Jane Seymour Fonda
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27
Books
15
Awards
Jane Fonda is a two-time Academy Award winner for Klute 1971 and Coming Home 1978. The daughter of actor Henry Fonda, she overcame bulimia and political controversy to become a fitness pioneer with her 1982 workout video. Notable films include Barbarella 1968, On Golden Pond 1981, and The China Syndrome 1979. She is a lifelong activist, famously protesting the Vietnam War and supporting feminist causes.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Jane Fonda — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Jane Fonda by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Jane Fonda — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Greta Garbo’s comment that Fonda was pretty enough at a 1957 French Riviera party spurred her toward acting. Born in 1937 in Yorkville, Manhattan, to screen star Henry Fonda and socialite Frances Ford Seymour, she attended Vassar College and the Actors Studio. Her mother’s suicide when Jane was 12 was kept from her, revealed months later by a movie magazine. Fonda struggled with bulimia from age 13 to 37, a battle she has since discussed openly.
Fonda’s screen debut in Tall Story 1960 led to two Best Actress Oscars: for Klute 1971 and Coming Home 1978. She also earned Oscar nominations for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? 1969, Julia 1977, The China Syndrome 1979, The Morning After 1986, and On Golden Pond 1981 — the only film she made with her father. In the 1980s, she launched the aerobic exercise craze with Jane Fonda’s Workout Book and the 1982 video Workout, which sold 17 million copies.
Fonda has been married three times: to French director Roger Vadim 1965-1973, activist Tom Hayden 1973-1990, and media mogul Ted Turner 1991-2001. She has three children: Vanessa Vadim with Vadim, Troy Garity with Hayden, and adopted daughter Mary Williams. Her relationship with Hayden was marked by political activism; she funded his political career, and their divorce settlement awarded him an estimated $30 million. Since 2008, she has been in a relationship with record producer Richard Perry.
Fonda’s work in film, fitness, and activism has had lasting influence. She inspired generations of actors with her Oscar-winning performances and remains a symbol of the 1980s fitness boom. Her anti-war stance during Vietnam earned the nickname Hanoi Jane, and she continues to protest for feminist and environmental causes. In 2019, she received the Producers Guild Stanley Kramer Award for activism. She and her father Henry Fonda are the only father-daughter pair to win Oscars for leading roles.
Browse the complete filmography of Jane Fonda — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Jane Fonda — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Jane Fonda's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
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A wall of memorable lines from Jane Fonda — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Working in Hollywood Does Give One a Certain Expertise in the Field of Prostitution.
I, a Socialist, Think We Should Strive Toward a Socialist Society, All the Way to Communism.
People Think Actresses Find Public Speaking Easy, and It’s Not Easy at All; We’re Used to Hiding Behind Masks.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I Feel Like My Honesty Gives People the Freedom to Talk About Things They Wouldn’t Otherwise.
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.
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.
The Only Time I Ever Saw Dad Cry Was When Roosevelt Died.
Little-known facts about Jane Fonda — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
One month after their wedding, Fonda caught Ted Turner cheating and hit him repeatedly with a car phone, then poured a bottled beverage on his head.
Arrested at Cleveland Airport after allegedly kicking a patrolman and a customs agent during a struggle over 105 bottles of pills in her luggage; the substances were vitamins, Dexedrine, Valium, and Compazine, and charges were dropped.
She and her father Henry Fonda are the only father-daughter pair to win Oscars for leading roles.
Survived breast cancer.
With help of lawyers, she accessed her late mother’s medical records from the Austen Riggs Center, which showed Frances Seymour had nine abortions before Jane’s birth.
Had hip and knee replacements due to a genetic condition, not her workout regimen.
Suffered from bulimia from ages 13 to 37; while modeling, she lived on cigarettes, coffee, speed, and strawberry yogurt.
The suicide of her mother Frances Ford Seymour was concealed from her as a teenager; she was told it was heart failure, and learned the truth months later from a movie magazine.
Married Ted Turner on her birthday in 1991.
