Jon Voight facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jon Voight
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Voight in 2012
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| Special Ambassador to Hollywood | |
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Nominee
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| Assumed office TBD Serving with Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
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Jonathan Vincent Voight
December 29, 1938 Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Spouses | |
| Children | James Haven Angelina Jolie |
| Alma mater | Catholic University of America (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Awards | Full list |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Family | Barry Voight (brother) Chip Taylor (brother) |
Jonathan Vincent Voight (born December 29, 1938) is a famous American actor. He has won many awards for his acting, including an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2019, he also received the National Medal of Arts. His movies have earned over $5.2 billion worldwide.
Voight is known for his roles in films like Coming Home (1978), where he played a Vietnam veteran who could not move his legs. He also starred in Runaway Train (1985) and Ali (2001). Other popular movies include Deliverance (1972), Mission: Impossible (1996), and the National Treasure series.
He has also appeared in many TV shows. He played Pope John Paul II in a miniseries in 2005. His role as Mickey Donovan in the TV show Ray Donovan earned him another Golden Globe in 2014. Jon Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Jonathan Vincent Voight was born on December 29, 1938, in Yonkers, New York. His mother was Barbara Kamp, and his father was Elmer Voight, a professional golfer. He has two brothers: Barry Voight, who was a volcanologist, and James Wesley Voight, known as Chip Taylor, a singer-songwriter.
Voight grew up as a Catholic. He went to Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York. There, he first became interested in acting. He played a funny character in the school musical, The Song of Norway.
After high school, he studied art at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.. He earned his degree in 1960. Then, Voight moved to New York City to become an actor. He trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Jon Voight's Acting Career
Starting Out in the 1960s
Jon Voight began his acting career in a show called O Oysters in 1961. He made his first appearance on Broadway in The Sound of Music later that year. In the early 1960s, he also acted in TV shows like Gunsmoke and Naked City.
His theater career became more successful in 1965. He played Rodolfo in Arthur Miller's play A View from the Bridge. Voight's first movie role was in 1967 in Fearless Frank. He also had small parts in Hour of the Gun and Out of It.
Becoming a Star in the 1970s and 1980s
In 1970, Voight appeared in the movie Catch-22. He also starred in The Revolutionary. In 1972, he starred in Deliverance. This movie was about a canoe trip and was very popular. Voight's acting in it was highly praised.
He played a young boxer in The All American Boy (1973). Then, he starred in Conrack (1974). In this film, he played an idealistic teacher helping children on a remote island. He also appeared in The Odessa File (1974), a thriller about former Nazis.
In 1978, Voight played Luke Martin, a Vietnam War veteran, in Coming Home. For this role, he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. In 1979, he played an ex-heavyweight boxer in The Champ.
Voight co-wrote and co-produced Lookin' to Get Out (1982). He also produced and acted in Table for Five (1983). In 1985, he starred in Runaway Train as an escaped prisoner. He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe award for this role.
Established Actor: 1990s to 2012
In the 1990s, Voight started acting in TV movies. These included Chernobyl: The Final Warning (1991) and The Rainbow Warrior (1992). He also played Captain Woodrow F. Call in the miniseries Return to Lonesome Dove (1993).
He made a funny guest appearance as himself on the TV show Seinfeld in 1994. In 1995, he played a criminal fence in the crime drama Heat. He also appeared in the blockbuster film Mission: Impossible (1996) with Tom Cruise.
In 1997, Voight was in six films. These included Rosewood, where he played a storeowner protecting black customers. He also starred in Anaconda, playing a snake hunter. He had a supporting role in The Rainmaker, based on a John Grisham novel.
In 1998, he played a lawyer in the TV film The Fixer. He also appeared in the political thriller Enemy of the State. In 1999, Voight played a tough football coach in Varsity Blues, which was a surprise hit. He also played Noah in the TV production Noah's Ark.
In 2001, Voight played President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the war film Pearl Harbor. He also played Lord Croft, the father of the main character, in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. His real-life daughter, Angelina Jolie, played Lara Croft. That same year, he was in Zoolander as the main character's coal-miner father.
He played a German officer in the TV film Uprising (2001), earning an Emmy nomination. Voight also played sports broadcaster Howard Cosell in the movie Ali (2001). He looked very different for this role and received his fourth Academy Award nomination.
In 2003, he played Mr. Sir in Holes. In 2004, he joined Nicolas Cage in National Treasure as Patrick Gates. In 2005, he played Pope John Paul II in a CBS miniseries.
In 2006, he played basketball coach Adolph Rupp in Glory Road. In 2007, he was the United States Secretary of Defense in Transformers. He also returned as Patrick Gates in National Treasure: Book of Secrets. In 2009, Voight played Jonas Hodges in the TV show 24. He also voiced the character of Abraham in The Word of Promise audio Bible.
Recent Work: 2013 to Present
In 2013, Voight began his role as Mickey Donovan in the TV show Ray Donovan. This role earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2014. He also appeared in the movie Ray Donovan: The Movie in 2022.
He played Henry Shaw Sr. in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016). In 2017, he was in the film Same Kind of Different as Me. In 2019, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center.
Voight played Supreme Court Justice Warren E. Burger in the film Roe v. Wade (2020). In 2022, he was part of the documentary Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy. He was also cast in the science fiction movie Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In the 2024 film Reagan, Jon Voight plays Viktor Ivanov.
In January 2025, it was announced that Jon Voight would serve as a Special Ambassador to Hollywood. He will share this role with actors Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone. This new role was created by Donald Trump to help bring more business back to Hollywood.
Political Views
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When he was younger, Jon Voight had more liberal political views. He supported President John F. Kennedy. He also worked to help people register to vote for George McGovern. Voight spoke out against the Vietnam War.
Later in his life, Voight's political views changed. He became more conservative. In 2008, he wrote that he regretted his earlier anti-war actions. He also criticized the Democratic Party and Barack Obama.
Voight supported Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016. After Donald Trump won the election in 2016, Voight said that "God answered all our prayers." In 2019, he said that President Trump was "the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln."
After the 2020 presidential election, Voight expressed his strong feelings about the results. He asked his followers to stop protesting after the election results were confirmed. He thanked Donald Trump for his work as president and called for peace. In 2022, Voight also spoke about gun control. He said that people should need "proper qualifications" and "testing" to own guns.
Personal Life
In 1962, Jon Voight married actress Lauri Peters. They met while acting in The Sound of Music on Broadway. They divorced in 1967.
He married actress Marcheline Bertrand in 1971. They separated in 1976 and divorced in 1980. Their children are James Haven (born 1973) and Angelina Jolie (born 1975). Both James and Angelina became actors and producers. Through Angelina, Jon Voight has six grandchildren.
Voight has not remarried since his second divorce.
Images for kids
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Jon Voight in 2012
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Voight as Prince Hamlet in Hamlet in 1976
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Voight at the Academy Awards in April 1988
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Voight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993
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Voight in June 2013
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Voight alongside President Donald Trump in 2019 after receiving the National Medal of Arts
