Jon Voight

Jonathan Paul Voight is an American actor known for his extensive work across feature films and television. Over a career spanning several decades, projects featuring him have earned over $5.2 billion globally. His acting achievements have been recognized with an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, four Golden Globe Awards, and four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In 2019, he was honored with the National Medal of Arts for his contributions to the arts.

Voight was born on December 29, 1938, in Yonkers, New York. He grew up in a Catholic family with his parents, Barbara and Elmer Voight, the latter being a professional golfer. He first became interested in performing while studying at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains. After graduating high school in 1956, he attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art in 1960. He then moved to New York City to study drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre under Sanford Meisner.

Voight's professional acting career began off-Broadway in 1961 with the revue O Oysters, followed by his Broadway debut as Rolf in The Sound of Music later that year. During the early and mid-1960s, he took on several television roles in shows like Gunsmoke, Naked City, and The Defenders, while also performing in stage revivals. He made his feature film debut in 1967 in Fearless Frank. His breakthrough came in 1969 with his star turn as Texan hustler Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy, which garnered widespread critical acclaim and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Voight established himself as an acclaimed dramatic lead. He starred in the hit 1972 survival drama Deliverance and appeared in projects such as Conrack and The Odessa File. His performance as a paralyzed Vietnam veteran in the 1978 drama Coming Home earned him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Academy Award for Best Actor. He followed this success with a lead role in the 1979 film The Champ and gained another Oscar nomination—and a Golden Globe win—for playing an escaped prisoner in the 1985 thriller Runaway Train.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Voight frequently appeared in major studio blockbusters and television movies. His film work from this era includes prominent roles in Heat, Mission: Impossible, Anaconda, The Rainmaker, Enemy of the State, and National Treasure, as well as comedies like Zoolander. He earned his fourth Academy Award nomination for playing sports commentator Howard Cosell in the 2001 film Ali. On television, he portrayed historical figures such as Nazi officer Jürgen Stroop in Uprising and the title figure in Pope John Paul II.

In the 2010s, Voight gained renewed acclaim for his role as Mickey Donovan in the drama series Ray Donovan, which earned him his fourth Golden Globe Award in 2014. In addition to his creative career, Voight shifted from earlier liberal views to become well known in his later years for his conservative and religious beliefs. He is the father of actors James Haven and Angelina Jolie.