On the living legend&rsquo;s 85th birthday, L&rsquo;OFFICIEL explores the exciting and controversial life of the actress and activist, and her legacy of political and social protest.

From a polite and wholesome <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/sex-and-fashion-in-ryan-murphys-hollywood" target="_blank">Hollywood</a> starlet with billowing blonde locks to a fierce and outspoken activist with a choppy shag haircut, the early days of Jane Fonda&rsquo;s political awakening proved to be a transformation no one saw coming. Beginning in the 1960s, the Academy Award-winning actress&rsquo; journey to social consciousness carries on to this day. Still speaking out for causes close to her heart such as the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/black-lives-matter-fashion-beauty-brand-donations" target="_blank">Black Lives Matter movement</a> and the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/fashion-pact-climate-change-2019" target="_blank">environmental crisis</a>, Fonda rebels against the establishment even in her 80s, continuing to be as committed an activist as she ever was.&nbsp;

Coming from Hollywood royalty, the actress made a name for herself outside of merely being known as the daughter of&nbsp;actor Henry Fonda of The Grapes of Wrath fame. The timeless beauty dabbled in modeling and covered fashion glossies before forging a path&nbsp;on Broadway and in Hollywood. After moving to France and marrying French screenwriter Roger Vadim (known for his steamy affairs with <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/style-brigitte-bardot-marily-monroe-french-fashion" target="_blank">Brigitte Bardot</a> and <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/catherine-deneuve-auction-christies-2018" target="_blank">Catherine Deneuve</a>), Fonda underwent a transformation in the public eye from reserved young starlet to the intergalactic sexpot in 1968&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lofficiel.es/sin-categoria/barbarella-jane-fonda-inspira-look-beauty-anos-60-chanel/" target="_blank">Barbarella</a>. Directed by her then-husband, the campy cult-followed film catapulted Fonda from the Girl Next Door to a science fiction vixen of immeasurable recognition.

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Although she was raised with patriotic and nationalistic ideals by her World War II <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop%20culture/celebrities-who-are-veterans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">veteran</a> father, Fonda began to question all she knew at the height of the Vietnam War and civil rights protests in America. When she became pregnant in 1968, the actress began to educate herself on pressing current events. <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/03/lifes-work-an-interview-with-jane-fonda#:~:text=The%20activism%20wasn't%20until,what's%20going%20on%20around%20her.&amp;text=I%20lived%20in%20France%2C%20I,America%20to%20become%20an%20activist." target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to Fonda</a>, &ldquo;I was pregnant, which makes a woman like a sponge, very open to what&rsquo;s going on around her. It was around that time that I began to realize that I wanted to change my life and participate in trying to end the war."

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Fonda left Vadim and decided to move home to the U.S., beginning&nbsp;to participate in civil rights protests with members of the <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/black-panther-party-challenging-police-and-promoting-social-change" target="_blank">Black Panther Party</a>. Seeking to fight back in opposition to police brutality against African-Americans, the actress aligned herself with the organization, providing shelter to members, holding fundraisers in her home, contributing donations to the movement, and visiting <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/famous-feminists-that-changed-womens-rights">Angela Davis</a> in the Marin County Jail. Her involvement with the Party went as far as eliciting government surveillance.

During this same period, Fonda committed her activism to standing with Native American demonstrators. In 1970, Fonda accompanied a group of indigenous protesters led by activist Bernie Whitebear to occupy Fort Lawton in Seattle, Washington in reaction to the declining conditions of their reservations. Continuing in her support, Fonda visited young Native American demonstrators occupying Alcatraz in San Francisco from 1969 to 1971.

