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Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in 2007
BornWilliam Bradley Pitt
Years active1987 – present
SpouseJennifer Aniston (2000-2005)
PartnerAngelina Jolie (2005-)
AwardsSaturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1995 Twelve Monkeys
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
2007 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor, film producer, and social activist. He became famous during the mid 1990s after having starring roles in several major Hollywood films, including Interview with the Vampire in 1994 and the thriller Se7en in 1995. Pitt was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award, both of which were for his role in Twelve Monkeys (1996).

Pitt is consistently cited as one of the most attractive men alive by celebrity magazines and is regarded one of the top Hollywood A-listers. His former marriage to Jennifer Aniston and current relationship with Angelina Jolie have been widely covered in the world media. He is the father of four children, one biological, all of whom have also received fevered media coverage. Since his connection with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues, both domestically (in Hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans) and abroad (in the poverty-stricken third world).

Early life

Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the son of Jane Etta (née Hillhouse), a high school counselor, and William Alvin Pitt, a truck company owner. Along with his brother Doug and sister Julie Neal, he grew up in Springfield, Missouri, where the family moved soon after his birth. Pitt was raised as roman catholic. He attended Kickapoo High School, where he was involved in sports, debating, student government, and acting. He attended the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri - Columbia where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.

ASS PUSSY!

Personal life

Pitt dated actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Thandie Newton, Robin Givens, Juliette Lewis, and Sinitta during the 1990s.

Marriage to Jennifer Aniston

File:Jen-aniston-DSC31365.jpg
Jennifer Aniston

In 1998, Pitt met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston and married her at an enclosed wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000. The couple were adamant that the ceremony would be a private affair and hired hundreds of guards to block out any attempts of invasion by the paparazzi. Only one media picture was ever released of the wedding. Not long after the wedding, Pitt sued Damiani International, the company which made the wedding ring he gave Jennifer Aniston, for selling replica "Brad and Jennifer" rings. According to Pitt, the ring was his design and was to be exclusive. Under the settlement reached in January 2002, Pitt would design jewelry for Damiani that Aniston would model in ads, and the company would stop selling the copies.

Though their marriage was, for years, considered the rare Hollywood success, rumors of trouble began circulating, and the Pitts announced their separation on January 7, 2005. As Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston drew to a close, he and Angelina Jolie were involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal in which Jolie was often painted as the "other woman," largely due to their chemistry during the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. While Jolie and Pitt both denied any claims of adultery, speculations continued to mount throughout 2004 and early 2005. In an interview with Ann Curry in June 2005, Jolie explained, "To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive. I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife."

The concept of a "troubled marriage" (and arguably his own) inspired Pitt to cooperate with Steven Klein for a photoshoot in early 2005 entitled "Domestic Bliss" for W magazine. The spread showed Pitt and Angelina Jolie as a 1963 married couple with children. Pitt expressed the desire to tell a darker, truer tale, one that explored the "unidentifiable malaise" that often haunts a seemingly happy couple. "You don't know what's wrong," he remarked, "because the marriage is everything you signed up for." For her part, Aniston later cited the shoot as evidence that Pitt has "a sensitivity chip that's missing."

Aniston filed for a divorce on March 25 the same year. The divorce was finalized on October 2 2005.

Relationship with Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie

Speculation of a relationship between the two began to be confirmed with the first private paparazzi photos of Jolie and Pitt emerged April 9, 2005 (and were reportedly bought for $500,000). They showed Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya. During the summer, the pair were seen together with increasing frequency, and the entertainment media dubbed the couple "Brangelina". Two months later, the highly-anticipated July 2005 issue of W magazine hit newsstands, featuring Pitt and Jolie posed as a married couple.

In July 2005 he accompanied Jolie to Ethiopia, where Jolie adopted a six-month-old girl named Zahara; later Jolie indicated that she and Pitt made the decision to adopt the girl together. In December 2005 it was confirmed that Pitt was seeking to legally adopt Jolie's two children as his (as part of legal requirements), classified advertisements in the Los Angeles paper Daily Commerce announcing the name change request. On January 19, 2006, a judge in California approved this request. The children's legal surnames were formally changed to "Jolie-Pitt". During a charity trip to Haiti with Wyclef Jean, rumors began to circulate that Jolie was pregnant. On January 11, 2006 Jolie confirmed to People magazine that she was pregnant with Pitt's child. On May 27, 2006, Jolie gave birth to a daughter, named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, at the Cottage Medi-Clinic Hospital in Swakopmund, Namibia by the couple's Los Angeles obstetrician, assisted by local staff. Pitt confirmed that their newborn daughter would have a Namibian passport. Public interest in the child was immense. In an August 2006 survey, 41 percent of participating 18 to 24-year-old American adults correctly identified that the couple had named their baby Shiloh. Jolie decided to offer the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images herself, rather than allowing paparazzi to take these extremely valuable snapshots. People magazine paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, while British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for roughly $3.5 million; the total rights sale earned up to $10 million worldwide – the most expensive celebrity image of all time. Jolie and Pitt donated all the earnings to an undisclosed charity. On July 26, 2006 Madame Tussauds of New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it is the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds.

