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Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21 , 1937 ) is an Academy Award -winning American Actor , Writer , Producer , and Political Activist . Fonda describes herself as a Liberal , and more recently, a Feminist and a Born-again Christian . She has appeared in a variety of movies starting in the 1960s and has won numerous awards. Although she announced her retirement from acting in 1991, she returned to film in 2005 with '' Monster In Law ''. She made numerous exercise videos during the 1980s and 1990s . Fonda has also served many political causes, including activism against the Vietnam War and Iraq War . She published an autobiography in 2005 and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia . ANCESTRY AND FAMILY Jane Fonda was born in New York City to actor Henry Fonda and Socialite Frances Ford Seymour . When Jane was twelve years old, Seymour committed Suicide after voluntarily seeking treatment at a Psychiatric Hospital . Although Henry Fonda was primarily of Dutch and British descent, the surname Fonda originates from Italy . In Spanish "fonda" is a small hotel or hostel. Her name was apparently inspired by Jane Seymour , the third wife of King Henry VIII Of England . She was frequently called "Lady Jane" or "Lady", as a child, nicknames she greatly disliked. Her brother ). Generated by GedTree. Retrieved from the Google cache, 25 January 2005. ACTING CAREER Fonda first became interested in acting in 1954, while appearing with her father in a charity performance of '' The Country Girl '', at the Omaha Community Theatre. After attending Vassar College in New York, she was introduced by her father to renowned drama teacher Lee Strasberg in 1958, and subsequently joined his Actors Studio . 1960s ''.]] Her stage work in the late 1950s laid the foundation for her film career in the 1960s. She averaged almost two movies a year throughout the decade, starting in 1960 with '' Tall Story '', in which she recreated one of her Broadway roles as a college cheerleader pursuing a basketball star, played by Anthony Perkins . '' Period Of Adjustment '' and '' Walk On The Wild Side '' followed in 1962 . In ''Walk on the Wild Side'', Fonda played a prostitute, and earned a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. In 1963 , she appeared in '' Sunday In New York ''. '' Newsday '' called her "the loveliest and most gifted of all our new young actresses". However, she also had her detractors—in the same year, the '' Harvard Lampoon '' named her the "Year's Worst Actress". Fonda's career breakthrough came with '' Cat Ballou '' ( 1965 ), in which she played a schoolmarm turned outlaw. This comedy Western received five Oscar nominations and was one of the year's top ten films at the box office. It was considered by many to have been the film that brought Fonda to stardom at the age of twenty-eight. After this came the comedies '' Any Wednesday '' ( 1966 ) and '' Barefoot In The Park '' ( 1967 ), the latter co-starring Robert Redford . In 1968 , she played the lead role in the Science Fiction spoof '' Barbarella '', which established her status as a Sex Symbol . In contrast, the tragedy '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They? '' ( 1969 ) won her critical acclaim, and she earned her first Oscar nomination for the role. Fonda was very selective by the end of the 1960s, turning down lead roles in '' Rosemary's Baby '' and '' Bonnie And Clyde '', films widely praised by critics and considered box-office successes. 1970s Fonda won her first Academy Award For Best Actress in 1971 , again playing a prostitute, in the detective murder mystery '' Klute ''. It is generally acknowledged that her finest moment onscreen is the extraordinary scene towards the end of Klute where she is confronted by her potential killer. Her second Award was in 1978 for '' Coming Home '', the story of a disabled Vietnam War veteran's difficulty in re-entering civilian life. Between '' Klute '' in 1971 and her 'comeback film' '' Fun With Dick And Jane '', Fonda spent most of the first half of the decade without a major film success. From comments ascribed to her in interviews some have inferred that she personally blamed the situation on anger at her outspoken political views - "I can't say I was blacklisted, but I was greylisted." Jane Fonda profile . ''Hello!'' magazine. Retrieved 2 April 2006. However in her 2005 autobiography, ''My Life So Far'' it would appear that she categorically regects such simplification. "The suggestion is that because of my actions against the war my career had been destroyed ... But the truth is that my career, far from being destroyed after the war, flourished with a vigor it had not previously enjoyed."Fonda, 2005, p 378 From her own point of view it would appear that her absence from silver screen was related more to the fact that her political activism provided a new focus in her life. By the same token her return to acting with a series of 'issue-driven' films was a reflection of this new focus. "When I hear admonitions ... warning outspoken actors to remember 'what happened to Jane Fonda back in the seventies', this has me scratching my head: