Her career has spanned over six decades, and her talent knows no bounds. She’s battled evildoers on far-flung planets, had to clear her name of a murder she didn’t commit, and struggled to accept her son’s future bride. And now, Jane Fonda is about to celebrate a very special milestone.
And that’s because was she born on December 21, 1937, in New York City, New York, which means that this Hollywood legend is turning 83 years old today! Fonda made her professional stage debut in 1960 in the Broadway play There Was a Little Girl. That same year marked her first film role: June Ryder in the romantic comedy Tall Story.
Fonda appeared in a plethora of movies throughout the 1960s; chief among them were Period of Adjustment (1962), Sunday in New York (1963), Cat Ballou (1965), Ash Wednesday (1966), Barefoot in the Park (1967), and the science fiction spoof Barbarella (1968).
The 1969 picture They Shoot Horses, Don’t They, won Fonda critical acclaim, served as her career-making project, and netted her the first of seven Academy Award nominations.
Her next film, a thriller titled Klute (1971), found Fonda assuming the guise of Bree Daniels, a cynical prostitute who runs afoul of a murderer. For her work, she won an Oscar for Best Actress as well as a Golden Globe in the same category.
Fonda’s next few projects – A Doll’s House (1973), Steelyard Blues (1976), and The Bird (1976) – proved only moderately successful at the box office. The 1977 comedy Fun With Dick and Jane provided the actress with a “comeback” and she subsequently appeared in Julia (1977), Coming Home (1978) – which netted Fonda her second Best Actress Oscar – Comes a Horseman (1978), California Suite (1978), The China Syndrome (1979), and The Electric Horseman (1979).
In 1980, Fonda starred in the seminal comedy 9 to 5, opposite Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, which proved to be the second highest-grossing release of that year. One year later, she played in Mark Rydell’s (ex-Jeff Baker, As the World Turns) adaption of On Golden Pond, which starred her father, Academy Award winner Henry Fonda, and Katharine Hepburn.
Fonda’s subsequent credits included The Dollmaker (1984), Agnes of God (1985), The Morning After (1986), Old Gringo (1989), and Stanley & Iris (1990). A 15-year hiatus followed. When Fonda finally resumed her former career, she did so in the hugely successful comedy Monster-in-Law (2005) with Jennifer Lopez.
Afterward, Fonda appeared in the likes of Georgia Rule (2007), All Together (2011), Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding (2012), The Butler (2013), Youth (2015), and Book Club (2018).
Fonda also took on a recurring role on the HBO drama series The Newsroom (2012-2014). Since 2015, she has been working alongside Lily Tomlin in the Netflix original series Grace and Frankie. Fonda’s the hoity-toity Grace Hanson while Tomlin plays hippie-dippie Frankie Bergstein.
Aside from her acting, Fonda is known for activism, which includes her support of civil rights, feminist causes, and the rights due to Native Americans, and environmentalism. Fonda is also fondly remembered for her pioneering efforts in introducing the benefits of aerobics.
Entertainment Hub would like to wish Jane Fonda a very happy birthday, and you can too by clicking on the Twitter link below.
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