00:00♪
00:31Like Barrymore or Houston, the name Fonda denotes Hollywood royalty.
00:37And in an illustrious clan that includes her father Henry, brother Peter and niece Bridget,
00:43it is Jane who has had the most extraordinary life.
00:46The daughter of Henry Fonda and socialite Francis Ford Seymour was born in December 1937.
00:53Following her father's footsteps, she quickly forged a successful acting career.
00:59She received the first Best Actress Oscar nomination in 1970 for the grueling but gripping drama
01:04They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
01:06before winning the award for Clute in 1972 and Coming Home in 1979.
01:13At the same time, Jane was becoming increasingly known for her political views and activism.
01:18In 1970, with Fred Gardner and Clute co-star Donald Sutherland,
01:22she formed the FTA Tour, dubbed a political vaudeville response to Bob Hope's USO Tour.
01:27Most notoriously, she caused a firestorm of protest when photographed in Vietnam
01:33sitting on an anti-aircraft gun which had been used against the American Air Force.
01:39Passionately committed to charity work, Jane has long been a mass of contradictions.
01:45A global sex symbol in her early career, she nevertheless identifies as a staunch feminist
01:50and remains fiercely political, campaigning against the war in Iraq
01:54and on such issues as female genital mutilation.
02:02Her film career was still going well in the 80s,
02:05with impressive work in films like On Golden Pond and Nine to Five.
02:10It makes me real happy that it's had this kind of life.
02:13I mean, it doesn't surprise me, but I talk to a lot of young people.
02:20I work with young people in Georgia where I live
02:23and they love the movie.
02:26They learn to look at it because of their parents
02:29and it's a favourite movie of a lot of young people.
02:31So that makes me feel good that it's held up like that.
02:36But her private life has been less successful,
02:39with the failure of her three marriages
02:41to French film director Roger Vadim, politician Tom Hayden
02:45and cable television mogul Ted Turner.
02:48However, she remained close to Vadim
02:50and was among the mourners at his funeral in 2000.
02:57Jane announced her retirement from screen acting at the beginning of the 90s,
03:01but 14 years later changed her mind and has since appeared in a couple of films.
03:09She was one of the few to defend her Georgia Rules co-star, Lindsay Lohan.
03:13You've got to have more in your life than celebrity
03:15because celebrity doesn't last and then you'll be left with nothing.
03:18And the other thing is it's not a dress rehearsal, you know, this is life.
03:21And, you know, if you blow it, you may not get another chance.
03:28She discovered some familiar emotions
03:30in the script about a mother and daughter's reconciliation.
03:34I felt some of the same things that I felt while I was...
03:37It makes me emotional.
03:39When I was doing On Golden Pond, you know,
03:42it's about healing and forgiveness where there's been dysfunction
03:45and don't we all know about dysfunction?
03:47So it's quite universal.
03:50Jane found unexpected inspiration
03:52when creating her over-the-top mother-in-law character in Monster-in-Law.
03:56Ted Turner, actually.
03:58I spent, you know, a good, wonderful ten years with him
04:01and he's a very over-the-top, kind of flamboyant, outrageous character
04:06that's also lovable.
04:08So I kind of learned, watching and being with him,
04:12what that might look like.
04:14So he kind of inspired me.
04:16He's not a monster, but he inspired me in kind of being outrageous.
04:20In 2001, she embraced Christianity, another surprising life choice.
04:25But the world learned long ago
04:27that for a woman as colourful as Jane Fonda, anything is possible.
04:38On Golden Pond
04:46On Golden Pond
04:573, 2, 1
Comments