Legends- Jane Fonda

   Jane Fonda celebrates her 80th birthday today(I apologize for reminding you of your own decrepitude), and I can safely say that no woman has ever done it looking better. Vietnam vets and conservative crybabies won't like it, but this seems like the perfect time to talk about the life and times of this ageless beauty. You may not be old enough to know that her first thirty years in the movies(1960-1990) earned her a place among the pantheon of great screen actresses. Fonda's 1970s peak saw her collect two Best Actress Oscars, silencing outspoken critics of her political activism and proving she was much more than just a sex symbol. As if that wasn't enough, she helped kick-start the physical fitness craze of the 1980s, assisting a generation of women that wanted to look just like her. That's right, Jane Fonda is the reason there are so many hot girls at the gym. You didn't know that, and they probably don't either. This woman is a true trailblazer, and set out to prove, after a lengthy hiatus, that senior citizens can be as active and vital as ever before in her ongoing comeback. I understand that Henry Fonda's daughter remains a somewhat polarizing figure. We'll get into that, and so much more. I promise, it won't be boring.



   Jane was born in NYC in 1937, and her famous father starred in "The Grapes of Wrath", "12 Angry Men" and "Once Upon a Time in the West". Needless to say, she had a lot to live up to when she decided to enter the family business with her brother Peter("Easy Rider"). Her mother committed suicide while receiving psychiatric care in 1950(she learned much later in life that Frances Fonda had nine abortions and was a victim of sexual abuse). An unexceptional student, she dropped out of Vassar College in the late '50s to pursue modeling and acting, appearing on the cover of Vogue magazine twice. A life-altering apprenticeship with theater titan Lee Strasberg convinced a 20 year old Jane that she had what it took to follow in her father's footsteps. She obsessively pursued roles as JFK entered the White House, racking up appearances in "Tall Story", "Period of Adjustment" and "Walk on the Wild Side". Newsday pegged her the most promising young actress of the decade after 1963's "Sunday in New York". Fonda's steady rise continued in "Cat Ballou"(which earned Lee Marvin the Best Actor Oscar), "The Chase", "Any Wednesday" and "Hurry Sundown".

A 30 year old Fonda became the hottest actress in the world for all the wrong reasons.

   Jane co-starred with another budding superstar Robert Redford in the amiable Neil Simon scripted-comedy "Barefoot in the Park"(they would share the screen a total of four times). In 1968, she played a 41st Century super-heroine in the bombastic "Barbarella"(pictured above). The popularity of this cult sci-fi flick, particularly overseas, was a double-edged sword. It would have been so easy to embrace her newfound sexpot status in a series of undemanding parts for big paychecks. It was the exact opposite of what she wanted, and Fonda deserves credit for not relinquishing her artistic ambitions when the pressure to do so must have been immense. Her next project, 1969's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" resulted in her first Academy Award nomination.

   Fonda won the Best Actress Oscar opposite Donald Sutherland as a hardened call girl in Alan J. Pakula's dramatic thriller "Klute". After giving one of the finest female performances of the early '70s, she seemed poised to rule Tinsel-town for as long as she pleased. The celebration was short-lived, however. Jane was more interested in nightly news coverage of the growing carnage in Vietnam than she was in reading scripts, and made an ill-fated trip there in July 1972. You'll have to read about that infamous photo of 'Hanoi Jane' elsewhere, but this incident has since been talked about in conservative circles as if Fonda personally slaughtered those 58,000 U.S. soldiers that lost their lives in the jungles of Southeast Asia herself. Fox News followers need to understand that she didn't send any those young men to their deaths. Near-sighted politicians did that from the safety of their offices. Corrupt forces within our government did that. Jane Fonda made a mistake. Vietnam was a mistake. She may always be a symbol of 'liberal Hollywood' and it's perceived lack of patriotism. This oversimplification of complex issues and the vilification of anyone with a different opinion doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. That's unfortunate.

