| # | Fact |
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| 1 | Visited Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota on Thanksgiving day 2016, where she served dinner to about 300 demonstrators against the Mandan pipeline. |
| 2 | A 1968 image of her topless, arms crossed, windblown and pouty on a French beach became a classic pinup poster. |
| 3 | Turned down The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). |
| 4 | Received $2 million from Columbia Pictures in 1979 to appear in a prison movie to be called "Her Brother's Keeper" whether or not it was ultimately made, which it wasn't. Such an arrangement is known informally as a pay-or-play contract. |
| 5 | Owner of a Coton De Tulear named Tulea. |
| 6 | Heinous rumors about her trip to Hanoi have circled around the internet since two letters purportedly written by Vietnam veterans were posted online in the late '90s. One of the made-up myths, in précis, is that four prisoners of war listed as missing in action slipped Ms. Fonda tiny pieces of paper with their social security numbers so to identify themselves to American authorities - only for her to hand the pile of notes to a North Vietnamese commanding officer who ordered beatings for the men in question, killing all except one who lived to tell the story. The other tale is that a POW was struck in the face with a wooden baton for refusing to talk to Fonda on a separate occasion during the same visit and suffers from permanent double vision as a result of that punishment. The claimed authors of these letters are Col. Larry Carrigan and Air Force pilot Jerry Driscoll, each of whom have repeatedly denied both writing the letters and the incidents described therein. In actuality, no POWs would have needed to sneak Fonda notes with their socials written on them, as she could simply have remembered their names and repeated them once she returned home. Plus, there was no reason for the POWs' identities to have been kept a secret in the first place. While in North Vietnam, Fonda only met with a single group of seven POWs, none of whom said they were coerced into the meeting. Former POW Edison Miller said the entire camp he was in wanted to meet her and certainly no one was tortured for refusing to do so. Fonda brought mail for imprisoned U.S. servicemen with her to Hanoi, and she returned to the United States carrying 241 letters from American POWs back to their families. She even called the wives of some of the men she met with to provide them with updates about their husbands. |
| 7 | Sometimes goes by the alias Jane S. Plemiannikov. |
| 8 | Has an IQ of 132. |
| 9 | With help of lawyers, she gained access to her late mother's medical records from the Austen Riggs Center in Massachusetts. The records revealed that Frances Seymour had nine abortions before giving birth to Jane. |
| 10 | Self-confessed member of the "Mile High Club". |
| 11 | Shared the cover of Vanity Fair magazine's 2016 Hollywood issue with, Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlotte Rampling, Rachel Weisz, Lupita Nyong'o, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Helen Mirren, Diane Keaton and Saoirse Ronan. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz. |
| 12 | Participated in the Vancouver Greenpeace Rally along with roughly 5,500 others (including Rachel McAdams) to protest oil drilling in British Columbia. [June 2015] |
| 13 | Came out in support of Marion Cotillard and Bradley Cooper to help the actors get Oscar nominations for their films Deux jours, une nuit (2014) and American Sniper (2014), respectively. Both ended up being nominated for the 87th Academy Awards. |
| 14 | Director Richard Tuggle lobbied for Fonda to play the leading female role in Tightrope (1984). |
| 15 | Met with James Stewart about the possibility of playing his daughter in The FBI Story (1959) which would have been her first movie, but she expressed disinterest in the role which instead went to Diane Jergens. |
| 16 | Had a crush on Anthony Perkins and tried to seduce him during the making of Tall Story (1960) until she discovered he was gay. |
| 17 | Sister-in-law of Parky Devogelaere. |
| 18 | Was amongst those suggested by United Artists for the role of Diana Christensen in Network (1976). |
| 19 | Her top favorites of the films she's done are Coming Home (1978), The Dollmaker (1984), Klute (1971), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Julia (1977). |
| 20 | Pulled out of Music Box (1989) before production started and was replaced by Jessica Lange. |
| 21 | Was in consideration for the role of Elaine Robinson in The Graduate (1967), eventually played by Katharine Ross to great acclaim. |
| 22 | Turned down Patty Duke's role in Valley of the Dolls (1967). |
| 23 | Owns a ranch in New Mexico. |
| 24 | Ex-stepdaughter of Susan Blanchard and Afdera Franchetti. |
| 25 | Childhood friend of Brooke Hayward. It is often said that Hayward and Fonda were stepsisters, but this is false, since Brooke's mother Margaret Sullavan divorced Jane's father Henry Fonda before either of them were born. |
