Voight was raised as a Catholic, and attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, where he first took an interest in acting, playing the comedic role of Count Pepi Le Loup in the school's annual musical, The Song of Norway.

Voight was estranged from his children for several years, but they reconciled in 2007 after Bertrand's death.

In 1969, Voight was cast in the groundbreaking Midnight Cowboy, a film that would make his career.

Voight was Steven Spielberg's first choice for the role of Matt Hooper in the 1975 blockbuster Jaws, but he turned down the role, which was ultimately played by Richard Dreyfuss.

Voight, who was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, for his portrait of an embittered paraplegic, reportedly based on real-life Vietnam veteran-turned-anti-war activist Ron Kovic, with whom Fonda's character falls in love.

The script was based on a story by Akira Kurosawa, and paired Voight with Eric Roberts as a fellow escapee.

The year 1997 was a busy time for Voight in which he appeared in six films, beginning with Rosewood, based on the 1923 destruction of the primarily black town of Rosewood, Florida, by the white residents of nearby Sumner.

Voight was reunited with director Boorman in 1998's The General.

Voight next portrayed President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 2001's action / war film, Pearl Harbor, having accepted the role when Gene Hackman declined ( his performance was received favorably by critics ).

Also in 2001, Voight joined Leelee Sobieski, Hank Azaria and David Schwimmer in the made-for-television movie Uprising, which was based on the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto.

Voight was almost unrecognizable under his make-up and toupee, as he impersonated the sports broadcaster Howard Cosell.

In the critically acclaimed CBS miniseries Pope John Paul II, released in December 2005, Voight, who was raised a Catholic, portrayed the pontiff from the time of his election until his death, garnering an Emmy nomination for the role.

" In another interview in Miami with AventuraUSA. com, Voight said he first met Giuliani " years ago " at a movie premiere in New York City and the main reason for his support was Giuliani's public poise in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Voight was a guest at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

When appearing on Governor Mike Huckabee's Fox News talk show, Voight said Obama was arrogant, caused civil unrest and stood for all that this country was against during its past.

In November 2009 Voight was a featured speaker, at a Tea Party protesting the healthcare reform legislation, and again at a rally outside the capital on March 20, 2010.

During his speech at the capital, Voight stated the White House was using " radical Chicago tactics " in hopes to pass health care reform.

Screenwriter Graham Yost was told by his father, Canadian television host Elwy Yost, about a film called Runaway Train starring Jon Voight, about a train that speeds out of control.

The screenplay was reshaped significantly by the circle of talent who would eventually bring it to the screen: Fonda, Ashby, Wexler, Jon Voight, producer Hellman and screenwriters Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones.

The film was going to be directed by John Schlesinger who had worked with producer Hellman and Voight in Midnight Cowboy, but he left the project finding the material too alien to his background.

Voight had participated in the antiwar movement and was a friend of Fonda, who was instrumental in helping him land the role, even though he had fallen from popularity since his Midnight Cowboy day.

Jonathan Vincent " Jon " Voight (; born December 29, 1938 ) is an American actor.

He has two brothers, Barry Voight ( born 1937 ), a former volcanologist at Pennsylvania State University, and Wesley Voight ( born 1940 ), known as Chip Taylor, a singer-songwriter who penned " Wild Thing " and " Angel of the Morning ".

Arnold was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany, the third child of Carl Franklin and Elizabeth ( Voight ) Arnold.

James Wesley Voight ( born March 21, 1940 ), better known by his stage name as Chip Taylor, is an American songwriter, who is noted for writing the songs " Angel of the Morning " and " Wild Thing.

: After years of gestation, the idea for the Toonerville Trolley was born one day up in Westchester County when my wife and I had left New York City to visit Charlie Voight, the cartoonist, in the Pelhams.

* Jon Voight ( born 1938 ), American actor

After graduation, Voight moved to New York City, where he pursued an acting career.

Voight played Joe Buck, a naïve male hustler from Texas, adrift in New York City.

Voight endorsed former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for the 2008 Republican Party nomination.

" In a June 13, 2009, article, New York Times columnist Frank Rich said of Voight's speech, in which Voight called to " bring an end to this false prophet Obama ," that: " This kind of rhetoric, with its pseudo-Scriptural call to action, is toxic.

* Lost in the New Real ( 2012 )-Narrator / Voight Kampff

In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, " Despite her sullen posturing, which is all this role requires, Ms. Jolie has the sweetly cherubic looks of her father, Jon Voight ".

The film was nominated for six Razzie Awards in 1998 including Worst Picture, Worst Actor ( Jon Voight ), Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst New Star (" the animatronic anaconda ") and Worst Screen Couple ( Voight and " the animatronic anaconda ").

In 1979, Voight once again put on boxing gloves, starring in 1979's remake of the 1931 Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper vehicle, The Champ, with Voight playing the part of an alcoholic ex-heavyweight and a young Rick Schroder playing the role of his adoring son.

Starring: Jon Voight, Barbara Hershey, Rick Schroder and Louis Gossett, Jr. and William Petersen.

In Variety magazine, Todd McCarthy wrote, " The director's visual and aural dapplings are strikingly effective at their best, but over the long haul don't represent a satisfactory alternative to in-depth dramatic scenes ; one longs, for example, for even one sequence in which Ali and Dundee discuss boxing strategy or assess an opponent ", but he did have praise for the performances: " The cast is outstanding, from Smith, who carries the picture with consummate skill, and Voight, who is unrecognizable under all the makeup but nails Cosell's distinctive vocal cadences ".

A 1983 Town and Country convertible was also famously featured in various episodes of the sitcom Seinfeld ; George Costanza purchased it because he believed it previously had been owned by Jon Voight.

* Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama – Jon Voight

* In the Fingerprints series of youth novels ( 2001 – 2002 ) by Melinda Metz, the character Rachel " Rae " Voight can receive the thoughts and emotions of others by touching the fingerprints left on an object handled by them.

* Jon Voight – Bill Biscane / Kane

* John Voight ( athlete ) ( 1926 – 1993 ), American sprinter

* Jon Voight – The Last of His Tribe

* Terminator 2: Judgment Day ( 1991 ) – Todd Voight

Jon Voight claimed Redden " was a boy who had a genetic imbalance – a product of his mother and his brother, I think.