Pitt and Jolie are not married. In 2006, Pitt said, "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able."

The Jolie-Pitt children

Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt (originally Rath Vibol)
Born on August 5, 2001; adopted at 7 months old on March 10, 2002. He was in Cambodia and initially lived in a local orphanage in Battambang. Maddox's name is Celtic in origin, usually translated as "beneficent." His middle name is Khmer for "life" and is shared with a member of the Cambodian royal family, Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak. Maddox has gained considerable celebrity in his own right, and his adoption is often credited with sparking the celebrity adoption trend of the 2000s. He appears regularly in the tabloid media, was named the "cutest celebrity kid" and he is known for this Mohawk hairstyle.
Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt (originally Pham Quang Sang)
Born on November 29, 2003. On March 2, 2007, Vu Duc Long (head of Vietnam's international adoption department) confirmed that Jolie had filed papers to adopt a child from Vietnam. On March 16, 2007, Jolie went to Vietnam (with Maddox) to get her new son. Since the Vietnam orphanage does not allow unmarried couples to adopt, Jolie adopted Pax as a single parent. Pitt later adopted him.
Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt (originally Tena Adam)
Born on January 8, 2005; adopted at 6 months old on July 6, 2005. She was orphaned when her mother died of AIDS. Jolie adopted her from Wide Horizons For Children orphanage in Addis Ababa. Shortly after they returned to the United States, Zahara spent time in a hospital for salmonella-intestinal infection as well as dehydration and malnutrition. Jolie stated that "she was six months and not nine pounds. Her skin, you could squeeze it, it stuck together". Zahara's name means "flower" in Swahili. Her middle name "Marley" comes from the late Jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley.
Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt
Born on May 27, 2006 at Cottage Medi-Clinic Hospital in Swakopmund, Namibia. Shiloh was born by a scheduled cesarean section, due to breech presentation. Her middle name, Nouvel, comes from Jean Nouvel, one of Pitt's favorite architects. She is Pitt's only biological child.

Life in New Orleans

The family divides its time between Los Angeles, California and New Orleans, Louisiana. In an interview with the Times-Picayune, while filming The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Pitt said:

I can't describe why we're allowed to live a more normal life (in New Orleans). Living in the French Quarter is a thrill for us. We have some semblance of real family life. People have been very, very gracious with us. If we're on the front deck, people go by and say, 'Hi.' Then they go on their way, very friendly.

Charitable housing development in New Orleans

In December 2006, Pitt gathered a group of housing professionals together in New Orleans to begin planning a project that Pitt calls Make It Right, with the goal of financing and constructing 150 new houses in New Orlean's Ninth Ward. The houses are being designed with an emphasis on sustainability and affordability, with the hope that the project can and will be replicated throughout the city. Thirteen architectural firms are involved in the project, many of which are donating their services. Pitt and philanthropist Steve Bing have each committed to matching $5 million in donations.

Popular esteem

In 1995, Pitt was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 25 sexiest stars in film history. Pitt has also twice been named the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine.