| 26 | Protestors in Waterbury, Connecticut, led by a Republican political activist who was a WWII veteran, threatened to disrupt filming of Fonda's 1990 picture Stanley & Iris (1990), but when filming began she was well-received by the community, and the city's Board of Aldermen decisively defeated a resolution saying she was not welcome in the city. |
| 27 | Was in psychoanalysis for five years. |
| 28 | An undistinguished student at Vassar, much of Fonda's time there was spent sleeping in during the day and staying out late drinking at nearby men's universities. She dropped out after two years and went to Paris to study art with aspirations of becoming a painter, but instructors told her she wasn't good enough. She moved back into her father's house and briefly worked as a secretary until her boss fired her, then enrolled at the Actors Studio in New York at the encouragement of her friend Susan Strasberg (whose father taught courses there) and supported herself with modeling jobs while trying out for parts in movies. |
| 29 | Her war protests canceled the impact of her first Oscar for Klute (1971). Although Fonda scaled back her career between 1972 and 1976 in favor of activism, none of the three films she did make during that period received wide distribution. At the same time a sub-rosa Hollywood campaign was going on to destroy the actress's respectability and spread false rumors about her subversive behavior. One widely circulated fabrication had Fonda destroying the only existing negative of Stagecoach (1939) because she despised John Wayne. |
| 30 | Considered for the one of the two female leads in Fahrenheit 451 (1966) before François Truffaut decided Julie Christie would play both parts. |
| 31 | Turned down the part of Joanna Kramer in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). |
| 32 | Mike Nichols considered Fonda to play Bobbie in Carnal Knowledge (1971) before he cast Ann-Margret. |
| 33 | Auditioned for the title role in Fanny (1961) that went to Leslie Caron. |
| 34 | Refused Robert Redford's offer to co-star with him in Havana (1990). |
| 35 | Turned down Isabelle Huppert's role in Heaven's Gate (1980). |
| 36 | Campaigned for the role of Rosemary Hoyt in Tender Is the Night (1962), which went to Jill St. John. |
| 37 | Turned down a role in The Stepford Wives (1975). |
| 38 | Turned down Rosemary's Baby (1968). |
| 39 | Turned down the role of Judy in Husbands and Wives (1992) because she disagreed with Woody Allen on the aesthetics of the character. The part went to Mia Farrow. |
| 40 | Turned down An Unmarried Woman (1978). |
| 41 | Turned down a role in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). |
| 42 | Was Columbia's choice to star in Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), but director Otto Preminger insisted on casting Carol Lynley. |
| 43 | Turned down the Glenn Close role in Jagged Edge (1985). |
| 44 | Tested for the part of Lucy in Parrish (1961). |
| 45 | John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas described in his autobiography of a midsized orgy he said occurred among himself, then-wife Michelle Phillips, a well-known movie director and his extremely famous movie star wife, and another single male movie star at a house in Malibu. It is commonly believed the unnamed three he was referring to were Roger Vadim, Fonda and Warren Beatty. |
| 46 | Tom Hayden was reportedly worth only $50,000 when he married Fonda in 1973. Hayden received an estimated $30 million under California's joint property law in the couple's 1990 divorce settlement. |
| 47 | Was romantically involved with producers José Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña and Sandy Whitelaw as well as actors Warren Beatty, James Franciscus and William Wellman Jr. during her bachelorette days; political activist Fred Gardner and actor Donald Sutherland while separated from first husband Roger Vadim; soccer player Lorenzo Caccialanza while separated from second husband Tom Hayden; and retired businessman Lynden Gillis in between her divorce from Ted Turner and her longtime relationship with Richard Perry. Over the span of her lengthy career, Jane also has been rumored to be romantically linked to numerous men including co-stars Alain Delon and Kris Kristofferson, musician Mick Jagger, cinematographer Sven Nykvist, talk show host Geraldo Rivera, columnist Robert Scheer and Manson Family victim Jay Sebring, but most of these affairs are unconfirmed so far. |
| 48 | At the start of her career she auditioned for the role of Deanie in Splendor in the Grass (1961). When director Elia Kazan asked her if she was ambitious she said no, reasoning to herself "Good girls aren't supposed to be ambitious." The part went to Natalie Wood, and Fonda says she believes Kazan would've cast her instead if she had answered yes. |
| 49 | Revealed on her website that she bathed in the ashes of her golden retriever Roxy when she mistook the contents of an urn for bath salts, and didn't realize what they were until she saw a bone in the water. |
