Matinee Classics - Jon Voight Biography & Filmography

Jon Voight ACTOR

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JON VOIGHT BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Jon Voight was born on December 29th, 1938 in Yonkers, New York with the middle name Vincent born to Elmer Voytka and Barbara Voight. He had two brothers, Barry and Wesley Voight. Wesley later became known as Chip Taylor, who had a career as a singer and song writer.

Jon received his early years education ay Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York and then went on to earn a degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC in 1960. After earning his degree he relocated to New York City and began to pursue a career as an actor.

He began with working as a stage actor and by the early 1960's he was being cast in a number of television series such as, "Gunsmoke", "Naked City" and "The Defenders". When he appeared in the stage production of, "A View From The Bridge" (1965), Hollywood began to really take notice of his theatrical talent.

By 1967 he was also working in the film industry in such films as, "Fearless Frank" (1967), "Hour of the Gun" (1967), "Out of It" (1968) and his breakout film co-starring Dustin Hoffman, "Midnight Cowboy" (1969) which released with an X rating and became the only X rated feature to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

He had finally begun to make a name for himself in the industry and roles were becoming much more available to him. He soon added such film credits to his resume as, "Deliverance" (1972), "Coming Home" (1978), "The Champ" (1979), "Runaway Train" (1985), "The Rainmaker" (1997), "Varsity Blues" (1999), "Ali" (2001), "Uprising" (2001), "Zoolander" (2001) and he was cast as President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the film, "Pearl Harbor" (2001).

Jon has received an Academy award for his role as a paraplegic Vietnam veteran in, "Coming Home" as well as three other Academy Award nominations. He has also received three Golden Globe Awards out of a total of nine nominations.

Added to his credits are numerous television appearances on such shows as, "Seinfeld", "Muppets Tonight", "Cimarron Strip", "Catch 22", "N.Y.P.D.", "12 O Clock High", "Mission: Impossible", "Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story" and "Pope John Paul II".

In addition to his acting he has also been involved in co-writing and producing on a variety of projects such as, in, "Table for Five" (1983), "The Fixer" (1998), "Baby Geniuses" (1999), "The Princess & the Barrio Boy" (2000) and "The Final Song" (2010).

Most recently, Voight has appeared in, "National Treasure" (2004), "Glory Road" (2006), "Transformers" (2007), "Four Christmases" (2008) and soon to release in 2012, "BG3: Play Kids" and "Ray Donovan".

He has married twice throughout his lifetime, first to Lauri Peters from 1962 through 1967. He then married Marcheline Bertrand in 1971 and after having two children this marriage came to an end in 1980. His two children, Angelina Jolie and James Haven both grew up to also have careers in entertainment.

Voight has always been and remains involved in politics. He is very open and public with his beliefs and is not afraid to share them with the public. He has provided the narration for a video biography for Alaska governor, Sarah Palin as well as being involved in a public speech criticizing the current United States President, Barack Obama.

Jon Voight remains active in the industry and is also currently working as a partner at Paul Productions in Los Angeles, California.