Jon Voight reveals he and his wife lost a child through miscarriage 50 years ago: 'It was a great trauma'
Actor Jon Voight revealed that his then-wife, Marcheline Bertrand, (and the late mother of Angelina Jolie) suffered a miscarriage back in 1972.
On Friday, the 82-year-old told "Page Six" that Bertrand, who died in 2007 after battling ovarian cancer, lost their unborn baby during their marriage, which lasted from 1971 to 1980. “My wife and I lost a child during pregnancy. It was a great, great loss. It was a great trauma for my wife,” Voight told the outlet. “She was very disturbed by that. There has been a sadness for the rest of my life, so it’s a serious thing.”
Voight was promoting his new film, Roe v. Wade, which covers the story of American abortion provider Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who over the course of his career grew to oppose abortion, reported the New York Times in 2011 when he died of cancer at age 84. In the film, which the Times called “a hammy period drama,” Voight plays Chief Justice Warren Burger, who voted with the majority in the 1973 Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion.
“You know when a woman is carrying life — it’s a huge event and not to be taken lightly,” Voight told "Page Six." “And what has happened over the years is that people have taken termination of a pregnancy lightly and use it as a prophylactic.”
The film was made available to buy on Amazon Prime on April 2 and stars Stacey Dash, Nick Loeb and Joey Lawrence.
Jolie and her brother, James Haven, were small children when their parents split up. The actress’s relationship with her father, a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump, has gone through periods of closeness and estrangement.
The Maleficent actress, who shares six children with her estranged husband Brad Pitt (their divorce proceedings have been ongoing since 2016), has described her late mother as "grace incarnate," once admitting, "I will never be as good a mother as she was."
Related: Jon Voight on Ray Donovan and playing grandpa to Brangelina's brood
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