Angelina Jolie is a mother of six, but sadly, her own mother is no longer with us. Marcheline Bertrand passed away in 2007 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and the devastating loss had a huge impact on her star daughter.
Jolie has kept her mother’s legacy alive for years, but the scars of Marcheline’s passing remain. At a premiere of the Toronto International Film Festival, the now 50-year-old actress choked up while recalling a heartbreaking memory her mom told her during her cancer journey.
Angelina Jolie was born in 1975 to parents Marcheline Bertrand and Jon Voight. Her father, a well-known actor, had met her mother in Los Angeles, as Marcheline was pursuing her own acting career. The couple welcomed both Angelina and her brother, James, but sadly, they divorced when Jolie was only three years old.
Marcheline became a single mother and raised both Angelina and James on her own. Their relationship was extremely strong, lasting all the way until the heartbreaking day Marcheline passed away. In 1999, Jolie’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. On January 27, 2007, she passed away aged 56.
Jolie had a close and loving relationship with her mother, and since her passing, the actress has continued to keep her mom’s legacy alive. A year after her death, in 2008, Jolie spoke to Vanity Fair about how the tragedy impacted her, as well as her views on motherhood. Angelina has six children, whom she shares with Brad Pitt.
“When [my mother] passed, I realized that somebody who lives life with that kind of dedication to their family is the most noble,” Angelina Jolie said. “In her passing she reminded me what matters. And what’s most fun — to put yourself aside for these other little people you’re raising.”
Angelina Jolie went through a preventative mastectomy
Over the years, Jolie has tried to do all she can to both raise awareness and money for cancer research, but also to lower the risk of getting it herself.
In 2013, she underwent a preventative mastectomy, which sparked an “Angelina Effect.” In an op-ed in The New York Times, Jolie wrote that, after learning she had a “faulty” gene called BRCA1 that gave her an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer, the actress decided to take action.
“I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience. Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action,” Jolie wrote, adding that she “wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy.”
The Tomb Raider star continued by saying she was “very happy” that she did it, as her risk of developing breast cancer dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent.
“I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer,” Jolie wrote, explaining that she hoped that her own experience would raise awareness.
“For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options. I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.”
Praised for raising public awareness about breast cancer
Jolie’s decision to go public with her preventative mastectomy generated what was called the “Angelina Effect.” Celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, a breast cancer survivor, praised Jolie for her courage in speaking out about it. Several experts in the field also acknowledged how the public’s awareness had increased significantly.
UK charity Prevent Breast Cancer wrote in 2014 that the Maleficent star’s preventative mastectomy has had a “massive impact on the numbers of women in the UK being referred for preventative treatment.”
“Research by our professor of clinical genetics, Gareth Evans, has shown a two-fold increase in the number of referrals for genetic counselling and testing for breast cancer risk across the UK in the year since the famous actress announced her surgery,” the charity further wrote.
Further, in 2018, Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon Dr. Jay Orringer said: “I have personally seen women whose lives were likely saved as a result of the public awareness that has resulted from the ‘Angelina Jolie effect.’”
Jolie has opened up about both her preventative procedures and the unimaginable tragedy of losing her mother to cancer several times. In 2019, in an emotional piece for Time, Jolie recalled the sadness of her mother no longer being among us.
“I have lived over a decade now without a mom. She met only a few of her grandchildren and was often too sick to play with them,” Jolie wrote in 2019.
Angelina Jolie shares emotional story about late mother who died of breast cancer
“It’s hard now for me to consider anything in this life divinely guided when I think of how much their lives would have benefited from time with her and the protection of her love and grace. My mother fought the disease for a decade and made it into her 50s. My grandmother died in her 40s. I’m hoping my choices allow me to live a bit longer.”
Meanwhile, Jolie’s acting career continues to shine. On Sunday, September 7, the Academy Award-winning actress recently attended the premiere of her latest film, Couture, at the Toronto International Film Festival. During a Q&A after the screening, Jolie got emotional as she spoke about her late mother’s cancer.
Per People Magazine, an audience member – who had recently lost a friend to cancer – asked Jolie what her message of “hope” is for those still struggling. The movie star replied, saying, “I’m very sorry for your loss,” before continuing to speak about her late mom, Marcheline. According to Entertainment Weekly, she started to cry.
“I think I will say that one thing I remember my mother saying when she had cancer, she said to me once, we had had a dinner and people were asking her how she was feeling and she said, ‘All anybody ever asks me about is cancer,” Jolie said.
She added: “So I would say, if you know someone who is going through something, ask them about everything else in their life as well, you know? They’re a whole person and they’re still living.”
Angelina Jolie is so courageous for opening up about her late mother’s cancer. We are so proud of her for wanting to make a difference. Please share this article on Facebook with friends and family; hopefully, it can help people, both patients and their loved ones, to find hope and faith in a brighter future.
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