Topic: Marcheline Bertrand

Marcia Lynne "Marcheline" Bertrand (May 9, 1950 – January 27, 2007) was an American actress.

Bertrand was born in Riverdale, Illinois, the daughter of Lois June (née Gouwens) and Rolland F. Bertrand. She had a brother, Raleigh Bertrand, and a sister Debbie Bertrand. She was of French-Canadian and Iroquoian descent on her father's side, and is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier. However, Voight has claimed Bertrand was "not seriously Iroquois", and they merely said it to enhance his ex-wife's exotic background. According to daughter Angelina Jolie, Bertrand was often wrongly identified as a French actress: "My mom is as far from French Parisian as you can get. She grew up in a bowling alley that my grandparents owned." In 1965, Bertrand's family moved to Beverly Hills from the Chicago area. She attended Beverly Hills High School, beginning with the sophomore year.

Bertrand married actor Jon Voight on December 12, 1971. The couple had two children: actor James Haven and actress Angelina Jolie. Bertrand and Voight separated in 1976 and filed for divorce in 1978, which was finalized on April 14 1980. In 1978, Bertrand met documentary filmmaker Bill Day (Saviors of the Forest and Missionary Positions, among others). Day and Bertrand lived together for 12 years in Beverly Hills and New York City. Numerous miscarriages ended their hopes of having their own children. As business partners in Woods Road Productions, they developed a film project called Amazonia and sold it to film director Ridley Scott, but the project never took off.