Jon Voight Biography
Jon Voight was born on December 29, 1938 in Yonkers, NY. He has two brothers, Barry and Chip Taylor, a
talented musician/songwriter. His acting career started on the stage, performing in high school productions, and in 1961, participating in "The Sound of Music," on Broadway.
During the late 1960s, he guest starred on some television shows such as, "Coronet Blue" and "Gunsmoke." Voight made his film debut in 1967's "Hour of the Gun," starring James
Garner and Jason Robards. His part was small but memorable all the same. Voight's big break came in 1969 when he was chosen to star in a film entitled, "Midnight Cowboy." He
got the starring role is this dramatic and controversal movie, and was honored with his first Academy Award nomination. Unfortuately he did not win for his extraordinary portrayal
of "Joe Buck." In the year that followed Voight had a small role in the movie, "Catch-22." 1972 brought another compelling role for Voight in the film, "Deliverance," about a group
of four friends on a canoe trip that goes haywire. His next role came in 1974 in a lesser known film entitled, "Conrack," where he portrays the author Pat Conroy. This is one of my
personal favorites, if you are a fan of Voight's work, I definitely recommend this movie. In 1976 Voight separated from his wife, one time actress, Marcheline Bertrand. They have two
children together, James Haven Voight and Angelina Jolie,who won a Golden Globe for her performance in "George Wallace." She can also
be seen in the made for HBO movie, "Gia." Perhaps Voight's greatest role to date came in 1978's, "Coming Home," in which he portrayed "Luke Martin," a Vietnam war veteran. Voight's tremendously
heart felt performance in "Coming Home" honored him with his second Academy Award nomination. This time he won, and deservedly so. Voight's next role came in 1979 in the remake of "The Champ,"
also starring Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder.
During the early 1980s Voight made a few more films, "Looking to Get Out" and "Table For Five." Then in 1985 his third Academy Award nomination came for a film called,
"Runaway Train," where he played escape convict, "Manny." During the latter part of the 1980s you didn't hear too much about Voight, unfortuately. In the early 1990s he had surfaced again
and made his directorial debut on a made for cable film, "The Tin Soldier," which he also starred in. Voight also made some lesser known films like, "Chernobyl: Final Warning" and "The
Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior." These were very important films for Voight to make because they dealt with true life stories. He also made another one of my favorite films, "Eternity."
This is a wonderful film dealing with the issue of past lives. He also co-wrote the screenplay for it. In 1995 Voight had a small role in the movie, "Heat," starring big name actors, Al Pacino and
Robert DeNiro. Then in 1996 Voight starred in one of the big blockbusters of the Summer, "Mission: Impossible," along with Tom Cruise. This role catapulted Voight into a second stardom, because in
the year that followed he appeared in five films! Voight had memorable roles in films like, "Rosewood," "Anaconda," "Mosted Wanted," and "John Grisham's The Rainmaker." He was nominated for a Golden
Globe for his performance in "John Grisham's The Rainmaker," as well! He has truly proven what a powerful presence he is on the big screen, I feel so privileged every time I get to see him in a new
film. In 1998 I'm sure we'll see plenty more of this phenominal actor. I already know of one Jon Voight movie we can look forward to, "The Fixer," a made for Showtime film coming in March 1998!
