Angelina Jolie’s Family

Jolie’s Youth

Jolie was born in Los Angeles, California as the daughter of actor Jon Voight and actress Marcheline Bertrand. She is the sister of director James Haven, a cousin of songwriter Chip Taylor and a goddaughter of actors Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell.
When Jolie was six months old her father left the family. Jolie, her mother and her brother then moved to the state of New York. Ten years later the family returned to Los Angeles, where the eleven-year-old actress decided to enroll at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
Although they had a happy childhood, Jolie had a touch of depression in her teens. In high school, she was teased by her classmates for her thin body and full lips and for wearing second hand clothes. During this time, she frequently cut wrists and wore only black clothes. At the age of 14, she moved in with her first boyfriend, quit her acting classes and dreamed of a career as an undertaker. Two years later , after the relationship ended, she rented an apartment near the home of her mother and continued her acting training.
Jolie spent years with no personal contact with her father.  In 2002, she removed the surname ‘Voight’ from her name. Since then, “Angelina Jolie” has become her full legal name. Her mother, with whom she had a very close relationship, died in January 2007 at age 56 from ovarian cancer.  Jolie is also very close with her brother. Rumors of an incestuous relationship were formed after she publicly gave him a kiss on the lips. The rumors were denied by both violently.