Editing Jon Voight (section)

=== 1970–1989: Stardom and acclaim ===
[[File:Jon Voight 1988.jpg|left|thumb|180px|Voight at the [[60th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]] in April 1988]]
In 1970, Voight appeared in [[Mike Nichols]]' adaptation of ''[[Catch-22 (film)|Catch-22]]'', and re-teamed with director Paul Williams to star in ''[[The Revolutionary (1970 film)|The Revolutionary]]'', as a left-wing college student struggling with his conscience. Voight next starred in 1972's ''[[Deliverance]].'' Directed by [[John Boorman]], from a script that [[James Dickey]] had helped to adapt from his own novel of the same name, it tells the story of a [[canoe]] trip in a feral, backwoods America. Both the film and the performances of Voight and co-stars [[Burt Reynolds]] and [[Ned Beatty]] received great critical acclaim, and were popular with audiences. Voight also appeared at the [[Studio Arena Theater]], in [[Buffalo, New York]], in the [[Tennessee Williams]] play ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' from 1973 to 1974 as [[Stanley Kowalski]].

Voight played a directionless young boxer in 1973's ''[[The All-American Boy (film)|The All American Boy]]'', then appeared in the 1974 film ''[[Conrack (1974 film)|Conrack]]'', directed by [[Martin Ritt]]. Based on [[Pat Conroy]]'s autobiographical novel ''[[The Water Is Wide (book)|The Water Is Wide]]'', Voight portrayed the title character, an idealistic young schoolteacher sent to teach underprivileged black children on a remote [[South Carolina]] island. The same year he appeared in ''[[The Odessa File (film)|The Odessa File]]'', based on [[Frederick Forsyth]]'s thriller, as Peter Miller, a young German journalist who discovers a conspiracy to protect former [[Nazi]]s still operating within Germany. This film first teamed him with the actor-director [[Maximilian Schell]], who acted out a character named and based on the "Butcher of Riga" [[Eduard Roschmann]], and for whom Voight would appear in 1975's ''[[End of the Game]]'', a psychological thriller co-starring [[Jacqueline Bisset]] and based on a story by Swiss novelist and playwright [[Friedrich Dürrenmatt]].

According to Joseph McBride's biography of [[Steven Spielberg]], Voight was Spielberg's first choice for the role of Matt Hooper in the 1975 film ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' and he turned down the role, which was ultimately played by [[Richard Dreyfuss]].<ref>Joseph McBride, ''Steven Spielberg: A Biography'' (Da Capo Press, 1999), {{ISBN|978-0-306-80900-2}}, p.236. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DbqATVZHvkQC&q=%22Jon+Voight%22+Jaws+Hooper&pg=PA236 Excerpt available]{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at [[Google Books]].</ref> However, in interview with Dr. Ben Carson on September 6, 2024,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB_hvV2Ke3s&t=6m35s | title=Courage in Cinema: Unfiltered Jon Voight Stands Tall | website=[[YouTube]] | date=September 9, 2024 }}</ref> Voight was asked if he turned down the part of Quint in Jaws; Voight said that the offer of a part in Jaws is "a myth" and that Spielberg had actually offered him a part in a different, less successful film, a role that he turned down because he thought it was a "repeat of the character from Midnight Cowboy".  In 1978, Voight portrayed the [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] veteran Luke Martin in [[Hal Ashby]]'s film ''[[Coming Home (1978 film)|Coming Home]],'' and was awarded [[Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)|Best Actor]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], for his portrait of a cynical, yet noble paraplegic, reportedly based on real-life Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar-activist [[Ron Kovic]], with whom [[Jane Fonda]]'s character falls in love. The film included a much-talked-about love scene between the two. Fonda won her second [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] award for her role, and Voight won for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Oscars.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1979 |title=The 51st Academy Awards |work=Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences |date=October 5, 2014 |access-date=16 September 2018 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004111/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1979 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1979, Voight once again put on [[boxing]] gloves, starring as an alcoholic ex-heavyweight in [[Franco Zeffirelli]]'s ''[[The Champ (1979 film)|The Champ]]'' with [[Faye Dunaway]] and [[Ricky Schroder]]. The film was an international success, but less popular with American audiences.

He next reteamed with director Ashby in 1982's ''[[Lookin' to Get Out]]'', in which he played Alex Kovac, a con man who has run into debt with New York mobsters and hopes to win enough in Las Vegas to pay them off. Voight both co-wrote the script and also co-produced. He also produced and acted in 1983's ''[[Table for Five]]'', in which he played a widower bringing up his children by himself. Also in 1983, Voight was slated to play Robert Harmon in [[John Cassavetes]]' Golden Bear-winning ''[[Love Streams (film)|Love Streams]]'', having performed the role on stage in 1981. However, a few weeks before shooting began, Voight announced that he also wanted to direct the picture and was consequently dropped.<ref>''Cassavetes on Cassavetes'', Ed. Ray Carney, London: Faber and Faber, 2001, p. 474</ref> In 1985, Voight teamed up with Russian writer and director [[Andrei Konchalovsky]] to play the role of escaped con Oscar "Manny" Manheim in ''[[Runaway Train (film)|Runaway Train]]''. The script was based on a story by [[Akira Kurosawa]], and paired Voight with [[Eric Roberts]] as a fellow escapee, and [[Rebecca De Mornay]] as an assistant locomotive engineer. Voight received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and won the [[Golden Globe]]'s award for Best Actor. Roberts was also honored for his performance, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Voight followed up this and other performances with a role in the 1986 film, ''[[Desert Bloom (film)|Desert Bloom]]'', and reportedly experienced a "spiritual awakening" toward the end of the decade. In 1989, Voight starred in and helped write ''[[Eternity (1990 film)|Eternity]]'', which dealt with a television reporter's efforts to uncover corruption.