Jane Fonda Biography

Film actress, activist. Born on December 21, 1937, in New York City, New York. Jane Fonda attended Vassar College, left to study art in Paris, returned to New York to dabble in modeling, and then began a stage career. In 1955 she co-starred with her father, Henry Fonda, in a production of The Country Girl.

Jane Fonda screen debut was in Tall Story (1960). Jane Fonda had a brief phase as a sex kitten under the direction of her French filmmaker husband Roger Vadim, but after divorcing him she commenced an entirely new phase as a serious actress and committed radical. Jane Fonda married the political militant, Tom Hayden, took a lead in opposing the Vietnam War (earning the nickname Hanoi Jane because she traveled to the Communist capital and posed for pictures there), and became increasingly identified as a spokesperson on issues of civil rights and women's rights. At the same time she continued her screen career and won Oscars as best actress in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978). One of her finest moments came when she produced and appeared in On Golden Pond (1982), which gave her father his Oscar-winning role.

In the 1980s she embarked on a new venture, becoming immensely successful with a series of aerobic-exercise videos. Jane Fonda divorced her husband and married media mogul Ted Turner (divorced 2001) and turned her attention to environmental issues. In 2005 she published an autobiography, My Life So Far, and returned to the film screen with Monster-in-Law. Fonda also played the title character in the film Georgia Rule with Lindsay Lohan.