Marcheline Bertrand was an American actress and producer born in 1950.
• She had three acting credits and was the mother of Angelina Jolie and James Haven.
• She was raised in Riverdale, Illinois and studied acting at a performing arts college.
• She founded the company Woods Road Productions and launched the charity All Tribes Foundation with her former boyfriend John Trudell.
• She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and launched the organization Give Love Give Life.
• She had blue eyes, brown hair, was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall and weighed around 125lbs (56kgs).
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Who is Marcheline Bertrand?
The late American actress and producer Marcia Lynne ‘Marcheline’ Bertrand was born on Blue Islands, Illinois USA on 9 May 1950, meaning that her zodiac sign was Taurus. She had only three acting credits, and is probably best known for having been the mother of famous American actress, moviemaker and humanitarian Angelina Jolie, and American actor James Haven.
Education and childhood
Marcheline was raised in Riverdale, Illinois, alongside her younger siblings brother Raleigh and sister Debbie, by their French-Canadian father Rolland Bertrand and mother of German and Dutch descent Lois June (nee Gouwens).
Marcheline studied at a local elementary school in Riverdale, and enrolled at high school in 1964; the Bertrands moved to Beverly Hills, California in the following year, and Marcheline then attended a local high school. She was interested in several activities as a teenager, including acting with the school’s drama club and appearing in theatre plays, dancing, and practicing creative writing.
She matriculated in 1968, and then went on to study acting at a performing arts college; she was taught by the late American theatre director and acting teacher Lee Strasberg.
Career as an actress
Marcheline launched her acting career with her playing of a supporting character in a 1971 episode of the popular crime mystery series “Ironside”, which Collier Young created, and which starred Don Mitchell, Don Galloway and Raymond Burr. It follows the life of wheelchair-bound detective Robert T. Ironside, the series aired from 1967 to 1975, and won four of its 21 award nominations.
Marcheline had no other roles in the following 10 years, as she was focused on being a housewife and raising her children, until in 1982 portraying Girl in Jeep in the comedy movie “Lookin’ to Get Out”, which Hal Ashby directed, and which starred her former husband Jon Voight, Ann-Margret and Burt Young. It tells the story of Alex who’s come to Las Vegas, Nevada with his best friend Jerry, in an attempt to win the money which he owes to gangsters.
Marcheline had only one other role prior to her retiring from acting – she portrayed Girl in the 1983 romantic comedy movie “The Man Who Loved Women”, written and directed by Blake Edwards, and which starred Burt Reynolds, Julie Andrews and Kim Basinger. It follows the life of womanizing sculptor David who’s seeking help from psychiatrist Marianna, hoping that she can help him with his obsession with women.
Producing
In 1983, Marcheline and her then-boyfriend, American documentary moviemaker and YouTuber Bill Day founded their own company Woods Road Productions, and Marcheline worked behind the scenes in the following 20 years, only attracting attention with her 2005 documentary movie “Trudell”, which follows the life of her former boyfriend, Native American author, poet and actor John Trudell. The movie was shown at several film festivals, and won a Seattle International Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary.
Philanthropy
When Marcheline and John Trudell were together, they launched the charity All Tribes Foundation, which aimed to help Native Americans; in only a couple of years, the foundation raised and then donated close to $1 million to reservation-based programs.
Marcheline and John organized a benefit concert for Afghan refugee women on 8 March 2003.
In 1999, Marcheline was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and this led her and John to launch the organization Give Love Give Life; its goal was to raise awareness of ovarian and other cancers with the help of music, and the organization’s debut concert was held at the nightclub The Roxy in Los Angeles, California in February 2004. Marcheline and John then supported the legislation Johanna’s Law, which was signed into law on 12 January 2007.
A month following Marcheline’s death, the second Give Love Give Life concert was held at the Los Angeles’ Gibson Amphitheater.
Death
Marcheline lost her eight-year battle against breast and ovarian cancer aged 56 on 27 January 2007, when she died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles; her children were by her side at the time of her passing.
Marcheline’s mother and sister had also died from cancer, and this was amongst the reasons why her daughter Angelina chose to undergo a preventive double mastectomy on 16 February 2013, aged 37; she had previously learned that her chances of developing breast cancer were 87 percent, because of her defective BRCA1 gene.
Love life and boyfriends
Marcheline’s only husband was famous American actor, screenwriter and producer Jonathan Vincent ‘Jon’ Voight, who’s appeared in more than 100 movies and TV series, and is probably still best known for his playing of Joe Buck in the 1969 drama movie “Midnight Cowboy”; for his performance in the 1978 romantic war movie “Coming Home”, Jon won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He was also nominated for three other Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1970, 1986 and 2002, for “Midnight Cowboy”, “Runaway Train” and “Ali”.
Marcheline and Johnathan married in December 1971, and she gave birth to their son James Haven (nee Voight) on 11 May 1973, and their daughter Angelina followed on 4 June 1975. Marcheline and Jonathan split in 1976, after she had learned of his multiple infidelities, and their divorce was finalized on 14 April 1980.
She was then in an 11-year relationship with Bill Day, and at the time of her death, Marcheline’s partner was John Trudell.
Some sources mistakenly state that Marcheline was married to non-celebrity American Tom Bessamra from 2002 until her passing.
#inmemoriam
Marcia Lynne "Marcheline" Bertrand (May 9, 1950 – January 27, 2007) was an American actress and humanitarian. She was the former wife of actor Jon Voight, and the mother of actress Angelina Jolie and actor James Haven pic.twitter.com/LfWh0s8EoO— Back To The 80s (@back21980s) January 27, 2022
Interesting facts and hobbies
Marcheline left $100,000 to each of her daughter Angelina’s children: Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (biological), Zahara Jolie-Pitt (adopted) and Maddox Jolie-Pitt (adopted); Angelina adopted Pax and gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox after Marcheline’s death, and they thus didn’t have a share in her estate.
Marcheline had suffered several miscarriages.
She was Roman Catholic.
Marcheline often claimed that she was of Iroquois descent, and it’s been revealed that her Native American ancestry can be traced to a Huron woman who lived in present-day Quebec in 1649.
She loved to travel, and had been to Asia and Africa on many occasions, mostly with various charity organizations.
Height, eyes and wealth
Marcheline was 56 at the time of her death, and would’ve been 72 today. She had blue eyes and brown hair, was 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall and weighed around 125lbs (56kgs).
Her net worth was estimated at over $1 million at the time of her passing.
