Jon Voight (born December 29, 1938) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor.
Voight was born in Yonkers, New York, the son of Barbara and Elmer Voight, a professional golfer. His maternal grandparents were German; his paternal grandfather was an immigrant from the city of Košice in Slovakia. Voight attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, where he first took an interest in acting, playing the comic role of Count Pepi Le Loup in the school's annual musical: The Song of Norway. After graduating from high school in 1956, he went to college at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he majored in art and graduated with a B.A. in 1960. At CUA, he demonstrated his artistic skill by designing the cardinal that adorned the center of the floor of the basketball court. This section of floor now resides on display in the school's Pryzbyla University Center. After graduation, Voight moved to New York City, where he pursued an acting career.
In 1962 he married actress Lauri Peters, whose credits include 1962's Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation and 1963's Summer Holiday. In the early sixties, Voight found work in television, appearing in several episodes of Gunsmoke, between 1962 and 1966, as well as guest spots on Naked City, and The Defenders, both in 1963, and Twelve O'Clock High, in 1966.
Voight's film debut did not come until 1967, when he took a part in Phillip Kaufman's crimefighter spoof, Fearless Frank. Voight also took a small role in 1967's western, Hour of the Gun, directed by veteran helmer John Sturges. That year he and Lauri Peters were divorced, after five years of marriage. In 1968 Voight took a role in director Paul Williams' Out of It. While Voight pursued acting, his brother Wes found success as a songwriter under the nom de plume Chip Taylor. Taylor penned The Troggs' 1966 hit, Wild Thing, as well as Angel of the Morning. Another of Jon's brothers, Barry Voight, studied geology at Columbia University and became a world-renowned volcanologist at Pennsylvania State University.
In 1969, Voight was cast in the groundbreaking Midnight Cowboy, a film that would make his career, establishing him as one of the premier actors of his generation. On 12 December 1971 Voight married model and actress Marcheline Bertrand. Their son James Haven was born in 1973, followed by daughter Angelina Jolie in 1975. Both children would go on to enter the film business, James as an actor and writer, and Angelina as a major Oscar-winning movie star in her own right. Voight's marriage to Marcheline Bertrand failed in 1978.
In 1978, Voight assumed a role that would earn him a second major triumph, that of the paraplegic Vietnam veteran Luke Martin in the Hal Ashby-directed film Coming Home. The following year, Voight once again put on boxing gloves, starring in 1979's remake of the 1931 Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper vehicle, The Champ, with Voight playing the part of an alcoholic ex-heavyweight and a young Rick Schroder playing the role of his adoring son. The film was an international success, but less popular with American audiences. In 1985, Voight hooked up with Russian writer and director Andrei Konchalovsky to play the role of escaped con Manny Manheim in the existential action film Runaway Train. The script was based on a story by Akira Kurosawa, and paired Voight with Eric Roberts as a fellow escapee. For his ferocious performance, Voight received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and won the Golden Globe's award for Best Actor. Roberts was also honored for his performance, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
He made his first foray into television movies, acting in 1991's Chernobyl: The Final Warning, followed by The Last of his Tribe, in 1992. He followed with 1992's The Rainbow Warrior for ABC, the story of the ill-fated Greenpeace ship sunk by French operatives in the Auckland harbour. In 1995 Voight played a role in the acclaimed crime film, Heat, directed by Michael Mann and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Voight next appeared in 1996's blockbuster Mission: Impossible, based on the popular television series from the 1960s, directed by Brian DePalma and starring Tom Cruise. Voight portrayed Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 2001's action/war film, Pearl Harbor, reportedly beating out Gene Hackman for the role (his performance was received favorably by critics). Also that year, he appeared as Lord Croft, father of the title character of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Based on the popular video game, the digital adventuress was played on the big screen by Voight's own real-life daughter, Angelina Jolie.
In 2008, Voight played Jonas Hodges, the villain, in the hit FOX drama "24" in the upcoming seventh season. Voight made his first appearance in the two-hour prequel episode, 24: Redemption, which aired on November 27.
Voight's political views started out liberal, and he supported both John F. Kennedy and George McGovern. During the Nixon administration, Voight actively protested against the Vietnam War. However, he wrote that he regrets his youthful anti-war activism in a July 28, 2008 op-ed piece in the Washington Times, calling it the result of "Marxist propaganda."
Voight appeared on Fox & Friends to endorse former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the 2008 Republican Party nomination. He attended a Giuliani campaign event and said New York City was transformed into a much safer, cleaner and more livable city. He said "God sent an angel, his name was Rudy Giuliani." In another interview in Miami with AventuraUSA.com, Voight said he first met Giuliani "years ago" at a movie premiere in New York City and the main reason for his support was Giuliani's public poise in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In the interview, Voight revealed he and then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton "are friends."
In March 2008, Voight appeared at a rally aboard the USS Midway in San Diego, California for the kick-off of the Vets for Freedom's National Heroes Tour. In an April 11, 2008 interview, on the Glenn Beck show, Voight stated that he is now supporting Republican Senator John McCain for President.
In May 2008, Voight paid a solidarity visit to Israel in honor of its 60th birthday. "I’m coming to salute, encourage and strengthen the people of Israel on this joyous 60th birthday," said Voight. “This week is about highlighting Israel as a moral beacon. At a time when its enemies threaten nuclear destruction, Israel heals." (Many have found this comment ironic, as Israel is the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East.) Voight visited Israeli victims of Palestinian rocket attacks in Sderot. "Watch visit
On July 28, 2008, he wrote an editorial in The Washington Times critical of then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
In September 2008, Voight appeared in a video available on YouTube from the Republican National Convention admonishing viewers to support the American troops. Voight also provided the narration for a video biography of Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, that appeared on John McCain's campaign website. He was a guest at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Voight also starred with fellow Republican actors Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, and James Woods in the conservative-leaning comedy film An American Carol, which opened on October 3, 2008.