JANE FONDA , AMERICAN ACTRESS
BORN 1937,DECEMBER 21
Born December 21, 1937 in New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name Lady Jayne Seymour Fonda
Nicknames Hanoi Jane
J.Fo
Height 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Born in New York City to legendary screen star Henry Fonda and New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, Jane Seymour Fonda was destined early to an uncommon and influential life in the limelight. Although she initially showed little inclination to follow her father's trade, she was prompted by Joshua Logan to appear with her father in the 1954 Omaha Community Theatre production of "The Country Girl". Her interest in acting grew after meeting Lee Strasberg in 1958 and joining the Actors Studio. Her screen debut in Tall Story (1960) (directed by Logan) marked the beginning of a highly successful and respected acting career highlighted by two Academy Awards for her performances in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978), and five Oscar nominations for Best Actress in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), The Morning After (1986) and On Golden Pond (1981), which was the only film
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Laurence Dang
Spouse (3)
Ted Turner (21 December 1991 - 22 May 2001) (divorced)
Tom Hayden (19 January 1973 - 10 June 1990) (divorced) (2 children)
Roger Vadim (14 August 1965 - 16 January 1973) (divorced) (1 child)
Trade Mark (1)
Frequently plays single women, often due to problematic relationships
Trivia (174)
Chosen as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars (#21) in film history by Empire magazine. [1995]
Mother, with Roger Vadim, of Vanessa Vadim (b. September 28, 1968).
Attended Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY. Her roommate was Lara Parker. Parker later co-starred with Jane's brother Peter Fonda in the film Race with the Devil (1975).
Is the subject of an erroneous urban legend. When Vassar was a women's college, the story goes, Jane Fonda refused to wear the elegant white gloves and pearls that were the attire for the daily Tea in the Rose Parlor. When confronted, Fonda returned to the parlor wearing the gloves and the pearls, and nothing else.
Ranked #83 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Retired from acting in 1991, but returned to the screen fourteen years later.
Mother, with Tom Hayden, of Troy Garity (b. July 7, 1973).
Daughter of Henry Fonda.
Sister of Peter Fonda.
2nd November 1970: Arrested at Cleveland Airport, Ohio after allegedly kicking patrolman Robert Pieper and customs agent Edward Matuszek in the groin and upper leg, during their struggle to detain her upon finding 105 bottles containing some 2,000 capsules in her luggage. The star spent ten hours in a cell at Cuyahoga County Jail and was released on $6,000 personal bond. A federal drug smuggling charge was dropped once the substances were identified as vitamins and prescribed amounts of Dexedrine, Valium & Compazine. For lack of evidence, a federal assault charge pressed by Matuszek was dropped too, since the supposed "assault" occurred when he chased Fonda into the ladies room. Pieper filed a $100,000 personal injury lawsuit against her in civil court that was eventually dismissed at his attorney's request.
Her birth was the cause of some interruptions during her father's filming of Jezebel (1938) with Bette Davis.
She was, and still is, an exercise maven.
Aunt of Bridget Fonda and Justin Fonda.
Atttended Emma Willard School in Troy, New York.
Was offered the role of Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist (1973).
Jane now openly admits that she suffered from bulimia from ages 13 to 37. While modeling, she said she lived on cigarettes, coffee, speed, and strawberry yogurt.
Ex-sister-in-law of Susan Brewer.
Born at 9:14 AM EST
Shortly after her divorce from Ted Turner, she announced she had become a born-again Christian. Speculations are that this may have played a part in their separation, since Ted Turner has expressed highly critical opinions on religion in general.
The suicide of her socialite mother Frances Ford Seymour was kept from her as a teenager, and she was told that she'd died of heart failure. Household newspaper and magazine subscriptions were canceled, and the staff and student body of Fonda's high school were instructed not to discuss the incident. Fonda learned the truth months later while leafing through a movie magazine in art class.
Her out-of-retirement movie, Monster-in-Law (2005) came out the same time as her autobiography, "My Life So Far" and the same time her workouts are re-released to DVD format in stores.
Protested alongside fellow actresses Sally Field and Christine Lahti, and playwright Eve Ensler urging the Mexican government to re-investigate the slayings of hundreds of women in Ciudad Juarez, on the Mexico-Texas border. [February 2004]
Two half-sisters: Pan Corrias (1931-2008), from her mother's first marriage to George Brokaw, and Amy Fishman (b. 1953), adopted by her father with Susan Blanchard.
She was voted the 51st Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1960 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for "There Was a Little Girl."
Premiere Magazine ranked her as #32 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature. [2005]
Born on the same day Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) premiered.
Accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of her father Henry Fonda, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony. [1982]
Of the Oscar-winning father-daughter pairs, she and her father are one of two pairs (the other is Hayley Mills/John Mills) where the daughter won an Academy award before the father did. Hayley Mills' Oscar was an honorary award for Pollyanna (1960), "...[T]he most outstanding juvenile performance during 1960". Juveniles were not allowed to compete for Oscars until the late 1960s, when the juvenile award was abandoned.