| 50 | Any Wednesday (1966) is her least favorite of her own films. |
| 51 | Was offered Susan Sarandon's role in Elizabethtown (2005) when she hired a new agent in the mid-'00s to find a comeback project. |
| 52 | Stopped dyeing her hair blonde when she became an activist in 1969. |
| 53 | Named for Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour whom her mother Frances claimed to be a descendant. |
| 54 | Turned down Meryl Streep's role in The Manchurian Candidate (2004) because she didn't want her Hollywood comeback to be as a villainess. |
| 55 | Was Universal's choice for the role of Rusty Dennis in Mask (1985), but director Peter Bogdanovich and screenwriter Anna Hamilton Phelan wanted Cher to play Rusty. Ultimately, the studio gave in and cast Cher instead of Fonda. |
| 56 | Claims that when she is out of makeup she can easily go to public places without being recognized. |
| 57 | Auditioned for the part of Evelyn in Spanglish (2004) but lost out to Anne Bancroft, who had to pull out of the film when she was diagnosed with cancer and was then replaced by Cloris Leachman. |
| 58 | Turned down the role of the A.D.A. Kathryn Murphy in The Accused (1988), which went to Kelly McGillis. |
| 59 | Was considered for the role of "Betsy" in Taxi Driver (1976), but Cybill Shepherd was cast. |
| 60 | Lived for 20 years of her life in Atlanta, Ga. (1991-2011). |
| 61 | Her role in The China Syndrome (1979) was originally written as a male role, to be played by Richard Dreyfuss. After Dreyfuss quit, the role was rewritten as female with Fonda in mind. |
| 62 | In a relationship with veteran record producer Richard Perry since 2009, the couple live together in Los Angeles. |
| 63 | Is one of 22 Oscar-winning actresses to have been born in the state of New York. The others are Alice Brady, Teresa Wright, Anne Revere, Celeste Holm, Claire Trevor, Judy Holliday, Shirley Booth, Susan Hayward, Patty Duke, Anne Bancroft, Barbra Streisand, Lee Grant, Beatrice Straight, Whoopi Goldberg, Mercedes Ruehl, Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Connelly, Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway. |
| 64 | Was the 71st actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Klute (1971) at The 44th Annual Academy Awards (1972) on April 10, 1972. |
| 65 | Was considered for the role of Beth Jarrett in Ordinary People (1980), which went to Mary Tyler Moore. |
| 66 | The movie Swing Shift (1984) was originally written as a vehicle for Ms. Fonda. When her agent turned the movie down and Goldie Hawn replaced her, the project was rewritten as a partial comedy. |
| 67 | In the mid-'80s, while developing the screenplay for the movie that eventually became Contact (1997), authors Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan envisioned Fonda in the role of Dr. Ellie Arroway. |
| 68 | Louis Malle originally planned to direct Pretty Baby (1978), a film about photographer E.J. Bellocq, with Fonda and Jodie Foster to play the roles of Hattie and Violet, respectively. In the end, both actresses were unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, so Susan Sarandon and Brooke Shields were cast in the roles. |
| 69 | Has signed to do a film (main role) with Jennifer Lopez (aka J. Lo) in Monster-in-Law (2005) - filming starts May 2004. [August 2003] |
| 70 | Currently starring in 'Moises Kaufman''s "33 Variations" on Broadway. [March 2009] |
| 71 | 19th April 2005: A Vietnam veteran spit tobacco juice in Fonda's face after waiting in line to have her sign her autobiography at a Kansas City bookstore. Michael A. Smith, 54, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Fonda was unrattled and once the tobacco juice was wiped off she continued to sign books without even getting up from her seat. |
| 72 | Was delivered via Caesarean section. |
| 73 | Jane's appearance with brother Peter Fonda in Spirits of the Dead (1968) marked the only time the siblings worked together in a feature. |
| 74 | Jane's appearance in On Golden Pond (1981) with dad Henry Fonda and son Troy Garity marked the only time three generations of Fondas appeared in the same film. |
| 75 | Made a fortune launching the first exercise video. |
| 76 | Was taught to play guitar by David Crosby. |
| 77 | In 1982 she unofficially adopted a 14-year-old foster daughter, Mary Luana Williams, who had attended at a camp Fonda ran with then-husband Tom Hayden. Mary was the daughter of members of the Black Panther Party, and later reunited with her biological parents but considers Jane to be her mother. |
| 78 | Her daughter Vanessa Vadim was delivered via forceps. The traumatic birth then resulted in Fonda being diagnosed with post-partum depression. |
| 79 | Ranked #9 in Men's Health 100 Hottest Women of All Time. [2011] |
| 80 | Said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003) that Michael Jackson visited the set of On Golden Pond (1981) in New Hampshire and went skinny-dipping with her. |
