Voight speaks of pain about children

American actor Jon Voight has spoken out about his children and how he is upset at the image they are presenting of him in the media.

The Midnight Cowboy star has said that he finds it "heartbreaking" that his children are painting "a bad portrait" of him, following an interview his son James Haven gave with Marie Claire magazine in which he said that Voight put his mother - the late Marchelin Bertrand- "through years of mental abuse".

Haven, whose sister is Angelina Jolie, added that as a result of his father's behaviour he is now a human rights activist now helping abandoned women and children.

However, Voight has responded to his comments in an interview with People magazine and said that while he understands the pain felt by Bertrand following their divorce he believes that his estrangement from Haven and Jolie is as a result of "their inability to let go of years of programmed anger from their mother".

He said: "I find it very heartbreaking that my children want to paint a bad portrait of me. I feel that it comes from their inability to let go of years of programmed anger from their mother who understandably felt quite hurt when we divorced.

"In all truth I tried to give them and their mother continuous love and support and large sums of money. God knows for years, I've tried to mend this relationship.

"Perhaps the trauma of their mother's passing has made it worse. I continuously send them my heart and love and I'm always available to them for whatever they may need from me."

Lonely and don't want to be?