Ray Carney, London: Faber and Faber, 2001, p. 474
  22. YouTube[dead link
    ]
  23. ^ Higgins, Bill (March 20, 1992). "Makers of HBO's 'Tribe' Given a Warm Reception". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  24. ^ "Jon Voight Joins Cast of 'Tomb Raider' to Play Lord Croft". Cision. PR Newswire. September 27, 2000. Archived from the original on October 17, 2000. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  25. ^ "The Word of Promise: Cast". Archived from the original on October 29, 2014.
  26. ^ "BELIEFS : Stars lined up for elaborate audio Bible : Michael York, Jason Alexander and many others gave voice to a 79-CD reading of Old and New Testaments". Los Angeles Times. November 16, 2009. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  27. ^ Denton Davidson (June 5, 2017). "Jon Voight could ride 'Ray Donovan' Emmy wave to first career triumph". GoldDerby. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  28. ^ "'Ray Donovan' Wins a Golden Globe For Best Supporting Actor". Mic.com. January 12, 2014. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  29. ^ "Trump appoints Jon Voight, Mike Huckabee and 8 others to Kennedy Center board of trustees". The Washington Post. March 27, 2019. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  30. ^ "Trump Appoints Mike Huckabee, Jon Voight To The Kennedy Center Board". DCist. Archived from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  31. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 12, 2022). "Francis Coppola Sets 'Megalopolis' Cast: Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight & Filmmaker's 'Apocalypse Now' Teen Discovery Laurence Fishburne". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  32. ^ Holleran, Scott (September 8, 2007). "Interview: Actor Jon Voight". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 16, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  33. ISBN 978-0-684-87076-2
    .
  34. ^ a b c d "My Concerns for America". The Washington Times. July 28, 2008. Archived from the original on July 30, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
  35. ISBN 978-1-59213-201-0
    .
  36. ^ McDevitt, Caitlin (January 30, 2012). "Jon Voight Endorses Mitt Romney". Politico. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  37. ^ Parker, Ryan (March 9, 2016). "Jon Voight Endorses Donald Trump for president". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 25, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  38. ^ Holcombe, Madeline (May 25, 2019). "Oscar winner calls Trump the greatest president since Lincoln". CNN. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  39. ^ @jonvoight (November 11, 2020). "We all know the truth" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  40. ^ Polus, Sarah (November 11, 2020). "Jon Voight says fighting 'lie' Biden won is 'greatest fight since the Civil War'". The Hill. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  41. ^ Kika, Thomas (May 28, 2022). "Trump ally Jon Voight calls for "proper qualifications for gun ownership"". Newsweek. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  42. ^ Rose, Lily (May 28, 2022). "Jon Voight calls for gun control in emotional Facebook video following Uvalde shooting". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  43. ^ "Jon Voight slams daughter Angelina Jolie for her anti-Israel stance: 'I'm so disappointed'". Insider. November 5, 2023.
  44. ^ "Jon Voight 'disappointed' by daughter Angelina Jolie's 'lies' about Israel Hamas war". Euronews. November 7, 2023. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  45. ^ 14 Influential Personalities Endorsing Trump for 2024, MSN, Michelle Harle, January 23, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  46. ^ "Jon Voight Biography" Archived July 19, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, Turner Classic Movies (tcm.com)
  47. ^ "Angelina Jolie’s Parents: Everything To Know About Jon Voight & Late Marcheline Bertrand" Archived July 19, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, Hollywood Life

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jon Voight.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Jon Voight.