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Angelina Jolie’s Complicated Relationship With her father Jon Voight

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Updated on June 21, 2021

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Angelina Jolie and her father, actor Jon Voight, have not always had the best father-daughter relationship. Their relationship is frequently described as tumultuous and full of ups and downs. It has been so strained that Jolie has officially abandoned her father’s surname.

Following the death of Angie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, in 2007 after an eight-year struggle with breast and ovarian cancer, the renowned Hollywood actor did not talk to his daughter for years.

Prior to her death, it was widely known that Voight had not been the best husband to Bertrand during their time together, as he not only had an affair behind her back, but also abandoned his family, which included Angie’s brother James Haven, who was said to have been deeply affected by the breakup as a child.

When Voight and her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, divorced when Jolie was two, she credits Bertrand with raising her and her brother alone, with financial assistance from Voight. They stayed close until Bertrand’s death from cancer in 2007 at the age of 56, and when Jolie became a mother herself, she discussed how Bertrand impacted her own parenting style.

“My mom always made it clear that I was her friend—and that is a lesson on how to bring up my own children,” she told The Sun in 2011. “When we talked, I felt she wanted to hear what I had to say. She enjoyed me and I feel I’m enjoying my kids.” she said, adding, “If anybody ever tells me that I am a mother to them like my mom was to me, it will be a great compliment.”

Her mother even influenced Jolie’s choice to become a face of Guerlain, referring to it as a company Bertrand adored. “She was a very natural woman who never spoiled herself, never wore makeup, and wore modest jewelry,” the actress told Marie Claire, adding that “but she always had a few special items for when she wanted to feel like a lady.”

Angelina Jolie had seen her mother’s pain and suffering, which instilled hate in her against her father.

Because of the media’s obsession with Jolie’s fractured connection with her father, it was in 2007, soon after Bertrand’s death, that the mother-of-six made a strong speech about how she wanted to remember her mother and the great qualities she bestowed to her throughout her lifetime.

“She studied to be an actress but married my father and by 28 was divorced with two kids,” Jolie expressed “She gave up her dreams…I am my mother’s daughter.

“My love of children, my values, caring about what goes on in the world, all of that comes from her…I miss her terribly every day. I try to raise my children the way that my mother raised me. I didn’t really have a father around.”

Previously, the 81-year-old Hollywood star revealed that his seven-year marriage with Bertrand had failed owing to his unfaithful habits, confessing that he struggled to cope with his need for lust, which caused a lot of pain in their family home.

“I had an affair, and then there was a divorce,” the National Treasure actor said. “There was a lot of hurt and anger…I used to have a problem with lust but I don’t anymore. As I get older, the blood gets tamer.”

Angelia Jolie struggled as a child growing up without a father, according to several accounts. It was also claimed that Voight refused to pay child support, putting the family in financial jeopardy. Haven had previously informed the media that his father had long mistreated his mother psychologically. Voight stated that his attempts to repair the relationship were futile. Psychologists said that Jolie’s drug use, episodes of depression, suicidal thoughts, self-mutilation, and early sexual activity were all caused by abandonment problems. Throughout Jolie’s adolescence, their relationship was rocky.

Voight has denied any validity to allegations that he was emotionally abusive to Bertrand, but given how his children have distanced themselves from him throughout their adult lives, it is clear that something significant happened between them that has left them emotionally traumatized.