Voight was born in Yonkers, New York, the son of Barbara ( née Kamp ; 1910 – 1995 ) and Elmer Voight ( né Voytka ; 1909 – 1973 ), a professional golfer.

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.

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.

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

Voight played John Wright, a white Rosewood storeowner who follows his conscience and protects his black customers from the white rage.

Voight took a supporting role in The Rainmaker, adopted from the John Grisham novel and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

He also took a substantial role in Tony Scott's 1998 political thriller, Enemy of the State, in which Voight played Will Smith's stalwart antagonist from the NSA.

" In August 2011, Voight visited terror victims at Soroka Medical Center in the Negev after attacks from Gaza.

In September 2008, Voight appeared in a video from the Republican National Convention admonishing viewers to support the United States military.

In June 2010, the Washington Times published An open letter to President Obama from Jon Voight, calling President Obama a liar and promoter of anti-Semitism.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt ( Jon Voight ) wants to send a message that the Japanese homeland is not immune from bombing.

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 ".

Starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight, both in Academy Award-winning performances, it was for this film that Ashby earned his only Best Director nomination from the Academy for his work.

He is reported to have stolen a large sum of money from Nounes and fellow mobster Dutch Voight, after which Nitti fled to Chicago.

In 1965, Hoffman served as the Assistant Director in an Off-Broadway revival of A View from the Bridge at the Sheridan Square Playhouse with a cast that included Robert Duvall and Jon Voight.

Sarrazin was originally cast to play Joe Buck in the drama film Midnight Cowboy ( 1969 ); however, he was unable to gain release from a prior contract and the part went to Jon Voight.

Based on Pat Conroy's autobiographical novel The Water Is Wide, Voight portrayed the title character, an idealistic young schoolteacher sent to teach underprivileged black children on a remote South Carolina island.

The baby geniuses become involved in a scheme by media mogul Bill Biscane ( Jon Voight ), later revealed to be known as Kane, who kidnaps children everywhere.

Although his output slowed during the 1980s, Voight received critical acclaim for his performance as a ruthless bank robber in Runaway Train ( 1985 ).

Both Voight and co-star Hoffman were nominated for Best Actor, but lost out to John Wayne in True Grit.

This film first teamed him with the actor-director Maximilian Schell, who acted out a character named, and based on, " Butcher Of Riga " Eduard Roschmann, and for whom Voight would appear in 1976's End of the Game, a psychological thriller based on a story by Swiss novelist and playwright, Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

Jane Fonda won her second Best Actress award for her role, and Voight won for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Voight received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and won the Golden Globe's award for Best Actor.

Set in the Amazon, Voight played Paul Sarone, a snake hunter obsessed with a fabled giant anaconda, who hijacks an unwitting National Geographic film crew looking for a remote Indian tribe.

The following year, Voight had the lead role in the television movie The Fixer, in which he played Jack Killoran, a lawyer who crosses ethical lines in order to " fix " things for his wealthy clients.

Voight played Noah in the 1999 television production Noah's Ark, and appeared in Second String, also for TV.

Voight played Major-General Juergen Stroop, the German officer responsible for the destruction of the Jewish resistance, and received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Director Michael Mann tagged Voight for a small but crucial role in the 2001 biopic Ali, which starred Will Smith as the controversial former heavyweight champ, Muhammad Ali.

Voight received his fourth Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for his performance, extending his reign as one of Hollywoods most talented actors.

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

In March 2008, Voight appeared at a rally aboard the in San Diego, California, for the kick-off of Vets for Freedom's National Heroes Tour.

In an April 11, 2008, interview on the CNN Headline News Glenn Beck Show Voight stated that he had thrown his support to Republican Senator John McCain for President.