She and her father were the first father-daughter pair to be Oscar-nominated the same year (1982).
She and The China Syndrome (1979) co-stars Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas have all won Oscars for Leading Roles. Fonda won for Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978), Lemmon won for Save the Tiger (1973), and Douglas won for Wall Street (1987).
Her ancestry includes Dutch, English, Scottish, as well as more distant French, Italian, and Norwegian.
Stepdaughter of Shirlee Fonda
Fluent in French.
Passed on the title role in Norma Rae (1979), which won a Best Actress Oscar for its eventual star Sally Field.
Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actress category for her performance in the film Monster-in-Law (2005). She failed to receive a nomination, however. (Had she gotten the nomination, it would have been her first Razzie nomination in 16 years. She was previously nominated for Worst Actress at the 1990 Razzie Awards for her performance in the film Old Gringo (1989).)
In her modeling days after college, she was twice on the cover of Vogue magazine.
Her performance as Bree Daniels in Klute (1971) is ranked #91 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
Jane was mentioned on Sir Mix A Lot's 1992 hit single, "Baby Got Back".
She and Tom Hayden gave their son Troy Garity his paternal grandmother's last name for the sake of anonymity
She and her father Henry Fonda are the only father-daughter couple to receive Oscars for leading roles.
A 1972 trip to Hanoi during the Vietnam War where Fonda campaigned in favor of the communist regime and the subsequent release of several photographs of her atop a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun used against American air crews earned her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." As a result of her trip to Hanoi and the accompanying photographs, many Americans continue to regard Fonda with general resentment and hostility to this day.
Visited Sweden in September 2006 to support political party FI (Feministic Initiative) in the national election. FI focuses on issues that will benefit women and is led by the previous leader of Sweden's communist party. Coincidentally, "fi" is also the Swedish military abbreviation for "enemy".
Friends with Catherine Schneider, Dyan Cannon, Maria Shriver, Rosanna Arquette and Vanessa Redgrave.
Was born double-jointed.
Turned down the role of Bonnie Parker, then played by Faye Dunaway, in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Living in France at the time, she did not want to relocate to the United States for the part.
In 1984, her wealth, generated from acting, producing, and fitness videos was estimated at $50 million.
Her aerobics video Workout (1982) sold 17 million copies, making it the bestselling home video ever and her an icon of this form of exercises.
Considers They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) as a turning point in her career.
Danced ballet until she broke her foot in her 40s.
She was a close friend of Gregory Peck and he frequently attended political rallies with her.
Turned down the role of Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago (1965) because it was to be filmed primarily in Spain for nine months. She didn't want to be away from home for that long. Weeks later she changed her mind and informed her agent she wanted to do it. By then Julie Christie had been signed to play Lara. Jane says that of all the movies she's turned down, Doctor Zhivago is the one she most regrets not doing.
Nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Performance for a Leading Actress in a Play for "33 Variations".
Was offered the role of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), but she turned it down. Louise Fletcher, who went on to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance, was cast instead.
Recovering from left knee replacement surgery. [June 2009]
Parodied on Saturday Night Live (1975) at different times by Betty Thomas, Joan Cusack and Ana Gasteyer.
Turned down Rosemary's Baby (1968) to do Barbarella (1968).
Had hip and knee replacements. Unrelated to her workout regimen, it is a genetic condition. Both her father and brother also had replacements.
In 1995, Fonda founded the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (G-CAAP). The foundation advocates for safe-sex education, provides teens with support personnel before, during, and after childbirth, and runs a network of "Second Chance Homes" that help teenage mothers become self-sufficient by striving to reduce repeat teen pregnancies and providing teen mothers with a safe living environment, support for long-term economic independence, and child development, parenting and life skills.
Grandchildren: Malcolm (b. 28 May 1999) and Viva (b. 22 November 2002).
Jane Fonda was the first pick for the role of Evelyn Mulwray in Chinatown (1974). She was wanted by the film's producer Robert Evans, who was also at the time chief of production at Paramount Pictures, and by Paramount owner Charlie Bluhdorn. Contrary to some reports, however, Roman Polanski never actually offered her the part.
19th April 2005: A Vietnam veteran spit tobacco juice in Fonda's face after waiting in line to have her sign a copy of her memoir at a Kansas City bookstore. Michael A. Smith, 54, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Fonda seemed unrattled and once the tobacco juice was wiped off, she continued to sign books without even getting up from her seat.
Ranked #9 in Men's Health 100 Hottest Women of All Time. [2011]
Her daughter Vanessa Vadim was delivered via forceps. The traumatic birth then resulted in Fonda being diagnosed with postpartum depression.