| 81 | Jane Fonda was the first pick for the role of Evelyn Mulwray in Chinatown (1974). She was wanted by the film's producer Robert Evans, who was also at the time chief of production at Paramount Pictures, and by Paramount owner Charlie Bluhdorn, but director Roman Polanski was insistent on Faye Dunaway from the get-go and never offered her the part. |
| 82 | Grandchildren: Malcolm (b. 1999) and Viva (b. 2002). |
| 83 | 1994: Founded the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (G-CAAP). The foundation advocates for safe-sex education, provides teens with support personnel before, during, and after childbirth, and runs a network of "Second Chance Homes" that help teenage mothers become self-sufficient by striving to reduce repeat teen pregnancies and providing teen mothers with a safe living environment, support for long-term economic independence, and child development, parenting and life skills. |
| 84 | Had hip and knee replacements. It is a genetic condition. Both her father and brother also had replacements. |
| 85 | Turned down Marsha Mason's role in Cinderella Liberty (1973). |
| 86 | Parodied by Betty Thomas, Joan Cusack and Ana Gasteyer on Saturday Night Live (1975). |
| 87 | Recovering from left knee replacement surgery. [June 2009] |
| 88 | Was offered the role of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), but she turned it down. Louise Fletcher, who went on to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance, was cast instead. |
| 89 | Nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Performance for a Leading Actress in a Play for "33 Variations". |
| 90 | Turned down the role of Lara Antipova in Doctor Zhivago (1965) because it was to be filmed primarily in Spain for nine months. She didn't want to be away from home for that long. Weeks later she changed her mind and informed her agent she wanted to do it. By then Julie Christie had been signed to play Lara. Fonda said on Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003) in December 2014 that of all the movies she's turned down, Doctor Zhivago is the one she regrets the most. |
| 91 | She was a close friend of Gregory Peck (who played her father in Old Gringo (1989)) and he frequently attended political rallies with her. |
| 92 | Danced ballet until she broke her foot in her 40s. |
| 93 | Considers They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) as a turning point in her career. |
| 94 | Her aerobics video "Jane Fonda's Workout" sold 17 million copies, making it the bestselling home video ever and her an icon of this form of exercises (1982). |
| 95 | In 1984, her wealth, generated from acting, producing, and fitness videos was estimated at $50 million. |
| 96 | Turned down the role of Bonnie Parker, then played by Faye Dunaway, in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Living in France at the time, she did not want to relocate to the United States for the part. |
| 97 | Was born double-jointed. |
| 98 | Friends with Dyan Cannon, Sally Field, Vanessa Redgrave, Catherine Schneider, Maria Shriver, Gloria Steinem and Lily Tomlin. |
| 99 | Visited Sweden in September 2006 to support political party FI (Feministic Initiative) in the national election. FI focuses on issues that will benefit women and is led by the previous leader of Sweden's communist party. Coincidentally, "fi" is also the Swedish military abbreviation for "enemy". |
| 100 | A 1972 visit to Hanoi during the Vietnam war where Fonda campaigned in favor of the communist regime and the subsequent release of several photographs of her atop a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun used against American air crews earned her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." As a result of her visit to Hanoi and the accompanying photographs, many Americans continue to regard Fonda with general resentment and hostility to this day. |
| 101 | She and her father Henry Fonda are the only father-daughter couple to receive Oscars for leading roles. |
| 102 | She and Tom Hayden gave their son Troy Garity his paternal grandmother's last name for the sake of anonymity |
| 103 | Jane was mentioned on Sir Mix A Lot's 1992 hit single, "Baby Got Back". |
| 104 | Her performance as Bree Daniels in Klute (1971) is ranked #91 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). |
| 105 | In her modeling days after college, she was twice on the cover of Vogue magazine. |
| 106 | Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actress category for her performance in the film Monster-in-Law (2005). She failed to receive a nomination, however. (Had she gotten the nomination, it would have been her first Razzie nomination in 16 years. She was previously nominated for Worst Actress at the 1990 Razzie Awards for her performance in the film Old Gringo (1989).) |
| 107 | Passed on the title role in Norma Rae (1979), which won a Best Actress Oscar for its eventual star Sally Field. |
| 108 | Fluent in French. |
| 109 | Stepdaughter of Shirlee Fonda |
| 110 | Her ancestry includes Dutch, English, Scottish, as well as more distant French, Italian, and Norwegian. |
