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Jon Voight

Jon Voight began his extraordinary career on the stage, performing in high school productions, and in 1961, participating in The Sound of Music, on Broadway. During the late 1960s, he guest starred on some television shows such as, Coronet Blue and Gunsmoke. Voight made his film debut in 1967's HOUR OF THE GUN, starring James Garner and Jason Robards. His part was small but memorable at the same time. Voight's big brake came in 1969 when he was chosen to star in a film entitled, MIDNIGHT COWBOY. He got the starring role in this dramatic and controversial movie, and was honored with his first Academy Award nomination. 1972 brought another compelling role for Voight in the film, DELIVERANCE about a group of four friends on a canoe trip that goes haywire. His next role came in 1974 in a lesser known film entitled, CONRACK, where he portrays the author Pat Conroy. Voight's greatest role to date came in 1978's, COMING HOME, in which he portrayed Luke Martin, a Vietnam War veteran. Voight's tremendously heart felt performance in COMING HOME honored him with his second Academy Award nomination. This time he won, and deservedly so. Voight's next role came 1979 in the remake of THE CHAMP also starring Faye Dunaway and Ricky Schroder. During the early 1980s Voight made a few more films, LOOKING TO GET OUT and TABLE FOR FIVE. Then in 1985 his third Academy Award nomination came for a film called RUNAWAY TRAIN, where he played escape convict Manny. In the early 1990s he made his directorial debut on a made for cable film, THE TIN SOLDIER, which he also starred in. Voight also made some lesser known films like, CHERNOBYL: FINAL WARNING and THE SINKING OF THE RAINBOW WARRIOR. These were very important films for Voight to make because they dealt with true life stories. He also made another one of my favorite films, ETERNITY. This is a wonderful film dealing with the issue of past lives. He also co-wrote the screenplay for it. In 1995 Voight had a small roll in the movie, HEAT, starring big name actors, Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. Then in 1996 Voight starred in one of the big blockbusters of the summer, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, along with Tom Cruise. This role catapulted Voight into a second stardom, because in the year that followed he appeared in five films! Voight had memorable roles in films like, ROSEWOOD, ANACONDA, MOST WANTED, NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS, PRIDE AND GLORY, TRANSFORMERS, GLORY ROAD, SEPTEMBER DAWN, POPE JOHN PAUL II, THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN, NATIONAL TREASURE, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, HOLES, and John Grisham's THE RAINMAKER. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in John Grisham's THE RAINMAKER as well! He has truly proven what a powerful presence he is on the big screen.

Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
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Jon Voight Facts

Birth Name Jonathan Vincent Voight
OccupationActor
BirthdayDecember 29, 1938 (85)
SignCapricorn
BirthplaceYonkers, New York, USA
Height6' 4" (1m93)  How tall is Jon Voight compared to you?
Awards1986 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (for Runaway Train)
1979 Academy Awards: Best Actor (for Coming Home)
1979 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (for Coming Home)

Selected Filmography

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Mission: Impossible
National Treasure: Book Of Secrets
24: Redemption
National Treasure
Anaconda
Bonus Content: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Heat
Transformers
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