Next to Liv Tyler,Angelina Jolie is the only actress of her generation who can thank her famous father for the lips that have become her trademark.The actress was born Angelina Jolie Voight to the pillow-lipped Jon Voight and actress Marcheline Bertrand on June 4,1975in Los Angeles.
After appearing in a number of mediocre films,Jolie finally hit it big in 1997with her Golden Globe-winning performance as George Wallace‘s wife in the highly acclaimed TV movie George Wallace.The role,coupled with her Emmy-nominated performance in the title role of HBO‘s Gia,provided Jolie with a new level of professional respect and recognition.She was soon appearing on talk shows and in magazines,answering questions about everything from her multiple tattoos to her famous father to her brief marriage.
She was also netting roles in high profile projects:in 1998Jolie headlined an ensemble cast that included Sean Connery,Gena Rowlands,Anthony Edwards,Gillian Anderson,Ryan Phillippe,and Madeline Stowe in Playing by Heart.The following year,she was part of another high-voltage cast in Mike Newell‘s Pushing Tin,co-starring alongside John Cusack,Billy Bob Thornton,and Cate Blanchett.Although the film was neither a critical nor a financial success,it did little to diminish the the rapid ascent of the career of the actress,who was in hot demand for projects that would further elevate her already rising star.In 2000,Jolie‘s star received one of its greatest boosts to date when the actress won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a volatile mental patient in Girl,Interrupted.Later that year,her personal life also got a boost in the form of her April marriage to Billy Bob Thornton.