Jolie’s father, Voight, was born in Yonkers, NY, in 1938. He began acting after graduating from college and received critical acclaim for his role in “Midnight Cowboy” in 1969. He won an Oscar for his role. in “Coming Home” in 1978, and his screen credits also include “Heat,” “Mission: Impossible,” and “Ali.” Recently, he appeared on the Showtime series “Ray Donovan.” He also appeared in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” as Lara’s father to Jolie. When Jolie won her own Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2000, she thanked her father in her speech, saying, “Dad, you’re a good actor but you’re a better father better.
But Jolie and Voight’s problems are often made public. In 2002, when Jolie split from her husband Billy Bob Thornton, Voight attacked Jolie in the media. He said he was “heartbroken … because I’ve been trying to reach my daughter and get her help, and I’ve failed and I’m sorry,” per Entertainment Weekly. “I’m not has really come forward and dealt with the real mental issues she’s talked about so openly with the media over the years, but I’ve tried behind the scenes in every way.”
Jolie said in a statement at the time, “I do not want to make public the reasons for my bad relationship with my father. I will only say that, like all children, [my brother] and I would love to have a warm and loving relationship with our father. After all these years, I have determined that it is not healthy for me to be around my father, especially now that I am responsible for my own child.” She reportedly did not speak to her father until her mother’s death in 2007.
But finally, it seems, Jolie began mending fences with her father. She told Parade in 2010 that they had started talking again. She spoke a little about their reconciliation in the January 2012 issue of Marie Claire, saying, “He’s met the kids and they’ve met him, and I think that’s important that they can do that ,” per E! News. “We are in each other’s lives, but we don’t, as a rule, talk about the past,” she said, adding that she was the one who called him when her mother died, and that was the first time they had spoken in six years.
In 2017, Jolie spoke to Vanity Fair about her father’s skills as a grandparent, saying, “It’s been great to understand that they needed the grandfather at this time. I had to had a therapy appointment last night and he was just around. He kind of knows the rule – don’t make them play with you. Just be a great creative grandpa and hang out and tell stories and read a book in the library.”
Back in 2020, Voight also praised Jolie’s parenting skills. “She loves her kids, she’s always involved with them, always worried about them,” he told reporters at the pre-Golden Globes gala, per People. He said the biggest thing he learned about being a grandfather “every child is unique.” He explained, “They all have something special, and what you want to do is give them the tools to express that.”
Voight is also a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump.