In 1982 she unofficially adopted a 14-year-old foster daughter, Mary Luana Williams (known as Lulu), who had attended a children's camp Fonda ran in the late seventies with then-husband Tom Hayden. Lulu was the fifth child of Mary and Randy Williams, a Black Panther couple Jane met some years earlier through Huey P. Newton. Lulu later reunited with her biological parents but refers to Jane & Tom as mom and dad.
Was taught to play guitar by David Crosby.
Made a fortune launching the first exercise video.
Jane's appearance in On Golden Pond (1981) with dad Henry Fonda and son Troy Garity marked the only time three generations of Fondas appeared in the same film.
Jane's appearance with brother Peter Fonda in Spirits of the Dead (1968) marked the only time the siblings worked together in a feature.
Was delivered via Caesarean section.
Went skinny-dipping with Greta Garbo in the French Riviera (circa 1957) and with Michael Jackson when he visited the set of On Golden Pond (1981) in New Hampshire.
Currently starring in Moisés Kaufman's "33 Variations" on Broadway. [March 2009]
Designated "Miss Army Recruiting" by the Pentagon. [1962]
Louis Malle originally planned to direct Pretty Baby (1978), a film about photographer E.J. Bellocq, with Fonda and Jodie Foster to play the roles of Hattie and Violet, respectively. In the end, both actresses were unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, so Susan Sarandon and Brooke Shields were cast in the roles.
In the mid-eighties, while developing the screenplay for the movie that eventually became Contact (1997), authors Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan envisioned Fonda in the role of Dr. Ellie Arroway.
The movie Swing Shift (1984) was originally written as a vehicle for Ms. Fonda. When her agent turned the movie down and Goldie Hawn took over, the project was rewritten as a partial comedy.
Was considered for the role of Beth Jarrett in Ordinary People (1980), which went to Mary Tyler Moore.
2014 recipient of the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.
Is one of 22 Oscar-winning actresses to have been born in the state of New York. The others are Alice Brady, Teresa Wright, Anne Revere, Celeste Holm, Claire Trevor, Judy Holliday, Shirley Booth, Susan Hayward, Patty Duke, Anne Bancroft, Barbra Streisand, Lee Grant, Beatrice Straight, Whoopi Goldberg, Mercedes Ruehl, Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Connelly, Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway.
In a relationship with veteran record producer Richard Perry since 2008, the couple live together in Los Angeles.
Her role in The China Syndrome (1979) was originally written as a male role, to be played by Richard Dreyfuss. After Dreyfuss quit, the role was rewritten as female with Fonda in mind.
Lived for 20 years of her life in Atlanta, Ga. (1991-2011).
Was considered for the role of "Betsy" in Taxi Driver (1976), but Cybill Shepherd was cast.
Turned down the role of the A.D.A. Kathryn Murphy in The Accused (1988).
Auditioned for the role of Evelyn in Spanglish (2004) but lost out to Anne Bancroft, who had to leave the movie when she was diagnosed with cancer and was then replaced by Cloris Leachman.
Claims that when she is out of makeup she can easily go to public places without being recognized.
She was Universal's choice for the role of Rusty Dennis in Mask (1985), but director Peter Bogdanovich and screenwriter Anna Hamilton Phelan wanted Cher to play Rusty. The studio ultimately gave in and cast Cher instead of Fonda.
Turned down Meryl Streep's role in The Manchurian Candidate (2004) because she didn't want her Hollywood comeback to be as a villainess.
Named for Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour whom her mother Frances claimed to be a descendant.
26 August 1966: Sues Playboy for publishing naked pictures taken without her knowledge by Jacques Heripe on the set of The Game Is Over (1966), for which she was to be filmed only from the back.
Dropped out of Elizabethtown (2005) when filming was delayed and was replaced by Susan Sarandon.
Bachelor Girl Apartment (1966) is her least favorite of her own films.
Revealed on her website that she bathed in the ashes of her golden retriever Roxy when she mistook the contents of an urn for bath salts, not realizing what they were until she saw a bone in the water.
Auditioned for the lead in Splendour in the Grass (1961), but when director Elia Kazan asked her if she was ambitious she said No, reasoning to herself "Good girls aren't supposed to be ambitious." Jane believes Kazan would've given the part to her (rather than Natalie Wood) if she'd answered yes.
Was romantically involved with producers José Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña and Sandy Whitelaw as well as actors Warren Beatty, James Franciscus and William Wellman Jr. during her bachelorette days; political activist Fred Gardner and actor Donald Sutherland while estranged from first husband Roger Vadim; soccer player Lorenzo Caccialanza while separated from second husband Tom Hayden; and retired businessman Lynden Gillis in between her divorce from Ted Turner and her longtime relationship with Richard Perry. Over the span of her lengthy career, Jane also has been rumored to be romantically linked to numerous men including co-stars Alain Delon and Kris Kristofferson, musician Mick Jagger, cinematographer Sven Nykvist, talk show host Geraldo Rivera, columnist Robert Scheer and Manson Family victim Jay Sebring, but most of these affairs are unconfirmed so far.
