Woody Harrelson, the acclaimed actor, has long carried a complex emotional burden: his father, Charles Voyde Harrelson, was a convicted hitman. Despite Charles’s absence for much of Woody’s life, the two eventually reconnected later in life.
“I tried for years to get him out. To get him a new trial,” Woody once shared in a heartfelt interview. “Just being a son trying to help his dad.”
Woody revealed that he spent millions in legal fees trying to reopen his father’s case. “Lawyers upon lawyers,” he said, emphasizing how emotionally and financially draining the effort was.
Charles Harrelson was convicted of murdering a federal judge in 1979. Despite the gravity of the crime, Woody’s feelings for his father remained tender.
Before his father’s death in 2007, Woody said in a TV interview, “How do I feel about him? Well, I love him. I definitely love him. Very fond of him.”
Though controversial, Woody expressed doubts about the fairness of his father’s conviction. “There’s probably a lot of people who should be behind bars. I don’t necessarily think he’s one of them.”
His words reflect the emotional conflict many children of incarcerated parents face—torn between love and the reality of their parent’s past.
Ultimately, Woody Harrelson’s relationship with his father reveals the deeply human side of a Hollywood figure often seen only on-screen.
Tags: Charles Voyde Harrelson, Father, Hitman, Woody Harrelson.