Jane Seymour Fonda was born on December 21, 1937, in New York City. She is an American actress and activist whose work spans several genres and over seven decades of film and television.
๐ Awards and Accolades
Fonda has received two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, eight Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She also has nominations for a Grammy Award and two Tony Awards.
Honorary awards include the Honorary Palme dโOr in 2007, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2014, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2017, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2025.
๐ฌ Early Career and Breakthrough
Fonda made her acting debut in the 1960 Broadway play There Was a Little Girl and her screen debut the same year in Tall Story. She rose to prominence with comedies including Period of Adjustment, Sunday in New York, Cat Ballou, Barefoot in the Park, and Barbarella.
Her career breakthrough came with Cat Ballou (1965), which was considered the film that brought her to bankable stardom. She won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Klute (1971) and her second for Coming Home (1978).
๐น Exercise Videos and Later Work
In 1982, Fonda released her first exercise video, Jane Fondaโs Workout, which became the highest-selling VHS ever. She released 22 such videos over 13 years, collectively selling over 17 million copies.
After retiring from acting, she returned with the comedy Monster-in-Law (2005) and later starred in Netflixโs Grace and Frankie from 2015 to 2022. She also returned to Broadway in 2009 in 33 Variations.
โ Activism and Personal Life
Fonda was a political activist during the Vietnam War and was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in 1972. She describes herself as a feminist and environmental activist and cofounded the Hollywood Womenโs Political Committee in 1984 and the Womenโs Media Center in 2005.
Her parents were socialite Frances Ford Seymour and actor Henry Fonda. Her mother died by suicide in 1950 when Fonda was 12. Fonda attended Greenwich Academy, the Emma Willard School, and Vassar College before becoming a model and appearing on the cover of Vogue twice.
๐ฅ Filmography Highlights
| Decade | Notable Films | Awards/Nominations | Other Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | Cat Ballou, Barbarella, They Shoot Horses, Donโt They? | First Oscar nomination for They Shoot Horses, Donโt They? | Tall Story, Barefoot in the Park |
| 1970s | Klute, Coming Home, Julia, The China Syndrome | Two Oscars for Best Actress | Fun with Dick and Jane, 9 to 5 |
| 1980s | On Golden Pond, The Morning After, The Dollmaker | Primetime Emmy for The Dollmaker | Stanley & Iris |
| 2000sโ2020s | Monster-in-Law, Grace and Frankie, 80 for Brady | Emmy nomination for Grace and Frankie | Youth, Book Club |