Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress, a model and a humanitarian. The daughter of actor Jon Voigt, she gained her own fame first in television, winning Golden Globe Awards for her performances in both George Wallace and Gia. It was her supporting role in Girl Interrupted in 1999 that earned her an Oscar.
In 2001, Jolie was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees after a mission to Sierra Leone. Seeing the destruction caused by the country's civil war made her decide to use her fame to help the cause of refugees. She has traveled to countries such as Tanzania, Cambodia, Namibia, Pakistan, Ecuador and Thailand to raise awareness.
Jolie has also gained media attention for her personal life. She is divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, and she now lives with actor Brad Pitt. Their relationship has gained attention throughout the world, as have her adoptions of Maddox from Cambodia, Zahara from Ethiopia and Pax from Vietnam. She and Pitt also have three biological children together: a daughter, Shiloh, who was born in 2006, and twins Knox (a boy) and Vivienne (a girl), who were born in 2008. In 2009, Forbes named Jolie the most powerful celebrity in the world, surpassing Oprah, Britney Spears and Tom Cruise.