And that would be?" In mid-decade, her biggest role was in the 1976 fairy tale '' The Blue Bird ''. Through her production company Indo-China Peace Campaign (IPC), she produced films that helped return her to star status. The 1977 comedy film '' Fun With Dick And Jane '' is generally considered her 'comeback' picture. She also received very positive reviews and an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of playwright Lillian Hellman in the 1977 film, '' Julia ''. During this period Fonda announced that she would only make films that focused on important issues, and she generally stuck to her word. She turned down '' An Unmarried Woman '' because she felt the part was not relevant. She followed with popular and successful films such as '' The China Syndrome '' ( 1978 ), about a cover up of an accident in a Nuclear Power Plant ; and '' The Electric Horseman '' ( 1979 ) with her previous co-star, Robert Redford . 1980s In 1980 , Fonda starred in '' Nine To Five '' with Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton . She played a divorced woman re-entering the workforce. The film was one of her greatest financial successes, contributing significantly to her wealth. She had long wanted to work with her father, hoping it would help their strained relationship. She achieved this goal when she was cast as a supporting actress alongside Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in '' On Golden Pond '' ( 1981 ). This film brought Henry Fonda his first Academy Award For Best Actor , which Jane accepted on his behalf, as he was ill and homebound. He died several months later. Fonda continued appearing in feature films throughout the 1980s. Workout videos For many years, Fonda was a Ballet enthusiast, but after Fracturing her foot while filming ''The China Syndrome'', she was no longer able to participate. To compensate, she began actively participating in Aerobics and strengthening exercises. This became a second career for her which continued for many years. In 1982, Fonda released her first exercise video, titled ''Jane Fonda Workout'', which sold 17 million copies, the most of any home video of all time. The video's release led many people to buy VCRs in order to watch the video while performing the workout. Fonda subsequently released 23 more workout videos, five workout books, and thirteen audio tapes. Her most recent workout video was released in 1995. Fonda is known to have popularized the phrase "go for the burn". However, she has been criticized as "hypocritical" by many fitness professionals for improving her figure by means of Plastic Surgery . Retirement and return In April 1991 , after three decades in film, Fonda announced her retirement from the film industry. In May 2005 , however, she returned to the screen, after a fourteen-year absence, with the box-office success '' Monster-in-Law '', a comedy in which she plays the prospective mother-in-law of a character played by Jennifer Lopez . In July 2005, the British tabloid '' The Sun '' reported that when Fonda was asked if she would appear in a sequel to her 1980 hit '' Nine To Five '', she replied "I'd love to."Simon Thompson. Fonda: 9 To 5 sequel? . The Sun. Retrieved 2 April 2006. In the course of her career, Fonda has received seven Oscar nominations and two Oscars. POLITICAL ACTIVISM airport for Disturbing The Peace , and charged her with “smuggling unidentified pills.” All charges were dropped when the "pills" turned out to be vitamins.]] During the 1960s, Fonda engaged in Political Activism in support of the Civil Rights Movement and in Opposition To The Vietnam War . Along with other celebrities, she supported the Alcatraz Island occupation in 1969, which was intended to call attention to Native American issues. (In the 1990s she was criticized by Native American activists for doing the perceived racist celebration "The Tomahawk Chop" at Atlanta Braves baseball games with her then-husband, Ted Turner .) She likewise supported Huey Newton and the Black Panthers in the early 1970s, stating "Revolution is an act of love; we are the children of revolution, born to be rebels. It runs in our blood." She called the Black Panthers "our revolutionary vanguard", and said "we must support them with love, money, propaganda and risk." Fonda has also been involved in the Feminist movement since the 1970s, which dovetails with her activism in support of Civil Rights . Opposition to the Vietnam War See Also: Opposition to the Vietnam War