Oscar #2

   Jane's 'un-American' counterculture antics cost her career-wise and led to a cooling-off period. "A Doll's House" didn't register, and her team-up with Liz Taylor for 1976's "The Blue Bird" should have been a slam-dunk instead of a quickly forgotten failure. She wouldn't be held down for long, though. "Fun with Dick and Jane" was a commercial success in '77 that put her back in the public's good graces(and is better than the '05 Jim Carrey remake). She was back in awards contention for "Julia" later that year. Fred Zinnemann's 1930s-set drama received eleven Academy Award nominations, with Jason Robards and Vanessa Redgrave taking home the statues for Best Supporting Actor/Actress. Fonda's best film might be 1978's "Coming Home". Her role as a married nurse that falls for a paralyzed vet(Jon Voight) could be interpreted as an atonement for her Vietnam-era insensitivity, and she nabbed her second Best Actress Oscar. "California Suite" was a crackling Neil Simon ensemble that also scored nominations that year. She then reunited with Redford for the 1979 hit "The Electric Horseman", before closing out the decade in "The China Syndrome", a topical triumph about a nuclear power plant that co-starred Jack Lemmon and a young Michael Douglas.

   Jane entered the 1980s as, perhaps, the most respected and sought-after woman in the industry. Meryl Streep and Sally Field were making noise, but "9 to 5" was a comedy smash that kept her safely atop the leading lady hierarchy. Her second best movie might be 1981's "On Golden Pond". She couldn't resist the chance to act alongside her ailing father(not to mention Katharine Hepburn) in a family drama that echoed their real-life relationship. Fonda was the driving force behind the film, and it must have been tremendously satisfying to hear Henry's name called up for the Best Actor Oscar(he was too sick to attend the ceremony and died shorty after). "Pond" was also the second biggest moneymaker of the year, behind "Raiders of the Lost Ark". It was around this time that everyone couldn't help but remark how great she still looked in her early 40s. Her terrific shape is the only reason I don't regret watching "Rollover"(relax, it's just a dull financial thriller). She was about to embark on a whole new career.

   Jane Fonda's workout videos were a genuine phenomenon. She transferred her passion for ballet into aerobics at the height of her fame, and a lucrative industry was formed during Reagan's first term. The sales of VCRs soared so that big-haired baby boomers could pick up the inaugural 1982 edition, which went on to sell over a million copies(that's more than "E.T."). She would subsequently release two dozen more workout tapes, with seventeen million copies sold. Jane Fonda's Workout is the most successful exercise series ever produced. Meanwhile on the film front, "Agnes of God" was a decent Norman Jewison drama that stole some business away from "Back to the Future" in 1985. She summoned up some of her old fire for Sidney Lumet in 1986's "The Morning After", and got one last Best Actress nomination. Otherwise, her interest in movies was clearly waning. "Stanley & Iris" was a tender romance with Robert De Niro released for Valentine's Day in 1990. It was her final film for fifteen years.

   Jane was reeling from the dissolution of two marriages(to "Barbarella" director Roger Vadim and activist Tom Hayden) when she reached the big 5-0, and had little desire to duke it out with a new generation of starlets that included Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan and Michelle Pfeiffer. Enter brash billionaire Ted Turner. It's a shame that one of the most talented actresses in the world chose not to work in that capacity for so long. But who can blame her for NOT turning down the third-richest guy in the world? A man's job is to provide security. Jane got it from the owner of TNT, TBS, CNN, WCW and the Atlanta Braves, just to name a few. Beyond his vast wealth, Fonda was drawn to his philanthropy and personal similarities(he had two divorces and his father committed suicide). She spent much of the Clinton era doing charity work and presiding over their large estate. She would later reveal that the marriage "ate her alive" and that Ted's intense workload eroded the relationship as we approached the new millennium. Divorce number three happened in the summer of 2001.



   Nobody can say that Jane Fonda isn't resilient. She began to miss performing and started to wonder if she could still do it at the level she had in the past. There was only one way to find out. Say what you will about movies like "Monster in Law" and "Georgia Rule"(what I have to say is mostly negative), but I was glad she got back in the game. Hollywood has never been all that willing to accommodate ladies that dare to appear on camera for as long as their male counterparts, regardless of prior achievements. It was always going to be an uphill climb. She worked whenever and wherever she could(playing Nancy Reagan in Lee Daniels' "The Butler" in an ironic twist), and didn't shy away from voicing her opposition to the Iraq War. The AFI came calling in 2014, and she seems to be enjoying her Netflix show "Grace and Frankie" with "9 to 5" costar Lily Tomlin. I hope she lives to be a hundred. The entertainment industry hasn't been gifted with a more bold or beautiful woman than Jane Fonda.