| 111 | She and The China Syndrome (1979) co-stars Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas have all won Oscars for Leading Roles. Fonda won for Klute (1971), Lemmon won for Save the Tiger (1973), and Douglas won for Wall Street (1987). |
| 112 | She and her father were the first father-daughter pair to be Oscar-nominated the same year (1982). |
| 113 | Of the Oscar-winning father-daughter pairs, she and her father are one of two pairs (the other is Hayley Mills/John Mills) where the daughter won an Academy award before the father did. Hayley Mills' Oscar was an honorary award for Pollyanna (1960), "...[T]he most outstanding juvenile performance during 1960". Juveniles were not allowed to compete for Oscars until the late 1960s, when the juvenile award was abandoned. |
| 114 | 1982: Accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of her father Henry Fonda, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony. |
| 115 | Born on the same day Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) premiered. |
| 116 | Premiere Magazine ranked her as #32 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005). |
| 117 | Was nominated for Broadway's 1960 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for "There Was a Little Girl." |
| 118 | She was voted the 51st Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. |
| 119 | Was offered the role of Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist (1973). |
| 120 | Protested alongside fellow actresses Sally Field and Christine Lahti, and playwright Eve Ensler urging the Mexican government to re-investigate the slayings of hundreds of women in Ciudad Juarez, on the Mexico-Texas border. [February 2004] |
| 121 | Her out-of-retirement movie, Monster-in-Law (2005) came out the same time as her autobiography, "My Life So Far" and the same time her workouts are re-released to DVD format in stores. |
| 122 | The suicide of her socialite mother Frances Seymour Brokaw was kept from her as a teenager, and she was told that she'd died of heart failure. Household newspaper and magazine subscriptions were canceled, and the staff and student body of Fonda's high school were instructed not to discuss the incident. Fonda learned the truth months later while leafing through a movie magazine in art class. |
| 123 | Shortly after her divorce from Ted Turner, she announced she had become a born-again Christian. Speculations are that this may have played a part in their separation, since Ted Turner has expressed highly critical opinions on religion in general. |
| 124 | Born at 9:14 AM EST |
| 125 | Ex-sister-in-law of Susan Brewer. |
| 126 | Jane now openly admits that she suffered from bulimia from ages 13 to 37. While modeling, she said she lived on cigarettes, coffee, speed, and strawberry yogurt. |
| 127 | Two sisters, Frances (aka "Pan", maternal half-sister) and Amy (adopted paternal half-sister). |
| 128 | Aunt of Bridget Fonda and Justin Fonda. |
| 129 | Atttended Emma Willard School in Troy, New York. |
| 130 | 2nd November 1970: Fonda was arrested at Cleveland Airport, Ohio after allegedly kicking patrolman Robert Pieper and customs agent Edward Matuszek in the groin and upper leg during their struggle to detain her when 105 bottles containing some 2,000 capsules were found in the star's luggage. She spent ten hours in a cell at the Cuyahoga County Jail and was released on $6,000 personal bond. A federal drug smuggling charge was dropped once the substances were identified as vitamins and prescribed amounts of Dexedrine, Valium & Compazine. Due to lack of evidence, a federal assault charge pressed by Matuszek was dropped as well. Pieper filed a $100,000 personal injury lawsuit against her in civil court which was eventually dismissed at his attorney's request. |
| 131 | She was, and still is, an exercise maven. |
| 132 | Her birth was the cause of some interruptions during her father's filming of Jezebel (1938) with Bette Davis. |
| 133 | Mother of Troy Garity with Tom Hayden. |
| 134 | Sister of Peter Fonda. |
| 135 | Daughter of Henry Fonda. |
| 136 | Mother of Vanessa Vadim with Roger Vadim. |
| 137 | Retired from acting in 1991, but returned to the screen in 2005 and has since relaunched her career. |
| 138 | Ranked #83 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] |
| 139 | Is the subject of an erroneous urban legend. When Vassar was a women's college, the story goes, Jane Fonda refused to wear the elegant white gloves and pearls that were the attire for the daily Tea in the Rose Parlor. When confronted, Fonda returned to the parlor wearing the gloves and the pearls, and nothing else. |
| 140 | Attended Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. Her roommate was Lara Parker. Parker later co-starred with Jane's brother Peter Fonda in the film Race with the Devil (1975). |
| 141 | Chosen as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars (#21) in film history by Empire magazine. [1995] |
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