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JaneBorn December 21, 1937 in New York, New York to legendary actor Henry Fonda and his second wife, socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, Jane Fonda would become a legend in her own right at an early age.

Traumatized by the suicide of her mother when she was twelve, the actress made her stage debut in a charity production of The Country Girl opposite her father at the age of 16 in 1954. She made both her Broadway and film debuts in 1960, receiving star billing from the get-go. Early hits include Tall Story opposite Anthony Perkins, Period of Adjustment opposite Jim Hutton, Cat Ballou opposite Lee Marvin and Barefoot in the Park opposite Robert Redford.

Fonda married controversial French director Roger Vadim, the ex-husband of Brigitte Bardot, in 1965. Their daughter Vanessa, named after Vanessa Redgrave, was born in 1968. She would star in several of his films, most notably 1968โ€™s Barbarella. The actress achieved critical acclaim with 1969โ€™s They Shoot Horses, donโ€™t They? , for which she received the first of her seven Oscar nominations. She would receive her second nomination and first win two years later for Klute. An outspoken opponent against the Vietnam War, she was dubbed โ€œHanoi Janeโ€ after her headline-making visit to Hanoi in 1972.

Divorced from Vadim in early January, 1973, she immediately married radical activist, later politician, Tom Hayden, to whom she would remain married until 1990. Their son, the future actor Troy Garity, was born in 1974. During their marriage Fonda would become one of the biggest female stars of the 1970s, an exercise maven in the early 1980s and a still vibrant actress in the 1980s. She would receive another five Oscar nominations during her marriage to Hayden for Julia, Coming Home, The China Syndrome, On Golden Pond and The Morning After, winning for Coming Home. She also accepted her fatherโ€™s Oscar for On Golden Pond shortly before his death in 1982.

Fondaโ€™s biggest hits during the early 1980s were her exercise tapes which made her a very wealthy woman. She also won an Emmy for the 1984 TV movie, The Dollmaker and received kudos for her 1985 film, Agnes of God for which co-stars Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly received Oscar nominations.

After the flop of her last two films, 1989โ€™s Old Gringo and 1990โ€™s Stanley & Iris and her divorce from Hayden, Fonda announced her retirement. In 1991 she married TV mogul Ted Turner whom she divorced in 2001.

Fonda made a comeback in 2005โ€™s Monster-in-Law as Jennifer Lopezโ€™s mother-in-law from Hell and has been busy ever since, most notably as Nancy Reagan in The Butler and the TV series, Newsroom and Grace and Frankie, reciving Emmy nominations for the first two seasons of Newsroom. Her last released film is This Is Where I Leave You, but she has another one in the can and another in pre-production. The no longer retired Jane Fonda remains highly visible at 77.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

THEY SHOOT HORSES, DONโ€™T THEY? (1969), directed by Sydney Pollack

The film version of Horace McCoyโ€™s depression era novel, first published in 1935, was one of the yearโ€™s most highly anticipated films. It didnโ€™t disappoint.

Taking place almost entirely during a grueling marathon dancing contest, the film opens with a voiceover from Fondaโ€™s co-star Michael Sarrazin that he shot and killed her. Thereโ€™s no question that the film is going to be a downer, but a brilliant one, impeccably acted by Fonda, Sarrazin, Susannah York, Red Buttons, Bonnie Bedelia and Bruce Dern as desperate dance contestants and Gig Young as the cruel, demanding emcee.

KLUTE (1971), directed by Alan J. Pakula

In only his second film as director, Pakula, who had been director Robert Mulliganโ€™s producing partner (To Kill a Mockingbird) proved to be as adept at directing as he been at producing.

The film is a murder mystery in which the murders takes second stage to Fondaโ€™s chilling portrayal of a high-priced call girl being stalked by the killer. Donald Sutherland is also quite good as the small-town detective in pursuit of the killer. His scenes with Fonda sizzle as do her chilling monologues in her psychiatristโ€™s office. She is also terrific in the non-dialogue scenes in her sterile apartment.

COMING HOME (1978), directed by Hal Ashby

This was one of the yearโ€™s best films thanks mainly to Jon Voightโ€™s stunning portrayal of a paraplegic Vietnam War veteran. Fonda, is good, too, but itโ€™s quite obvious from the beginning that the activist actress playing the dutiful wife of Army officer Bruce Dern is going to have her consciousness raised and end up against the war. Oscar voters seemed to think that was great acting in a year when fellow nominees Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata, Geraldien Page in Interiors and Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman gave truly stunning performances. Then again, maybe it was payback for losing for Julia the year before.

ON GOLDEN POND (1981), directed by Mark Rydell

Fonda was the impetus behind the first ever teaming of her father Henry and Katharine Hepburn. The film was partially made during an actorsโ€™ strike, the film getting dispensation because of the age and fragility of the two stars many thought were on their last legs. In truth, the senior Fonda actually made another film, a TV movie with Myrna Loy, and Hepburn, who lived to be 96, was still starring in films, mostly made for TV, well into her 80s.

The younger Fonda takes a backseat to the main thrust of the drama which is about the two elderly vacationers and their young charge, Doug McKeon, left in their care by Fonda and her fiancรฉ Dabney Coleman, the boyโ€™s father. The actress, however, shines in her small role, made poignant by the fact that sheโ€™s playing against her ailing, real-life father.

THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (2014), directed by Shawn Levy

The film conjures up memories of the better made The Big Chill and The Family Stone, but once you get past the boob and poop jokes, itโ€™s a fairly well-done family drama in which Fonda plays the matriarch of a half-Jewish family โ€œsitting shivaโ€, the seven day mourning period for its deceased patriarch. Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver and Corey Stoll are her four grown children.

Like most of her performances since her now ten year old return to acting, Fonda leaves you wishing for more. Maybe one of these days sheโ€™ll get a role that is truly worthy of the talent she still has in abundance.

JANE FONDA AND OSCAR

  • Nominated Best Actress โ€“ They Shoot Horses, Donโ€™t They? (1969)
  • Oscar – Best Actress โ€“ Klute (1971)
  • Nominated Best Actress โ€“ Julia (1977)
  • Oscar – Best Actress โ€“ Coming Home (1978)
  • Nominated Best Actress โ€“ The China Syndrome (1979)
  • Nominated Best Supporting Actress โ€“ On Golden Pond (1981)
  • Nominated Best Actress โ€“ The Morning After (1986)

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