In the same year, Fonda spoke out against the war at a rally organized by , 1970 , Fonda started a tour of college campuses on which she raised funds for the organization. As noted by the ''New York Times'', Fonda was a "major patron" of the VVAW. In March 1971, Fonda traveled to Paris to meet with , where she again came under fire for making a speech that discussed the use of Torture by US troops in Vietnam. Her financial support to VVAW at this time was apparently not significant, as the organization ran out of money within a month, and one of its prominent leaders, John Kerry , was called upon to raise the necessary funds. "Hanoi Jane" Fonda visited Hanoi in July 1972. She is credited with publicly exposing Richard Nixon 's potential strategy of Bombing The Dikes In Vietnam . At the time, she was called a liar by United Nations ambassador George H. W. Bush . Bush was intending to provide evidence of US innocence, but cancelled the press conference after Fonda released filmed evidence, with Bush saying, "I think that the best thing I can do on the subject is to shut up." In 2004, her former partner Tom Hayden released evidence to suggest that "Fonda was right and Bush was lying".Tom Hayden. You Gotta Love Her: Fonda was Right and Bush was Lying . ''The Nation''. 10 March 2004. Retrieved 2 April 2006. In Vietnam, Fonda was photographed multiple times seated on an Anti-aircraft Battery used against American aircrews. Jane Fonda, AKA Hanoi Jane . Retrieved 2 April 2006. She also participated in several radio broadcasts on behalf of the Communist regime, asking US aircrews to turn around without dropping their bombs. In her 2005 autobiography, she states that she was manipulated into sitting on the battery, and claims to have been immediately horrified at the implications of the pictures. She expressed regret for her actions sixteen years later, though there is continued hostility shown towards her by many Americans. She also visited American Prisoners Of War (POWs), who she claims were neither tortured nor brainwashed. Fonda relayed these claims to the American public. When cases of torture began to emerge among POWs returning to the United States, Fonda called the returning POWs "hypocrites and liars" (Andersen, p. 266) She added, "These were not men who had been tortured. These were not men who had been starved. These were not men who had been brainwashed." On the subject of torture in general, Fonda told the '' New York Times '' in 1973, "I'm quite sure that there were incidents of torture... but the pilots who were saying it was the policy of the Vietnamese and that it was systematic, I believe that's a lie." Several American POWs and other eyewitnesses, including former POW and current US Senator John McCain , disagree with this sentiment. Although opposition to the war was building in the U.S., Fonda's actions in July 1972 were widely perceived as an unpatriotic display of aid and comfort to the enemy, with some even characterizing it as . Because of her actions, actor John Wayne cut off all contact with her, despite his close ties to her father. In 1972, Fonda funded and organized the , when most other antiwar organizations closed down. Fonda's regrets In 1988, Fonda admitted to former American POWs and their families that she had some regrets, stating:
On the '' Charlie Rose '' program, Fonda noted that her regrets were limited to the photo appearance with the anti-aircraft gun, and that she was "proud" of her activism against "the Bombing Of The Dikes ". In a '' 60 Minutes '' interview on March 31, 2005, Fonda reiterated that she had no regrets about her trip to North Vietnam in 1972, with the exception of the anti-aircraft gun photo. She stated that the incident was a "betrayal" of American forces and of the "country that gave me privilege". Fonda said, "The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella , Henry Fonda 's daughter ... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal ... the largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine." She later distinguished between regret over the use of her image as Propaganda and pride for her anti-war activism: "There are hundreds of American delegations that had met with the POWs. Both sides were using the POWs for propaganda... It's not something that I will apologize for." Fonda said she had no regrets about the broadcasts she made on Radio Hanoi, something she asked the North Vietnamese to do: "Our government was lying to us and men were dying because of it, and I felt I had to do anything that I could to expose the lies and help end the war." Anti-Fonda protests Protestors disrupted filming of Fonda's 1990 picture '' Stanley And Iris ''. Later, when Fonda was honored by Barbara Walters in 1999 as one of the 100 great women of the century, old sentiments regarding Fonda's actions in Vietnam were rekindled. In the to defend Kerry against these attacks. In April 2005, a man named Michael A. Smith from Kansas City, Missouri took advantage of one of Jane Fonda's book signings to spit tobacco juice in her face. Minutes later, Smith was caught by police and charged with disorderly conduct. He went to court on May 27, 2005, and stated that he spat in Fonda's face because he believed her to be a "traitor", adding that his actions were "absolutely worth it". Smith disagreed with Fonda's active support of North Vietnam and what he perceived to be a betrayal of American POWs during the Vietnam War. After he was led away, Fonda carried on signing books. In May 2005, '') hung photos of Fonda clapping with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft crew outside the theater. Feminist causes Fonda has been a longtime supporter of feminist causes, including V-Day , a movement to stop violence against women, inspired by the off-Broadway hit '' The Vagina Monologues '', of which she is an honorary chairperson. She was present at their first summit in 2002, bringing together