Tom Hayden was worth just $50,000 when he married Fonda in 1973. He refused to sign the prenuptial agreement her lawyer had drawn up. Jane didn't want to upset him so she dropped the issue. Hayden received an estimated $30 million in the couple's 1990 divorce settlement under California's joint property law.
In "Papa John: A Music Legend's Shattering Journey Through Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll" (1986), John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas describes a midsized orgy he says occurred among himself, Michelle Phillips, Roger Vadim, Jane Fonda and Warren Beatty at Jane & Roger's beach house on Old Malibu Road in early 1969.
Screen-tested opposite Warren Beatty for Parrish (1961); it was the first time either of them had done a screen test and they have completely different memories of their filmed kiss. Jane barely remembers it. Beatty's version: "We were thrown together like lions in a cage and told to kiss. Oh my God! We kissed until we had practically eaten each other's heads off. We thought this was all very effective." Whatever really happened, it didn't work out for either of them. The leads were given to Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens.
Was originally attached to play the female lead in Jagged Edge (1985). When she demanded that changes be made to Joe Eszterhas' script, the studio sided with Eszterhas and replaced her with Glenn Close.
Columbia Pictures wanted her for Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), but director Otto Preminger insisted on using Carol Lynley.
Turned down a role in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969).
Turned down An Unmarried Woman (1978).
Turned down the role of Sally in Husbands and Wives (1992) because she disagreed with Woody Allen on the aesthetics of the character.
Turned down Cinderella Liberty (1973).
Turned down Katharine Ross's role in The Stepford Wives (1975).
Lobbied hard for the role of Rosemary Hoyt in Tender Is the Night (1962).
Turned down the role in Heaven's Gate (1980) that went to Isabelle Huppert.
Declined Robert Redford's offer to co-star with him in Havana (1990).
Auditioned for the title role in Fanny (1961) that went to Leslie Caron.
Only did Cat Ballou (1965) to fulfill contractual obligations, yet it turned out to be the movie that established her as a box office draw.
Was in the running (as were Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway) for the role of Tiffany Case, first American Bond girl of the 007 franchise, in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Jill St. John scored the role.
Considered for the one of the two female leads in Fahrenheit 451 (1966) before François Truffaut decided Julie Christie should play both parts as a dual role.
Jane Fonda's war protests canceled the impact of her first Oscar for Klute (1971); she was practically blackballed from the movie industry until Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) brought her renewed mainstream success. None of the four movies she made in between were widely distributed. A sub-rosa Hollywood campaign to destroy the actress's respectability and spread false tales about her subversive behavior was going on during and following her activism period. One widely circulated fabrication had Fonda destroying the only existing negative of Stagecoach (1939) because she despised John Wayne.
An undistinguished student at Vassar, much of Jane's time there was spent sleeping in during the day and staying out late drinking at nearby men's universities. She dropped out after two years and went to Paris to study art, with aspirations of becoming a painter, but instructors told her she wasn't good enough. She moved back into her dad's Manhattan brownstone and got a job working as a secretary until she was fired for refusing her boss's sexual advances. At the encouragement of her friend Susan Strasberg, she enrolled at the Actors Studio, and supported herself with modeling gigs while trying out for stage roles.
Was in psychoanalysis for five years straight beginning in 1964.
Protestors in Waterbury, Connecticut, led by a Republican political activist who was a WWII veteran, threatened to disrupt filming of Fonda's 1990 picture Stanley & Iris (1990), but when filming began she was well-received by the community, and the city's Board of Aldermen decisively defeated a resolution saying she was not welcome in the city.
Childhood friend of Brooke Hayward. It is often said they are stepsisters, but this is false, since Brooke's mother Margaret Sullavan divorced Jane's father Henry Fonda before either of them were born.
Ex-stepdaughter of Leonarda Franchetti.
Owns a ranch in New Mexico near Santa Fe, which she acquired through her divorce settlement from Ted Turner. Her ex-stepdaughter, Nathalie Vadim, lives there and takes care of the horses.
In March 2001, it was announced that Fonda had donated $12.5 million to Harvard University's School of Education to study the role of gender in education. Her donation was reportedly the largest in the school's history to that date.
Was replaced by Jessica Lange for the lead in Music Box (1989).
Mike Nichols considered Fonda to play Elaine in The Graduate (1967) and Bobbie in Carnal Knowledge (1971).
Her top favorites of the films she's done are Coming Home (1978), The Dollmaker (1984), Klute (1971), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Julia (1977).
Received an honorary degree from Emerson College on May 15, 2000.
Sister-in-law of Parky Devogelaere.
Jane used to have a huge crush on Anthony Perkins. When they rehearsed in her dressing room during the shooting of Tall Story (1960), she disrobed and sat suggestively powdering her body while Perkins hid his face in panic behind his script. Someone finally took her aside and filled her in on the fact that Perkins was gay, and she stopped trying to seduce him.
