Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie is best known for her sexy looks, her lush pouting lips, her partner Brad Pitt, her many adopted children, and her humanitarian work for the UN. American actress Jolie has been crowned the world’s most beautiful women in various surveys. She has won an Academy Award, three Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards among others.
She was born Angelina Jolie Voight on 4 June, 1975, in Los Angeles. Her father is the Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight. Her parents separated when she was a year old and her mother moved to LA. She regularly watched movies with her mother and was inspired to be an actress. Her schooling years were traumatic as the affluent children in her neighbourhood made fun of her unique looks, which come from her mixed Czech, English, French, Canadian and Iroquois lineage. At 11, she decided to become an actress and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. At 14, she began her modelling career and worked in the US and Europe. She appeared in some music videos and returned to theatre work at 16 years old.
After many small roles, her first notable role was in the film Hackers in 1998. Her breakthrough came with the TV film Gia (1988), the true story of supermodel Gia Carangi who died of Aids at 26. Jolie won a Golden Globe, an Emmy nomination and a SAG award for Gia. Her next performances were in The Bone Collector (1999) and the acclaimed Girl, Interrupted (1999) for which Jolie won her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award.
In 2000, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider shot her to international fame and was a turning point in her personal life. While filming in the poverty-stricken streets of Cambodia she became more aware of humanitarian crises around the world. Her journey towards humanitarian work has taken giant steps – today she is the Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR and has received the Citizen of the World Award and the Global Humanitarian Award. She has also pledged $5 million for a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia. Of her earnings she is quoted as saying, “Donate a third, live on a third and save a third.”
Jolie has been married twice (actor Johnny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton) and now lives with partner, the Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt. The couple have three adopted children (boys Maddox and Pax, and girl Zahara) and one biological child (Shiloh). Jolie fell in love with Pitt during the filming of their box office hit Mr & Mrs Smith (2005). Other hits include The Good Shepherd (2006) and the true story, A Mighty Heart (2007). Jolie is also famous for her tattoos, and has 13 in all.
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