Angelina Jolie (Angelina Jolie Voight, born 4 June 1975) is an American actress, film director and humanitarian. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted, became an international star as Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and has directed several films. She served as a Goodwill Ambassador and later Special Envoy for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. This biography follows her life and career up to November 2026.
Angelina Jolie at a Glance
| Full name | Angelina Jolie Voight (professional name Angelina Jolie) |
| Born | 4 June 1975, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Age | 51 (as of November 2026) |
| Profession | Actress, film director, producer and humanitarian |
| Academy Award | Best Supporting Actress, Girl, Interrupted (1999 film) |
| Humanitarian role | UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador (from 2001); Special Envoy (17 April 2012 to 17 December 2022) |
| Honours | Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award; honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George |
| Citizenship | United States and Cambodia |
| Children | Six |
Early Life
Jolie was born in Los Angeles to the actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. She grew up around the film industry and began acting as a young woman. She worked in independent films and television in the 1990s, and her performance in the HBO film Gia (1998) brought her wide attention.
Oscar Win and Stardom
She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Lisa Rowe in Girl, Interrupted (1999). Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) established her as a leading woman in action films. Her later films included Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), which grossed $478.2 million worldwide, and Maleficent (2014), which grossed $757.8 million and is her highest-grossing film. For Maria (2024), in which she played the opera singer Maria Callas, she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
Director
Jolie has directed In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011), Unbroken (2014), By the Sea (2015), First They Killed My Father (2017) and Without Blood (2024).
Humanitarian Work
Jolie became a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN refugee agency UNHCR in 2001, at the age of 26,. From 17 April 2012 to 17 December 2022 she served as the agency's Special Envoy, which gave her a larger diplomatic role. She received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George for her humanitarian work. In 2013 she wrote in The New York Times that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy after learning that she carried a BRCA1 gene mutation.
Personal Life
Jolie was married to the actor Jonny Lee Miller from 1996 to 2000, to Billy Bob Thornton from 2000 to 2003 and to Brad Pitt in 2014. She has six children. She holds both American and Cambodian citizenship.
Legacy
Jolie is one of the few film stars to have built a second career in international humanitarian work, and her experience as a director has widened her role in the industry. Her public statements about her health helped to draw attention to genetic testing and preventive surgery.
