Angelina Jolie

The Good Shepherd is a 2006 spy thriller with a stellar cast of Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon and De Niro. It’s loosely based on real events telling the untold story of the birth of the CIA. A stunning three-quarter-sleeve brocade coat worn by Angelina Jolie in her role as Margaret "Clover" Russell is owned by the Newbridge Silverware Museum of Style icons.

Born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California to actors Jon Voight (of “Midnight Cowboy” fame) and Marcheline Bertrand, acting was in her blood.

She attended Beverley Hills High School where, in spite of being voted in later years one of the most beautiful women in the world, she was bullied because of her looks. She was too thin and wore braces and glasses. She also suffered as a result of not being from an affluent background. Her parents separated in 1976 leaving her mother to raise Angelina and her brother on her own.

Having decided on an acting career, Jolie attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute with, amongst others, Robert de Niro. The institute is one of the best known and respected acting schools in the world.  Lee Strasberg was Marilyn Monroe’s acting coach in the 1950’s. 

Jolie was the voice of “Tigress” in the Kung Foo Panda movies. She was also the voice actor of “Lola” in Shark Tale.

Her father played her father in the film “Laura Croft – Tomb Raider” in which she performed all her own stunts. She is left- handed with the result that custom- made guns had to be created for her with ambidextrous controls.

She has been married three times. First to Jonny Lee Miller (1996-1999.) To the wedding she wore black leather pants and a white blouse. On the blouse, she painted her husband’s name in her own blood!

Her second husband was Billy Bob Thornton (2000-2003.)

Her third and last husband, to date, was Brad Pitt. They met on the set of “Mr and Mrs Smith” in 2005. The pairing caused much controversy as Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston when they met. They have six children, three of whom were adopted and three are their biological children.

The golden couple of Hollywood were nicknamed “Brangelina”. Although they met in 2005 they didn’t marry until 2014. They were married twice. Firstly, in California on August 14, 2014 and then in the South of France on August 23, 2014. Angelina filed for divorce on September 20, 2016.

Moving away from acting Jolie is now heavily involved in humanitarian issues. She was made a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency in 2001. She has made headlines for her work in obtaining aid for refugees in Cambodia, Darfur and Jordan to name just a few.