Met with James Stewart about the possibility of playing his daughter in The FBI Story (1959) which would've been her first movie, but she expressed disinterest in the role which instead went to Diane Jergens.
Director Richard Tuggle lobbied for Fonda to play the leading female role in Tightrope (1984).
Came out in support of Marion Cotillard and Bradley Cooper to help the actors get Oscar nominations for their films Two Days, One Night (2014) and American Sniper (2014), respectively. Both ended up being nominated for the 87th Academy Awards.
Participated in the Vancouver Greenpeace Rally along with roughly 5,500 others (including Rachel McAdams) to protest oil drilling in British Columbia. [June 2015]
Shared the cover of Vanity Fair magazine's 2016 Hollywood issue with, Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling, Rachel Weisz, Lupita Nyong'o, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton and Saoirse Ronan. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
Self-confessed member of the "Mile High Club".
With help of lawyers, she gained access to her late mother's medical records from the Austen Riggs Center in Massachusetts. The records showed that Frances Seymour had nine abortions before giving birth to Jane.
IQ of 132.
Sometimes goes by the alias Jane S. Plemiannikov.
A heinous myth that prisoners of war were killed or tortured on Fonda's account has circled around the internet since two letters purportedly written by Vietnam veterans were posted online in the late '90s. (In précis claiming soldiers listed as missing in action slipped Ms. Fonda tiny pieces of paper with their social security numbers so to identify themselves to American authorities - only for her to hand the pile of notes to a North Vietnamese commanding officer.) The claimed authors of these letters, Col. Larry Carrigan and Air Force pilot Jerry Driscoll, have repeatedly denied both writing the letters and the incidents described therein. In truth, Fonda met with a single group of seven POWs while in North Vietnam, and none of them corroborate this libelous fallacy. Fonda brought mail for imprisoned U.S. servicemen with her to Hanoi, and she returned to the United States carrying 241 letters from American POWs back to their families. She even called the wives of some of the men she met with to provide them with updates about their husbands.
Owner of a Coton De Tulear named Tulea.
Received $2 million from Columbia Pictures in 1979 to appear in a prison movie to be called "Her Brother's Keeper" whether or not it was ultimately made, which it wasn't. Such an arrangement is known informally as a pay-or-play contract.
Turned down The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).
A 1968 image of her topless, arms crossed, windblown and pouty on a French beach became a classic pinup poster.
Visited Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota on Thanksgiving day 2016, where she served dinner to about 500 demonstrators against the Bakken Pipeline.
Appeared in two consecutive films with the word 'horseman' in the title: Comes a Horseman (1978) and The Electric Horseman (1979).
Hosted the Bank Exit rally in L.A. on her birthday in 2016 with special guests Frances Fisher, Dolores Huerta, Catherine Keener and Lily Tomlin to decry 17 banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline Project and publicly divest her money from Wells Fargo. She was treated to a topical birthday cake upon which the iconic promotional image of herself in Barbarella (1968) was renamed "Bankarella" and embellished with an ironic shower of dollar bills.
Broke up with Richard Perry. [January 2017]
Spokeswoman for L'Oreal since 2006.
Purchased a brand new townhouse in Century City for $5.45 million, in cash. One of her new neighbors is Bob Newhart. The Beverly Hills home she bought in 2012 is up for sale at an asking price of $10 million. [April 2017]
Has disregarded television indecency standards without being censored at least 3 times, most recently when she whipped out a vibrator while promoting Grace and Frankie (2015) on Ellen.
Personal mentor/drama coach was Andréas Voutsinas. Jane once was noted for posing as his 'beard'.
Her mom's first husband drowned in a sanitarium swimming pool in 1935.
At the 2014 National Sex Ed Conference, Fonda claimed to have been one of the first women in the United States ("if not the first" in her words) to have a spiral-shaped plastic IUD inserted. Therefore, unlike many sexually active teenagers in the 1950s, she never unintentionally got pregnant. Fonda added that she used her family connections to arrange safe abortions for friends in need at distant locales such as Cuba and Switzerland, or in some cases domestically at a very private and expensive clinic.
Niece Pilar Corrias runs an eponymous art gallery in London.
Though writers have called her a lapsed Episcopalian in the past, Jane now concedes that she was actually raised an atheist. She's been going to Baptist churches since turning to Christianity in the early 2000s, but describes her beliefs as being outside of established religion, with a more feminist slant, and doesn't want to be tagged with the fundamentalism that Born-Again Christianity has come to be associated with. "Some will say that because of all this I am not a true Christian. So be it. I feel like a Christian, I believe in the teachings of Jesus and try to practice them in my life. I have found Christians all over this country who feel as I do. They may not have been 'saved' yet they hum with divine spirit," she blogged in '09.
Merchandise featuring her clench-fist mugshot from 1970 include T-shirts, clutches, tote bags, coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets and computer mousepads.