Pitt was also prominently featured in the December 2006 Art Issue of Vanity Fair. Pitt appears on the cover in nothing but a pair of white boxers. The cover promotes an article on the Robert Wilson video portraits, a production of LAB HD that includes numerous celebrities and noted personalities. This cover has drawn criticism from Pitt because although he had signed a release for the image, he did not expect it to end up on the cover of Vanity Fair more than a year later. The video portrait, which represents Pitt’s first effort in avant-garde cinema, was exhibited at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes and Awards
1987 No Man's Land Waiter
Less Than Zero Partygoer
Cutting Class Dwight Ingalls First major role
1990 Too Young to Die? Billy Canton With Juliet Lewis
1991 Across the Tracks Joe Maloney Athletics teen drama
Thelma & Louise J.D. First mainstream film
Johnny Suede Johnny Suede
1992 Contact Short
Cool World Detective Frank Harris
A River Runs Through It Paul Maclean Directed by Robert Redford
1993 Kalifornia Early Grayce With David Duchovny
True Romance Floyd
1994 The Favor
Interview with the Vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac
Legends of the Fall Tristan Ludlow
1995 Se7en David Mills
Twelve Monkeys Jeffrey Goines
1996 Sleepers Michael Sullivan
1997 The Devil's Own
Seven Years in Tibet Heinrich Harrer Tibetan nationalism saw Pitt banned from China for life.
The Dark Side of the Sun Rick Filmed in 1988 in Yugoslavia
1998 Meet Joe Black Joe Black/Man in the Coffee Shop
1999 Being John Malkovich Cameo
Fight Club Tyler Durden
2000 Snatch Mickey O'Neil
2001 The Mexican With Julia Roberts
Spy Game Tom Bishop
Ocean's Eleven Rusty Ryan
2002 Full Frontal
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Brad, Bachelor #1
2003 Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas Sinbad Voice Actor
Abby Singer Himself Cameo
2004 Troy Achilles
Ocean's Twelve Rusty Ryan
2005 Special Thanks to Roy London Documentary
Mr. & Mrs. Smith John Smith With Angelina Jolie
2006 The Departed Producer:Academy Award
Babel Richard
Robert Wilson Video Portrait
2007 The Assassination of Jesse James
by the Coward Robert Ford		 Jesse James
A Mighty Heart Co-producer
Ocean's Thirteen Rusty Ryan
2008 Shantaram Co-producer
Burn After Reading
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Benjamin Button

Awards and nominations

Awards won:

Template:S-awards
Preceded byRichard Gere and Cindy Crawford
(as Sexiest Couple Alive in 1993)
(no award given in 1994)
 		People's Sexiest Man Alive
1995
 Succeeded byDenzel Washington
Preceded byRichard Gere People's Sexiest Man Alive
2000
 Succeeded byPierce Brosnan
Saturn Award
Preceded byGary Sinise
for Forrest Gump 		Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1995
for Twelve Monkeys 		Succeeded byBrent Spiner
for Star Trek: First Contact
Golden Globe Award
Preceded byMartin Landau
for Ed Wood 		Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1996
for Twelve Monkeys 		Succeeded byEdward Norton
for Primal Fear
Venice Film Festival
Preceded byBen Affleck
for Hollywoodland 		Best Actor
2007
for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 		Succeeded byTBD

Awards nominations:

See also

References

  1. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20409763/ Pitt envisions day when energy bills will be ‘useless' Hollywood star believes New Orleans project will serve as national model, access date 2007-08-23
  2. http://www.filmreference.com/film/24/Brad-Pitt.html
  3. Ancestry of Brad Pitt
  4. Brad Pitt Hello Magazine Profile
  5. Angelina Denies Being 'Intimate' with a Married Brad
  6. Bagley, Christopher (2005). "Domestic Bliss" Style.com Retrieved on July 10, 2007
  7. Bennetts Leslie (September 2005). "The Unsinkable Jennifer Aniston" VanityFair.com. Retrieved September 4, 2007
  8. Magazine Apologizes After Jolie Adoption Mix-Up
  9. Jolie Adopts Ethiopian Baby
  10. Angelina Jolie: Her Mission and Motherhood
  11. Pitt To Officially Adopt Jolie's Children
  12. Jolie Takes Out Ads as Part of Her Bid to Change Kids' Names
  13. Judge says Jolie's children can take Pitt’s name
  14. Jolie and Pitt Expecting
  15. Little Shiloh will be Namibian: Angelina and Brad
  16. New survey finds that majority of young adults know "American Idol" winner, while only 14% are aware of number of lives saved from blood donation
  17. Gossip Roundup: 'People' Kidnaps Shiloh for $4.1m
  18. NYC wax museum shows off Jolie-Pitt baby
  19. "My List," by Brad Pitt in the 1 October 2006 issue of Esquire
  20. ^ Angelina Jolie's Name Interrupted
  21. Name Meaning of Maddox
  22. Jolie-Pitt name tracker, March 2007 edition
  23. Maddox cutest kid
  24. Jolie and Pitt 'to adopt again'
  25. Official: Angelina Jolie Files to Adopt in Vietnam
  26. ANGELINA'S BABY ZAHARA: HER TOUCHING FAMILY STORY
  27. ^ Jolie Saved Baby Daughter from Death
  28. Meaning of name: Zahara
  29. Us Exclusive: Jolie Confirms She and Pitt Have Moved to New Orleans
  30. Boucher, Phil (May 14, 2007). "Brad Pitt Says He Misses Living in New Orleans" People.com Retrieved July 23, 2007
  31. "Make It Right Project webpage". 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  32. Pogrebin, Robin (3 December 2007). "Brad Pitt Commissions Designs for New Orleans". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

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