Jolie-Pitt Love
Monday, February 5, 2007
Marcheline Bertrand Remembered
Angelina Jolie's mother's passing remembered locally
offBeat with PHILIP POTEMPA
Of local interest
My best sources for this daily column aren't wire service reports or magazines or publicists, they're the readers who regularly follow what appears in this space every day and pass along so many tips and scoops.
For example, if it weren't for Ken and Mary Cahill of Griffith, I wouldn't be writing today's tribute to Angelina Jolie's actress mother Marcheline Bertrand, who died in Los Angeles over the weekend after battling cancer.
As it turns out Bertrand, who was 56, has local roots, including a childhood and faith-based education shared with the Cahills and so many others (including one of my editors Bill Bero) in the old neighborhoods around Riverdale and Dolton, Ill., and the border of Chicago, where she graduated from St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic School
in 1964. Her sister Debbie graduated in 1966.
After graduation, Bertrand left the region to live in Los Angeles to pursue her acting dream studying under the famed Lee Strasberg and playing minor television roles, like working with Raymond Burr in a 1971 episode of "Ironside" before starring in a few feature films in the 1980s. It was also in 1971 that she met and married actor Jon Voight and had her two children, actor James Haven in 1973 and Angelina in 1975. Her actress daughter decided to use her middle name "Jolie," for her professional last name, which means "pretty" in French and was chosen by her mother, who was of both French-Canadian and Iroquois descent. Bertrand and Voight divorced in 1978.
It was Sunday, when Jolie announced her mother's passing at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. in a news release, which also said the funeral service this week would be private and the family asked that donations be made to the Women's Cancer Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai. The release said both Jolie and Haven were at their mother's bedside at the time of her death, as was Jolie's boyfriend Brad Pitt.
Bertrand's name was remembered this week at St. Mary's Church. Even though the school she attended no longer is open, Bertrand was always generous and valued her region roots and memories. In fact, one of the crosses displayed inside the church was donated by Bertrand and then-husband Voight.
And when the church published a commemorative book in 1986 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the parish's founding, Bertrand bought five full pages (special gold foil pages) to help finance the publishing of the book. The pages were dedications to her parents, grandparents and her cousin, and included personal messages like: "The most wonderful gift my parents ever gave me was my Catholic education. Attending St. Mary's School was a truly invaluable experience for me. Learning how to apply the teachings of Jesus Christ into my daily life is what has helped me most to survive many difficult challenges. I love you St. Mary's Church. Chicago will always be home for me."
One of the pages Bertrand bought also features a message from a young 10-year-old Angelina and 12-year-old James, which reads: "Thank you St. Mary's Church and School for teaching our mom about Jesus and his mother. She still reads us stories from all her old catechism books. Because of you, our mom is very close to Mary. Maybe that is why she is such a good Mom."
It was reported that last June, Jolie was in California with her mother when she knew she was dying, so Bertrand could meet her new granddaughter Shiloh Nouvel, whose father is Pitt.
The baby had been born the month before in Namibia, Africa.
link
offBeat with PHILIP POTEMPA
Of local interest
My best sources for this daily column aren't wire service reports or magazines or publicists, they're the readers who regularly follow what appears in this space every day and pass along so many tips and scoops.
For example, if it weren't for Ken and Mary Cahill of Griffith, I wouldn't be writing today's tribute to Angelina Jolie's actress mother Marcheline Bertrand, who died in Los Angeles over the weekend after battling cancer.As it turns out Bertrand, who was 56, has local roots, including a childhood and faith-based education shared with the Cahills and so many others (including one of my editors Bill Bero) in the old neighborhoods around Riverdale and Dolton, Ill., and the border of Chicago, where she graduated from St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic School
in 1964. Her sister Debbie graduated in 1966.
After graduation, Bertrand left the region to live in Los Angeles to pursue her acting dream studying under the famed Lee Strasberg and playing minor television roles, like working with Raymond Burr in a 1971 episode of "Ironside" before starring in a few feature films in the 1980s. It was also in 1971 that she met and married actor Jon Voight and had her two children, actor James Haven in 1973 and Angelina in 1975. Her actress daughter decided to use her middle name "Jolie," for her professional last name, which means "pretty" in French and was chosen by her mother, who was of both French-Canadian and Iroquois descent. Bertrand and Voight divorced in 1978.
It was Sunday, when Jolie announced her mother's passing at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. in a news release, which also said the funeral service this week would be private and the family asked that donations be made to the Women's Cancer Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai. The release said both Jolie and Haven were at their mother's bedside at the time of her death, as was Jolie's boyfriend Brad Pitt.
Bertrand's name was remembered this week at St. Mary's Church. Even though the school she attended no longer is open, Bertrand was always generous and valued her region roots and memories. In fact, one of the crosses displayed inside the church was donated by Bertrand and then-husband Voight.
And when the church published a commemorative book in 1986 to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the parish's founding, Bertrand bought five full pages (special gold foil pages) to help finance the publishing of the book. The pages were dedications to her parents, grandparents and her cousin, and included personal messages like: "The most wonderful gift my parents ever gave me was my Catholic education. Attending St. Mary's School was a truly invaluable experience for me. Learning how to apply the teachings of Jesus Christ into my daily life is what has helped me most to survive many difficult challenges. I love you St. Mary's Church. Chicago will always be home for me."
One of the pages Bertrand bought also features a message from a young 10-year-old Angelina and 12-year-old James, which reads: "Thank you St. Mary's Church and School for teaching our mom about Jesus and his mother. She still reads us stories from all her old catechism books. Because of you, our mom is very close to Mary. Maybe that is why she is such a good Mom."
It was reported that last June, Jolie was in California with her mother when she knew she was dying, so Bertrand could meet her new granddaughter Shiloh Nouvel, whose father is Pitt.
The baby had been born the month before in Namibia, Africa.
link
Labels: news