Celebrity donor to Democratic candidate Jonathan Ossoff's campaign in Georgia's 6th congressional district special election, 2017.
Former UN Goodwill Ambassador.
4/27/13: Hands and footprints enshrined at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
The initials of her production company, IPC Films, initially stood for Indochina Peace Campaign. The meaning was later changed to International Pictures Corporation, then retitled Fonda Films when she cut ties with Bruce Gilbert, her producing partner.
Became the first major American actress to appear nude in a foreign film when she did so in Circle of Love (1964).
Co-founder of the Women's Media Center (est. 2005) together with Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem.
As a young starlet she was advised to have her jaw broken and reset, and her back teeth pulled, to create a more chiseled look.
Caught Ted Turner cheating on her one month after their wedding, prompting Fonda to hit him repeatedly with a car phone and pour a bottled beverage on his head.
Does Zazen meditation.
Resided in an extremely modest - by movie star standards - $40,000 house on Wadsworth Avenue in Santa Monica from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s. She had to put wire over the windows because so many people threw things, especially rotten eggs. Sent her kids to public school, and drove a Volvo, which she checked for bombs every morning.
Honored with the prestigious Gold Hugo Career Achievement Award from the Chicago International Film Festival during a tribute at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel. [July 2017]
When married to Ted Turner, they occasionally hobnobbed with Donald J. Trump but today Jane is an outspoken critic of the now-President, even though he's given money to her nonprofit organizations.
Stars with favorite leading man Robert Redford in 4 films: The Chase (1966), Barefoot in the Park (1967), The Electric Horseman (1979), and Netflix's Our Souls at Night (2017).
Good friends with Lily Tomlin, who co-starred with her in 9 to 5 (1980) and currently in the Emmy-nominated series Grace and Frankie (2015), where they portray frenemies whose husbands come out as longtime homosexual lovers after a 40-year marriage.
Maternal granddaughter of Eugene (1870-1966), from New York, and Sophie (née Bower) Seymour (1886-1974), from Canada.
Great granddaughter of George (1821-1892), from New York, and Frances (née Ford) Seymour (1827-1898), from New Jersey.
Great great granddaughter of Henry (1794-1872) and Jane Ford (1806-1876). Both were born in the state of New Jersey.
Received the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award by the Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2017.
Breastfed her daughter Vanessa Vadim until she was 3 weeks old due to suffering from post-natal depression following a forceps delivery. She did, however, go on to breastfeed her son Troy Garity for the first 2 years of his life.
As recently as 2015 paparazzi snapped her taking a drag at an outdoor café in Paris. She is cited by the press as having given up smoking 40 years ago.
Sound clips of Jane in character as prostitute Bree Daniels from Klute (1971) were featured in the song "Wings of Desire" (1992) by New Zealand band Strawpeople. Song was later made famous in the Nicole Kidman movie To Die For (1995).
Personal Quotes (64)
Working in Hollywood does give one a certain expertise in the field of prostitution.
I was terrified when I turned 30. I was pregnant and had the mumps and Faye Dunaway was just coming out in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). I thought, 'Oh my God, I'll never work again. I'm old!'
"Acting with Laurence Harvey is like acting by yourself - only worse" - Jane Fonda on her 1962 film Walk on the Wild Side (1962).
It hurt so many soldiers. It galvanised such hostility. It was the most horrible thing I could possibly have done. It was just thoughtless. [expressing regret at her support for the Viet Cong]
I, a Socialist, think we should strive toward a Socialist society, all the way to Communism.
"If you understood what Communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that one day we would become Communist." (speaking to students at the University of Michigan in 1970)
People think actresses find public speaking easy, and it's not easy at all; we're used to hiding behind masks.
[Accepting her father's Oscar for On Golden Pond (1981)]: "I'll bet when he heard it just now, he said 'Hey ain't I lucky?' As if luck had anything to do with it".
[on the infamous photo of her posing with a Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun] The biggest lapse of judgment in my life. I don't regret going to North Vietnam. I'm glad I went. I'm glad I did everything I did, except that.
I don't know if I was set up or not. I was an adult. I take responsibility for my actions . . . These soldiers sang a song; I sang a song in feeble Vietnamese. Everyone was laughing. I was led to a gun site and I sat down. And I was laughing and clapping, and there were pictures taken . . . I understand the anger about that.
I would have given up acting in a minute. I didn't like how it set me apart from other people.
When I start down a path that I know is the right path, I go with all of me.
I'm a very brave person. I can go to North Vietnam, I can challenge my government, but I can't challenge the man I'm with if means I'm going to end up alone.
It's hard to imagine a happy ending to the US-led war in Iraq. What's it going to mean for stability as a nation, for terrorism, for the economy I can't imagine. I think the entire world is going to be united against us.
Ted Turner needs someone to be there 100 percent of the time. He thinks that's love. It's not love. It's babysitting.
