Angelina Jolie is the daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight, and former actress/model Marcheline Bertrand. Jon Voight separated from Bertrand when Jolie was 1, remained in California while the family lived on the East coast. ''He was the perfect example of an artist who couldn't be married,'' she says. ''He had the perfect family, but there's something for him that's very scary about that.'' Jolie, is her middle name. Ultimately, she decided to use it because, she says, ''I love my father, but I'm not him''.

Angelina began training and performing at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute at around 12. She was seen in several stage productions at the Institute. She worked as a professional model in London, New York and Los Angeles, and has also appeared in music videos for such artists as the Rolling Stones, Meat Loaf, Lenny Kravitz, Antonello Venditti and The Lemonheads. In addition, she has acted in five student films for the USC School of Cinema, all directed by her brother, James Haven. She landed her first feature film starring part in HACKERS, about a group of high school computer hackers. Previously, she had roles in independent features Gathering Evidence and Oh No, Not Her.Angelina was married to her co-star from Hackers, Jonny Lee Miller. The marriage took place in May of 1996 where she wore black rubber clothes (although they are now divorced). She has a extensive dagger collection (likes knives) and has several tattoos (one is the Japanese word for death on her shoulder). Today Angelina splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.