December 13, 2007. Copyright 2007, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Actress and outspoken political campaigner Jane Fonda turns 70
By Susan Shepherd

LONDON, December 13, Graphic News:  Actor, campaigner and -- since her recent autobiography -- best-selling author, Jane Fonda describes herself as Ògratefully, still a work in progressÓ. The woman who lived for so many years in the shadow of her motherÕs early suicide and her father HenryÕs perceived indifference towards her, is now a grandmother, brimming with new-found self-knowledge and independence.

Three times married, to French film director Roger Vadim, American politician Tom Hayden and U.S. broadcasting billionaire Ted Turner, Fonda has used her high profile throughout her career to denounce violence and injustice, especially against women. Shortly after leaving Turner, she went back to the stage for the first time in over a decade to take part in Eve EnslerÕs The Vagina Monologues, in New York in 2000. A veteran of some 40 films, and twice a winner at the Oscars, Fonda had effectively retired in her fifties, after co-starring with Robert de Niro in Stanley and Iris (1990), but returned to critical acclaim two years ago in the romantic comedy, Monster-in-Law. Her latest film, Georgia Rule, was released earlier this year.

Fonda came naturally to acting through her father, studying under Lee Strasberg in the late 1950s. Her breakthrough came with the comedy western Cat Ballou in 1965 and her popularity grew when she co-starred with Robert Reford two years later in the Neil Simon comedy, Barefoot in the Park. But it was when she hit the screen as Barbarella, an erotic science fiction spoof directed by her then-husband, Vadim, that her status as a sex symbol was established.

Off screen, the actor became a political activist during the Vietnam War, campaigning vociferously against AmericaÕs involvement. This was seen by many of her fellow countrymen as deeply unpatriotic, arousing public hostility towards her and earning her the nickname ÒHanoi JaneÓ. Yet it did not seem to have an adverse effect on her work. Her portrayal of a prostitute in the 1971 hit, Klute, in which she played opposite Donald Sutherland, secured her first Academy Award for Best Actress. The 70s brought further success in the comedy, Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), Julia (1977), opposite Vanessa Redgrave, and then a second Best Actress Oscar for the anti-war film, Coming Home (1978), about a disabled Vietnam veteran. Her co-star, Jon Voight, also won the Oscar for his performance. The China Syndrome (1979), eerily foreshadowed the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, a co-incidence which boosted the filmÕs box office takings. And it was while working on this movie that Jane Fonda broke her foot, went to an exercise class to get back to fitness and thereby brought aerobics to an unsuspecting generation. Literally millions of women across the globe latched on to her workout programme, setting new sales records in the lucrative home video market.

Her business triumph was matched by another Oscar-winning film, On Golden Pond (1981), an exploration of family relationships with a difficult father-daughter pairing at the centre of the plot. In this, Fonda achieved a personal ambition by bringing her ageing father, Henry, to the role of Norman Thayer, with Katharine Hepburn as his wife of 50 years. Fonda played their middle-aged daughter, Chelsea, and faced her own issues in emotionally-charged scenes with her father, while also overcoming physical fear to pull off a backflip into the pond of the title. Fonda had wanted to use a stunt double, but felt challenged to do it herself by the formidable Hepburn. The movie won Henry Fonda the only Oscar of his long career -- and Hepburn her record fourth. Jane Fonda collected her fatherÕs statuette and presented it to him at his bedside. He died five months later.

The Fonda acting dynasty continues through JaneÕs own son, Troy, and her niece, Bridget, the daughter of her actor brother, Peter Fonda. JaneÕs daughter, Vanessa, is a documentary filmmaker.
/ENDS

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bibliography:  My Life So Far, by Jane Fonda (Ebury Press); www.imdb.com; www.jane-fonda.net; www.nndb.com; www.thegoldenyears.org