I wanted to do a tour like I did during the Vietnam War, a tour of the country. But then Cindy Sheehan filled in the gap, and she is better at this than I am. I carry too much baggage.
When I left the West Coast I was a liberal. When I landed in New York I was a revolutionary.
Oh Henry Fonda's love of the Theater: I'm becoming obsessed with his presence in my head, because my dad adored theater. He didn't talk much, but he would talk about how he loved the immediacy of a live audience. I was never comfortable enough in my own skin 45 years ago to be able to understand it. I just wanted to escape. And now it's like, 'Oh Dad, I wish you were here and alive, so I could say to you: "I get it! I'm finally able to experience what you were talking about."
Why she quit acting while married to Tom Hayden: When I was really, really unhappy with myself and my life, which happened in the second half of my marriage to Tom, I just stopped. Acting became too painful. I just couldn't. All the joy leached out of it.
[Monster-in-Law (2005)] was the single smartest move I ever made
On returning to the stage in 2009: I am not the same person I was. I really am a different person. And I feel now that I could really be better than I have ever been in acting. It felt like something I had left prematurely. I didn't complete it, and I wanted to see if I could find joy in it again. It's been 45, 46 years since I was last on Broadway, and it feels like it too, in the sense of my personal trajectory. I feel that in terms of my personal development there has been at least half a century in there. Thank God.
It's always great to rehearse on a plane because people think you're mad.
Emotionality is really easy for me. My father always said that Fondas can cry at a good steak.
[6/08, on dating] I want someone who is not only a great lover but who is also an old soul. Older men seem to think they are riding the crest when they decide to cash in and take it easy once they have hooked up with me, which becomes a burden and a bore.
[on her book 'Prime Time'] I actually never lead. There's always something more first, and then I'm the cheerleader. There are many, many books about aging. Mine just covers everything that I wanted to know.
I viewed my mother as a snob. Well she was a snob. Had she lived long enough I probably wouldn't have cared for her very much, frankly. So the way I protected myself from that is, 'Okay, I don't need you'. But of course I blamed myself when she killed herself.
I try to live my third act in such a way that I won't have regrets. You never get there entirely, but you can spend your life working at it.
[on third husband Ted Turner] For his own reasons, Ted moves laterally through life, very fast. Across his millions of acres. I wanted to go vertically. I knew if I stayed with him I'd be safe, I wouldn't need to work, and it would be interesting. But I would never be a whole person, and I wanted to be a whole person.
I took Klute (1971) because, in it, I expose a great deal of the oppression of women in this country - the system which makes women sell themselves for possessions.
Aging is not what we used to think it was, where you peak at middle age. It's ascending a staircase into growth, wisdom, well-being and happiness.
I have used acupuncture many times in the past - to reduce fever, heal broken bones, relieve pain... it really works if the doctor is skilled. I have felt I needed to have my energy system balanced.
It's never too late - never too late to start over, never too late to be happy.
[speaking on C-SPAN in 2005] Our leaders today are not paying attention to the fundamental rule of warfare: Know thine enemy! We didn't know the Vietnamese and we thought it would be a cakewalk going into Iraq, and we didn't understand who they were. It comes from hubris and arrogance, the omnipotence of America. Nobody's number one forever. Not individuals and not nations. Sooner than later everybody crashes. I hope we don't crash in hostile territory, but we're certainly headed that way.
[about David R. Slavitt's bestselling novel "The Exhibitionist"] I don't read trash. Is that that book that everyone says is about me?
I feel like my honesty gives people the freedom to talk about things they wouldn't otherwise.
[why she accepted her Oscar for Coming Home (1978) in sign language] Because I found out there were 17 million deaf people in the United States and the Academy Awards were not closed-captioned. I tried to get them to close caption and they wouldn't do it. So I decided to do my thing in sign language.
Roger Vadim and I were too different to last. I don't mean nationality, I mean attitude. I think opposites only attract for a brief, intense period.
The kind of parts that I think are the most exciting to play and are the most viable in terms of communication are characters that are complex; that is, characters that are full of contradictions that can be shown, that are in motion, that are trying to deal with problems that are real to people.
As an actor you spend all your life trying to do something they put people in asylums for.
To overcome bulimia, I had to teach myself to eat all over again, like a child.
[reflecting on her career slump in the mid-1970s] I can't say I was blacklisted, but I was greylisted. Nixon (Richard Nixon) used the same tactics on me he used on people he didn't like in the '50s. He had conservative state legislators introduce measures that would condemn or ban my films or prohibit me from even entering the state. Conservative theater owners went along, and studio executives who might have shared my politics said, 'What can we do? Why take a chance?'
[after having her breast implants removed] My kids are so relieved. They tell me I look normal again.
I find that arduous physical labor can jump-start my thought process.
I'm vain about loose flesh. And so I'm careful that what I wear will show off my best parts.
