Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda (born December 21, 1937, New York, New York, U.S.) is an actress and political activist who first gained fame in comedic roles but later established herself as a serious actress, winning Academy Awards for her work in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978).

Jane Fonda is the daughter of actor Henry Fonda; her younger brother, Peter Fonda, also became a noted actor. She left Vassar College after two years and lived in New York City, where she worked as a model and in 1958 studied acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Her acting career began with appearances in the Broadway play There Was a Little Girl (1960) and the motion picture Tall Story (1960), and she went on to appear in numerous comic films in the 1960s, including Cat Ballou (1965) and Barefoot in the Park (1967).

1 of 2

2 of 2

Fonda’s subsequent, more-substantial roles were in such socially conscious films as They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969), Klute (1971), Coming Home (1978), and The China Syndrome (1979). She received Academy Awards for best actress for her performances as a call girl in Klute and as the wife of a Vietnam War soldier in Coming Home. Fonda then joined Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin in Nine to Five (1980), a comedy in which three women join forces to get even with their cruel misogynistic boss. In 1981 she costarred with her father and Katharine Hepburn in the film On Golden Pond. Fonda’s other movies in the 1980s included Agnes of God (1985) and The Morning After (1986).

Britannica Quiz

Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

Following her turn as a struggling widow in Stanley & Iris (1990), Fonda took a break from acting and did not reappear onscreen until 2005, when she starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy Monster-in-Law. Her later films included Georgia Rule (2007), Peace, Love & Misunderstanding (2011), Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013), and This Is Where I Leave You (2014). In 2009 Fonda returned to Broadway, after a 46-year absence, to portray a dying musicologist in 33 Variations. She also had a recurring role on the television drama The Newsroom (2012–14).

Fonda then starred opposite Lily Tomlin in the Netflix television comedy Grace and Frankie (2015–22), about two women whose husbands leave them for each other. In 2017 Fonda portrayed a widow who befriends her longtime neighbor (played by Robert Redford) in the Netflix movie Our Souls at Night. She later starred in Book Club (2018), a romantic comedy about longtime friends (Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, and Diane Keaton) who add spice to their club—and their lives—by reading E.L. James’s erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey; a sequel, Book Club: The Next Chapter, appeared in 2023. In the sports comedy 80 for Brady, Fonda costarred with Tomlin, Sally Field, and Rita Moreno as fans of the New England Patriots. In 2021 Fonda was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award (a Golden Globe for lifetime achievement).

From the 1970s Fonda was active on behalf of left-wing political causes. An outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, she journeyed to Hanoi in 1972 to denounce the U.S. bombing campaigns there. During that trip she visited with the crew of a North Vietnamese air defense battery, and photographs of Fonda in the seat of an antiaircraft gun were widely circulated. Her actions led to Fonda’s being branded “Hanoi Jane” (recalling World War II’s Tokyo Rose). In 1988 she apologized to American veterans of the Vietnam War in a televised interview with Barbara Walters, saying that some of her behavior in Hanoi was “thoughtless and careless.” In the 1980s she devised a popular exercise program to fund Campaign for Economic Democracy, an organization founded by American politician Tom Hayden, who was her husband from 1973 to 1990. Fonda was also active in the women’s rights movement, and in 2005 she cofounded the Women’s Media Center. She also sought to raise awareness about climate change.

Fonda was married two other times, to the French film director Roger Vadim (1965–73) and to the American broadcasting entrepreneur Ted Turner (1991–2001). Her books included the autobiography My Life So Far (2005); Prime Time (2011), a volume of advice about aging; and What Can I Do?: My Path from Climate Despair to Action (2020). The documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts (2018) chronicled her life and career.

Are you a student?

Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.

Subscribe