founder Eve Ensler , Afghan women oppressed by the Taliban , and a Kenyan activist campaigning to save girls from Genital Mutilation . In 2002, Fonda established the Jane Fonda Center For Adolescent Reproductive Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia ; the goal of the center is to prevent adolescent pregnancy, and to promote women's reproductive rights. On February 16 2004, Fonda led a march through Ciudad Juárez , with Sally Field , Eve Ensler , and other women, urging Mexico to provide sufficient resources to newly appointed officials helping investigate the murders of hundreds of women in the rough border city. Fonda strongly feels that many Gender Stereotypes are damaging to individuals of all genders. In 2004, she served as a mentor to the first ever all- Transsexual cast of ''The Vagina Monologues''. Opposition to patriarchy In ''My Life So Far'', Fonda says that she considers Patriarchy to be harmful to men as well as women. She also states that for many years, she feared to call herself a feminist, because she believed that all feminists were "anti-male". But now, with her increased understanding of patriarchy, she feels that feminism is beneficial to both men and women, and states that she "still loves men". She states that when she divorced Ted Turner, she felt like she had also divorced the world of patriarchy, and was very happy to have done so. Israeli-Palestinian conflict Fonda continues to participate in political activism, particularly in connection with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict . During a trip to Jerusalem in 2002 (billed as a promotion of "world peace"), Fonda was criticized by right wing Israelis , and heckled as she arrived for a meeting with leading Israeli feminists. Three hecklers, members of Women In Green , criticized her controversial stance during the Vietnam War, her stance toward Israel, and said that she "came to Israel as a guest of Peace Now , Israeli traitors".[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1202/jane_jeru.html Jane in Jerusalem]. Jewish World Review. Retrieved 2 April 2006. Opposition to the Iraq War See Also: Popular opposition to the 2003 Iraq War Fonda has argued that the military campaign in Iraq will turn people all over the world against America, and has asserted that a global hatred of America will result in more terrorist attacks in the aftermath of the war. In July 2005, Fonda said that some of the war veterans she had met while on her book tour had urged her to speak out against the Iraq War . {Link without Title} . Yahoo! News. July 2005. In September 2005, Fonda and George Galloway postponed their Anti-war bus tour due to the perceived slow start to the relief operation now underway in the Gulf Coast , which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina .Jack Ryan. Jane Fonda Cancels Vegetable Oil Powered Anti War Bus Tour . The Post Chronicle. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 2 April 2006. Fonda then planned to take a bus tour in March 2006 with her George W. Bush in general. CHRISTIANITY In 2001, Fonda publicly announced that she had become a 's ''Traveling Mercies'' to her family and friends, to explain her conversion to Christianity. AUTOBIOGRAPHY In 2005, Fonda released her autobiography, ''My Life So Far''. The book describes her life as a series of three acts, each thirty years long, and declares that her third "act" will be her most significant, and that it will determine the things she will be remembered for. Fonda also claims that her autobiography shows that "she is so much more than what America knows her as". Fonda's autobiography was praised by the Los Angeles Times , New York Times , and several other Newspapers . Fonda has held book-signing events all over the United States since publishing her book. ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS Fonda's first husband, from 1965-1973, was French film director Roger Vadim , with whom she had a daughter, Vanessa born in 1968 and named for actress and activist Vanessa Redgrave . According to her 2005 autobiography, Fonda participated in sexual Threesomes at Vadim's suggestion. In 1973, shortly after her divorce from Vadim, Fonda married author and politician Tom Hayden . Their son, Troy Garity (born 1973) was given his paternal grandmother's surname. With Hayden, she also raised a Foster Daughter , Mary Luana Williams , who is an activist born to members of the Black Panthers . Fonda and Hayden divorced in 1990. Fonda's third husband (1991-2001) was cable-television tycoon and CNN founder Ted Turner . In ''My Life So Far'', Fonda states that she "left the father's house" when she divorced Turner. In addition to having become a Christian, Fonda's desire to disassociate herself from Patriarchy may have contributed to the divorce. Fonda has also had romantic relationships with Alexander "Sandy" Whitelaw , a film director, with whom she was involved in 1960; Donald Sutherland , with whom she co-starred in ''Klute'' and dated in the 1970s; and Barry Matalon , a hairdresser who she dated in the 1990s. FILM AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS Academy Awards
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