Said Book Club 2018 was the most fun she’s had on a movie and called Don Johnson the most attractive actor she’s worked with.
Claims that when she’s out of makeup she can easily go unnoticed in public.
In 1984, her wealth from acting, producing, and fitness videos was estimated at $50 million.
Tom Hayden was worth $50,000 when they married in 1973 and refused to sign a prenuptial; Fonda dropped the issue and most of her future earnings financed his political career, leading to an estimated $30 million divorce settlement.
Her appearance in On Golden Pond 1981 with father Henry Fonda and son Troy Garity marked the only time three generations of Fondas appeared together in a film.
She and Tom Hayden gave their son Troy Garity his paternal grandmother’s last name for anonymity.
Was offered the role of Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist 1973 but turned it down.
Admits to having plastic surgery around her eyes and jawline because she got tired of looking tired.
Turned down the role of Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago 1965 because she didn’t want to be away from fiancé Roger Vadim for nine months; she changed her mind but it was too late, and she still regrets it.
A 1972 visit to Hanoi during the Vietnam War, including photos atop a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, earned her the nickname Hanoi Jane and continues to provoke resentment.
Nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for 33 Variations.
Passed on the title role in Norma Rae 1979, which won Sally Field an Oscar.
Danced ballet until she broke her foot in her 40s.
Has a daughter, Vanessa Vadim, with Roger Vadim, and a son, Troy Garity, with Tom Hayden.
Has a maternal half-sister, Pan Corrias, and an adopted sister, Amy Fishman.
Participated in the Vancouver Greenpeace Rally with about 5,500 others to protest oil drilling.
Decided to become an actress after Greta Garbo told her she was pretty enough at a party on the French Riviera circa 1957.
Attended Vassar College, where her roommate was Lara Parker, who later co-starred with Jane’s brother Peter Fonda in Race with the Devil 1975.
Gave up smoking in 1978, but occasionally resumed; as recently as 2015 she was photographed smoking in Paris.
Was offered the role of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1975 but turned it down; Louise Fletcher won an Oscar for it.
Only did Cat Ballou 1965 to fulfill contractual obligations, yet it established her as a box office draw.
As a young starlet, she was advised to have her jaw broken and reset and back teeth pulled for a more chiseled look; she refused.
Named after Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour, from whom her mother claimed to be descended.
IQ of 132.
Shortly after divorcing Ted Turner, she announced she had become a born-again Christian, which may have contributed to their separation as Turner is critical of religion.
The movie Swing Shift 1984 was originally written as a vehicle for Fonda; when her agent turned it down, Goldie Hawn took over and the project was rewritten as a partial comedy.
Waitressed for a day in Lansing, Michigan to get press for the One Fair Wage ballot measure.
Her aerobics video Workout 1982 sold 17 million copies, making it the bestselling home video ever and her an icon of exercise.
Mentioned in Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1992 hit Baby Got Back.
Born double-jointed.
In a relationship with record producer Richard Perry since October 2008; they live together in Los Angeles.
Visited Sweden in September 2006 to support the Feminist Initiative political party.
Subject of a Vassar urban legend: she refused to wear white gloves and pearls for daily tea, then returned wearing only those items.
Protested alongside Sally Field, Christine Lahti, and Eve Ensler urging the Mexican government to reinvestigate slayings of women in Ciudad Juarez.
Her out-of-retirement movie Monster-in-Law 2005 released alongside her autobiography My Life So Far and re-released workout DVDs.
Sued Playboy for publishing naked photos taken without her consent on the set of The Game Is Over 1966.
Received an honorary degree from Emerson College.
After the 1979 Oscars, called The Deer Hunter 1978 a racist film that presented the official version of the Vietnam War.
2019 recipient of the Producers Guild Stanley Kramer Award for activism.
Supported the Indian occupation of Alcatraz 1969-71, defying a Coast Guard blockade to deliver supplies.
Auditioned for the role that went to Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass 1961; when Elia Kazan asked if she was ambitious she said no, believing good girls aren’t ambitious.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Jane Fonda.
Celebrities similar to Jane Fonda — same craft, ranked by reach.
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