I'll smoke pot every now and then. I cannot see a movie on pot. The number of movies I've seen thinking, This is probably the best I have ever seen, and then I'll see it again sober and think, What was I thinking?
When I was young I never thought I was going to make it past thirty. I thought I was going to die of alcoholism and loneliness and you know that hasn't been the case... Don't give up no matter how hard it is. Try to make the best of who you are.
I grew up with a deep belief that wherever our troops fought, they were on the side of the angels.
[her reaction to QVC axing a scheduled appearance to promote her self-help book "Prime Time" at behest of angry phone callers threatening to boycott the show if she were allowed on] I am, to say the least, deeply disappointed that QVC caved to this kind of insane pressure by some well-funded and organized political extremist groups and that they did it without talking to me first. I have never shied away from talking about this as I have nothing to hide. I could have pointed out that threats of boycotts are nothing new for me and have never prevented me from having bestselling books and exercise DVDs, films, and a Broadway play. Most people don't buy into the far right lies. Many people have reached out to express how excited they were about my going onto QVC and hearing about my book. Bottom line, this has gone on far too long, this spreading of lies about me! None of it is true. NONE OF IT! I love my country. I have never done anything to hurt my country or the men and women who have fought and continue to fight for us. I do not understand what the far right stands to gain by continuing with these myths. In this case, they denied a lot of people the chance to hear about a book that can help make life better, easier and more fulfilling. I am deeply grateful for all of the support I have been getting since this happened, including from my Vietnam Veterans friends.
The only time I ever saw Dad cry was when Roosevelt died.
[In 1961] I think marriage is going to go out, become obsolete. I don't think it's natural for two people to swear to be together for the rest of their lives.
I never was a hippie! I went to India because so many friends like Mia Farrow and The Beatles were going there to discover truth. And so I went and trekked through India by myself, but instead of discovering truth, I wanted to join the Peace Corps.
[lecturing at AOL Build (2014), April 2015] Sometimes all I can do when I walk down the street, and this matters especially in New York, is look people in the eye. Especially homeless people. And prostitutes. I mean you don't see streetwalkers so much here, but I've been in cities where you run into streetwalkers. Looking them in the eye and saying "hello" I know makes a difference to that woman's life.
[AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Jane Fonda (2014) speech excerpt] Stay curious! It's much more important to be interested than to be interesting. I leave you with that.
Too few people can succeed as an actress or an actor. It's a very unhappy business if you've been bitten by the bug and you can't make it.
As long as someone can make a buck off me, they're gonna do it. And as long as I can go into Hollywood and make a movie and make a lot of money which I can use to support the struggles I'm involved with, I will.
[Real Time with Bill Maher (2003), January 2017] If penises could do what pussies could do, they'd be on postage stamps.
It's easy to say that awards are silly, but they're very good reassurance for the ego.
[about her detractors] One of the most important things in getting older is forgiveness, letting go of hate. You can't really be a fully realized, happy person if you're harboring hate. Especially hate that's based on lies! But even hate that's based on truth, you've gotta let it go. I think some people have a hard time letting go of hate because then they'll be left with pain, and they don't know how to handle the pain. There's so much misunderstanding about the war in Vietnam. It's still a deep scar in our country's psyche. So it makes me sad when this manifests the way it does, and the people who keep it going are very sad people. I feel sorry for them.
I love working in French. I feel a certain kind of freedom. The way you feel when you learn to speak a foreign language and find you can say things you wouldn't dare say in English.
Some people don't like me very much and some people like me a whole lot, and there's almost nobody who's undecided.
The animal I identify with is a bear because I love to play and cavort and be social. But then I have to go into seclusion, a kind of hibernation. I feel I get all emptied out and then I have to refill. I do it either by being silent - meditating or getting close to nature - or by reading.
When a relationship ends, the pattern with me has usually been a year or two of terrible anger and then gradually remembering why I loved them in the first place while realizing that life is so short. What's the point of holding a grudge? Better to understand the role you played in it and move on.
I think it's important to live life with intention, because otherwise you're just sort of at the mercy of fate.
[from November 2017 blog post titled "Giving Thanks"] I wake up every morning feeling grateful that I live here and not in Syria.
Salary (17)
Tall Story (1960) $4,000
Walk on the Wild Side (1962) $20,000
The Chapman Report (1962) $20,000
The Chase (1966) $300,000
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) $400,000
Steelyard Blues (1973) $100,000
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) $350,000
Julia (1977) $350,000
California Suite (1978) $500,000
The China Syndrome (1979) $1,000,000 + percentage of the gross
The Electric Horseman (1979) $2,000,000
Nine to Five (1980) $2,000,000 + profit share
The Dollmaker (1984) 25% of all profits
Agnes of God (1985) $3,000,000
The Morning After (1986) $3,000,000
Old Gringo (1989) $4,000,000
Stanley & Iris (1990) $3,500,000
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