Becoming a star in the 1970s
In 1969, Voight was cast in the groundbreaking Midnight Cowboy, a film that would make his career, establishing him as one of the premier actors of his generation. Voight played Joe Buck, a naïve male hustler from Texas, adrift in New York City. He comes under the tutelage of Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo, a tubercular petty thief and con artist. The film explored the demimonde of late sixties New York and the development of an unlikely, but poignant friendship between the two main characters. Directed by John Schlesinger and based on a novel by James Herlihy, the film struck a chord with critics. Because of its controversial themes, the film was released with an X rating and would make history by being the first and only X-rated feature to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Both Voight and co-star Hoffman were nominated for Best Actor but lost out to John Wayne, star of that year's True Grit.
Now a "name" actor, in 1970 Voight went on to join the all-star cast of Mike Ni
More about Jon Voight (From Wikipedia)
Early Life
Voight was born in Yonkers, New York, the son of Barbara (née Kamp; New York, January 7, 1910 – Palm Beach County, Florida, December 3, 1995) and Elmer Voytka, later Voight read more...
Early Career
After graduation, Voight moved to New York City, where he pursued an acting career. In 1962 he married actress Lauri Peters, whose credits include 1962's Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation read more...
Becoming A Star In The 1970s
In 1969, Voight was cast in the groundbreaking Midnight Cowboy, a film that would make his career, establishing him as one of the premier actors of his generation. Voight played read more...
Career In The 1980s
He next re-teamed with director Ashby in 1982's Lookin' to Get Out, in which he played Alex Kovac, a con man who has run into debt with New York mobsters and hopes to win enough read more...
Work In The 1990s
He made his first foray into television movies, acting in 1991's Chernobyl: The Final Warning, followed by The Last of his Tribe, in 1992. He returned to the big screen in 1992's read more...
Recent Career
Voight next nailed down the role of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 2001's blockbuster, Pearl Harbor, reportedly beating out Gene Hackman for the role (his performance was received read more...
Politics
In the 1970s during the Nixon administration, Voigt actively protested against the Vietnam War. However, he regrets his youthful anti-war activism in a July 28, 2008 op-ed piece read more...
Jonathan Vincent Voight (born December 29, 1938) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor. He has had a long and distinguished career as both a leading man and, in recent read more...