Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, establishing her as one of the highest-paid and most influential figures in Hollywood. Jolie is also renowned for her extensive humanitarian work, serving as a UNHCR Special Envoy and advocating for global refugee rights, conservation, and women's issues.

Early life and family

Born in Los Angeles to actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, she began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute as a teenager. She later attended the UCLA and studied metaphysics before pursuing a full-time acting career. Her early life was marked by a strained relationship with her father, a dynamic that influenced her later work and personal philosophy. Jolie's brother, James Haven, has also worked in the entertainment industry, and she has often cited her mother as a major influence on her humanitarian outlook.

Acting career

Jolie gained critical recognition with her performance in the 1998 television film *Gia*, winning a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Her breakthrough in feature films came with the role of Lara Croft in *Lara Croft: Tomb Raider*, which solidified her status as a major action star. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in *Girl, Interrupted* in 1999. Notable subsequent roles include the assassin in *Mr. & Mrs. Smith*, the vengeful mother in *Changeling*—which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress—and the title role in *Maleficent*. She has also directed several films, including *In the Land of Blood and Honey*, *Unbroken*, and *First They Killed My Father*.

Humanitarian work

Appointed as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 2001, she was promoted to Special Envoy in 2012, visiting refugee camps and conflict zones in over 30 countries including Cambodia, Sudan, and Syria. She co-founded the Prevent Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and has been a prominent advocate for the rights of displaced people, testifying before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In 2012, she launched the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, focused on community development and conservation in Cambodia, and co-founded the Jolie Legal Fellowship to support human rights lawyers. Her humanitarian efforts have been recognized with awards such as the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Personal life

Her highly publicized relationships include marriages to actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, and a long-term partnership with actor Brad Pitt, whom she married in 2014 at their estate in Château Miraval in France; they divorced in 2019. She has six children, three of whom were adopted internationally from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia. In 2013, she publicly disclosed that she had undergone a preventive mastectomy due to a high genetic risk of breast cancer, a decision that sparked global discussion on women's health. She has been a resident of Los Angeles, New York City, and has owned properties in Cambodia and Italy.

Filmography and awards

Her extensive filmography spans genres from action, such as *Wanted* and *Salt*, to drama, including *A Mighty Heart* and *The Tourist*. She has received an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the aforementioned Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Her directorial work, particularly *First They Killed My Father*, was submitted as the Cambodian entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. She has also been honored by organizations like the BAFTA and the National Board of Review.

Category:American film actresses Category:American humanitarians Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners