The Hollywood star is known for his illustrious film career and star-studded love life

Happy Birthday, Brad Pitt! The Hollywood icon, who first rose to fame playing a cowboy hitchhiker in the 1991 drama film Thelma & Louise, celebrates a milestone birthday on Monday.

The Oklahoma native is known not only for his illustrious film career but also for his star-studded romantic history, particularly with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie. As Brad turns 60, we take a look back at his life and career…

While Brad began his acting career with various TV appearances, including on the prime-time soap opera Dallas in 1987, it was his role as cowboy JD in Thelma & Louise that sparked his quick rise to stardom.

From there, he led various roles in major blockbusters, including Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Seven, and the sci-fi film, 12 Monkeys, which earned the star a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination.

Illustrious Hollywood career

He went on to earn his second Academy Award nomination for the 2008 drama film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button before eventually winning the gong in 2020 for his performance in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

With performances that range across an array of genres in a career spanning over three decades, Brad really is the ultimate movie star.

Famous love life

Brad has perhaps one of the most famous love lives in Hollywood and has dated the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Christina Applegate over the years.

His most notable relationships, however, were with Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie, both of whom he married and divorced.

Relationship with Jennifer Aniston

Brad first crossed paths with Jennifer in the mid-1990s. It’s thought that the couple first got together in 1998 and enjoyed a whirlwind romance before Brad popped the question the following year.

Hollywood’s hottest couple would go on to tie the knot in Malibu on July 29, 2000, in front of 200 guests.

The showbiz world was left reeling five years later when the pair announced their divorce. In a joint statement via People, they said: “We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate. For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media. This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another. We ask in advance for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months.”

Later friendship with Jennifer

While Jennifer and Brad’s relationship didn’t last, their friendship clearly did. In 2021, Jennifer said the pair were “buddies” during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show.

Meeting Angelina Jolie

Angelina and Brad first met on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2003, when Brad was married to Jennifer.

The pair were friends at first with the relationship turning romantic later on. Angelina told Vogue in 2007: “It took until, really, the end of the [shooting Mr. and Mrs. Smith] for us, I think, to realize that it might mean something more than we’d earlier allowed ourselves to believe. And both knowing that the reality of that was a big thing, something that was going to take a lot of serious consideration.”

Brad and Jennifer’s divorce was finalized in October 2005, and in January the following year, the last names of Angelina’s adopted children, Maddox and Zahara, were changed to Jolie-Pitt.

The couple went on to welcome their first child together, Shiloh Nouvel, in May 2006. From there, the pair would welcome three more children, an adopted son named Pax, and biological twins Knox and Vivienne.

Wedding and divorce from Angelina

Brad and Angelina eventually tied the knot in 2014. The intimate wedding ceremony, which was covered by HELLO!, took place in the chapel of Château Miraval at their French residence in the South of France.

“I was surprised afterwards at the effect that getting married has had on us – it was more than just a ceremony, it meant a real depth of commitment,” Brad told us at the time, adding: “I feel like a married man – I really do.”

Two years into their marriage, Angelina filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences and requesting physical custody of their six children.

FBI investigation

During Angelina and Brad’s high profile and bitter separation, reports of an alleged altercation on a private plane came to light.

The FBI conducted a closed review into the allegedly abusive incident, which is thought to have occurred shortly before Angelina’s filing in 2016.

In 2022 court papers related to a legal battle over a French winery the former couple once owned, Angelina claimed her ex-husband was abusive towards her while detailing the 2016 flight from France to California.

In the filing, Angelina claimed that Brad had “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” and also “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her”.

Brad denied any abuse and was never charged in connection with the incident.

Struggle with prosopagnosia

In 2022, Brad opened up about his struggle with prosopagnosia, a rare neurological disorder commonly referred to as face blindness.

During an interview with GQ, Brad, who hasn’t been formally diagnosed with the condition, admitted that his inability to recognize people’s faces left him feeling ashamed.

“Nobody believes me!” he told the publication.

Sobriety journey

After Angelina filed for divorce in 2016, Brad made it his mission to become sober and spent a year and a half attending Alcoholics Anonymous.

He told GQ: “I had a really cool men’s group here that was really private and selective, so it was safe. Because I’d seen things of other people who had been recorded while they were spilling their guts, and that’s just atrocious to me.”

New love

Brad is currently dating jewellery designer Ines de Ramon. The couple were first pictured attending a Bono concert in November last year and reportedly spent New Year’s Eve together in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Ines was previously married to The Vampire Diaries star Paul Wesley, whom she split from in 2022.