Angelina Jolie remains one of the biggest global stars to come from the entertainment industry, thanks to her sheer star power, showcase of talent, and humanitarian work. However, her star has effectively been on the rise since birth itself, given the actress, 50, comes from a family of celebrities. Born in Los Angeles in 1975, Angelina is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, and is also the sister of fellow actor James Haven, and the niece of singer-songwriter Chip Taylor.
If that wasn't enough, her godparents are also prominent award-winning actors like herself, those being Jacqueline Bisset and Maximillian Schell. Her mother made minor film appearances in the early 1980s, including 1982's Lookin' to Get Out, which was co-written by and starred her ex-husband Jon, who she was married to from 1971-1980.
© Getty ImagesTheir relationship has since been quite fraught, however. Jon left the family when the Changeling star was six months old. Since then, she and brother James were raised primarily by their mother, who inspired them to enter the acting profession. The siblings were quite close with Marcheline, who managed on a modest income while supporting their show business ambitions, having given up her acting career to raise her children.
Angelina maintained that her relationship with her father, however, was estranged and sporadic, only making minor appearances at press events and bit parts in his movies. Earlier this year, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the mom-of-six spoke of her relationship with her mother while seeing her father win an Oscar in attendance with "the other woman," adding: "I remember thinking that she was there for me and my brother and that was the choice she made. And how she must have felt on that night always really stuck with me."
However, from there, it only deteriorated further, with the siblings petitioning to legally remove the surname "Voight," causing the actress to officially go by her middle name of "Jolie," which she'd been using at the time anyway. Her father, for the most part, kept his distance as well, going so far as to tell Access Hollywood later that year that Angelina was suffering from "serious mental problems."
© Getty ImagesHowever, in 2007, Marcheline passed away at the age of 56 after a battle with ovarian cancer, which the actress opened up about recently, that brought her and her father together. While they slowly worked on rebuilding their relationship, soon after, they went public with their reconciliation, with the Oscar-winning Jon even attending events with his daughter and grandchildren, who she shares with ex-husband Brad Pitt.
© Getty ImagesAfter her separation and divorce from Brad, she spoke to Vanity Fair in 2017 about reconnecting with her father and having him be a permanent part of the family. "He's been very good at understanding they needed their grandfather at this time," she said of his relationship with her children. "I had to do a therapy meeting last night and he was just around. He knows kind of the rule – don't make them play with you. Just be a cool grandpa who's creative, and hang out and tell stories and read a book in the library."
© Getty ImagesThings have taken a turn in recent years once again, however, following Jon's deeper association with the Trump administration, which Angelina has vehemently opposed. That also extends to the Israel-Palestine war, which the actor called out in a conversation with Variety last year, saying she was being "influenced by antisemitic people," and the publication simply included on her behalf: "Angelina wishes him well but does not speak about him publicly."
