Los Angeles, July 23 (IANS) Angelina Jolie’s former babysitter has revealed in a book that the actress was virtually abandoned by her mother as a child.

Jolie’s teenage years and adulthood were marred by erratic behaviour, drug-use, self-cutting and a volatile love life.

In the book ‘Angelina: An Unauthorized Biography’ by Andrew Morton, Jolie’s former babysitter Krisann Morel has revealed that Marcheline Bertrand virtually abandoned her baby daughter after a painful split from Jon Voight in 1976, reports usmagazine.com.

For two years, Bertrand sequestered Jolie in a separate apartment in her building, where the young girl was cared for by a revolving staff, Morel added.

Although Jolie has publicly declared her devotion to her mother who passed away in January 2007 of cancer, Morton writes that Jolie was permanently scarred by this early abandonment – leading her to self-destructive acts.