ANGELINA JOLIE

Angelina Jolie (born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975) is an Academy Award-winning American actress, a former fashion model, and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She is also known for her great beauty as well as her tumultuous off-screen life. She has received three Golden Globes, 2 SAG awards and 2 Emmy nominations as well as an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film Girl, Interrupted.

Biography

Born in Los Angeles, California, Jolie is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. She is the niece of Chip Taylor, sister of James Haven and the goddaughter of Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. In a 2004 article in Vogue she stated that her mother is from Chicago. At the Premiere Magazine "Women in Hollywood" Awards, she said her mother was born in a bowling alley and has stated that because of her name people often assume that her mother is French. Jolie's grandparents were French - Canadian. Her paternal grandfather was from Czech Republic. She is of Czech and English descent on her father's side, and French-Canadian and Iroquois on her mother's side. As a teenager, Jolie dreamed of becoming a funeral director. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute from the age of 11, later attending Beverly Hills High School. Her mother also studied with Lee Strasberg. Though she enrolled at the film school at New York University after finishing Gia, she did not complete her studies.

Jolie has been long estranged from her father, though a reconciliation was attempted by his appearing with her in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. In the October 2004 issue of Premiere Magazine, Jolie indicated that she was no longer interested in pursuing a relationship with her father, but that she did not hate him because she realized that "...we only have so much energy in this life". Soon afterwards, he claimed that she has "serious emotional problems" on Access Hollywood, and she legally dropped Voight as her last name, taking "Angelina Jolie" as her legal name.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a 2001 action adventure film based on the Tomb Raider video game series featuring the character Lara Croft, portrayed by Angelina Jolie. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, it was directed by Simon West and revolves around Lara Croft trying to obtain ancient artifacts in competition with the Illuminati.

The film was released on June 15, 2001, to generally negative reviews from critics, although Jolie was praised for her performance. It grossed $274.7 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing video game adaptations.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action adventure film (sequel) directed by Jan de Bont and based on the Tomb Raider video game series. Angelina Jolie stars as the titular character Lara Croft with supporting performances from Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, Chris Barrie, Noah Taylor, Til Schweiger, Djimon Hounsou and Simon Yam. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, the film is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Critics considered The Cradle of Life to be better than its predecessor, especially in terms of its action sequences, and continued to praise Jolie's performance. The film did not achieve the same level of box office success as the previous installment, grossing $160.1 million compared to its predecessor's $275 million. Initially, plans were made for a third episode, but these plans were abandoned when Jolie decided not to return as Croft. A reboot of the series, simply titled Tomb Raider, was released in 2018 with Alicia Vikander taking over the title role.