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Around that time, Fonda, who previously went on the radio to help recruit troops for Vietnam,&nbsp;became a staunch anti-war activist. This dramatic reinvention caused detractors to denounce the starlet as an unpatriotic militant. She attended speaking tours around the country to spread the message to end the war in Vietnam, met with prisoners of war, and led protests. It was during this period that Jane would meet her second husband, a prevalent figure in the peace movement and member of the famed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/23/opinions/trial-of-the-chicago-7-in-2020-sorkin-greenberg/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago 7</a> Tom Hayden.
In 1972, Fonda made the audacious decision to tour North Vietnam for two weeks to speak out against America&rsquo;s military policy and to observe firsthand&nbsp;the violence she so vehemently protested against. She was recorded on radio broadcasts imploring troops to consider their orders and the effects they may have. Pleading to military pilots to think about their impact, Fonda claimed that the American military had planned to strategically target the dike system in North Vietnam immediately before monsoon season, which would subsequently cause dramatic flooding, potentially drowning about 200,000 citizens, and mass starvation for those who lived there.
&ldquo;If they told you the truth, of what your targets really are,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you wouldn&rsquo;t fight, you wouldn&rsquo;t kill. You were not born and brought up by your mothers to be killers. We must all try very, very hard to remain human beings.&rdquo;
The response from Washington was abrupt and defensive, claiming that military policy already emphasized the attempted prevention of civilian harm. But what earned Fonda the infamous nickname of Hanoi Jane still haunts her to this day. During her tour, a snapshot was taken of the budding activist laughing and sitting on a Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun in Hanoi, suggesting that she might be aiming at American aircrafts. The images and Fonda&rsquo;s controversial and combative statements against POWs prompted visceral outrage from the American public, painting Jane as an unpatriotic militant, and even provoked some lawmakers to suggest that her actions may fall under the crime of treason. While she has continuously apologized for her rash actions, she takes responsibility and admits that many of her tactics were inappropriate and misguided, noting what a chaotic and emotional time it was for everyone.

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Eventually, Fonda began to use film as a vehicle to express her ideals and creatively take on issues that mattered to her. After hearing Ron Kovic, a Vietnam War veteran who was paralyzed during the war, speak at a peace rally, Fonda found inspiration in Kovic&rsquo;s shift to an anti-war champion. With her own experience working with returned veterans for many years, Fonda made the film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077362/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coming Home</a>, about a wounded veteran, a woman, and her Marine husband. Despite it taking Fonda and her team six years to produce the movie against many studios&rsquo; wishes, the film garnered the actress her second Academy Award for Best Actress.&nbsp;
Continuing to channel her frustrations through the art of filmmaking, Fonda co-produced and starred in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078966/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China Syndrome</a>, a film about a reporter who discovers a corrupt nuclear power plant covering up a variety of safety hazards. Very shortly after the film&rsquo;s release, the Three Mile Island nuclear incident took place in Pennsylvania, illustrating how uncannily realistic the events in the film could be. As she continued&nbsp;providing a platform, she sparked a conversation through the screen not only about the war, but about <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/politics-culture/famous-feminists-that-changed-womens-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women's rights</a>, too. In the 1980 movie <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/movies/nine-to-five-dolly-parton.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9 to 5</a>, starring herself, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/dolly-parton-songs-book-late-show">Dolly Parton</a>, and Lily Tomlin, she highlighted the plight of the working woman, emphasizing the issues of sexual harassment, unequal pay, and the lack of childcare.

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Even her uber-iconic workout videos were rooted in one of her many political causes. Along with her then-husband Tom Hayden, the activist power couple founded the Campaign for Economic Democracy. The organization was dedicated to spreading the message that a true democracy entails the redistribution of wealth and the transfer of power from America&rsquo;s wealthiest one percent and its richest corporations to the country&rsquo;s greater public. While in desperate need of funds in the middle of a recession, Hayden and Fonda began thinking up different business ideas to aid in raising money for both the cause and Hayden&rsquo;s state assembly campaign. From that came the number one home video of all time, <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/jane-fonda-workout-videos-health-aerobics-yoga-class-pass">Jane Fonda&rsquo;s Workout</a>. Owned by the Campaign for Economic Democracy, the VHS sold over 17 million copies, with all profits going into the organization. Having been credited with putting the video industry on the map (VCR sales soared because of the workout's popularity), Fonda became the first non-engineer to be <a href="https://www.janefonda.com/2012/04/30th-anniversary-of-my-first-workout-video/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inducted into the Video Hall of Fame</a>. Her coinciding book, Jane Fonda&rsquo;s Workout Book became the number one New York Times best-seller for a whopping two years.

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Amidst all the political discourse happening today&ndash;the rise of the recent&nbsp;#MeToo movement, opposition to the&nbsp;Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, President Donald Trump's 2016 election, the Black Lives Matter movement and outrage over police brutality, and the climate change crisis&ndash;Fonda is teaching a lesson in unwavering, old school protest. Through her latest campaign,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a29725023/why-was-jane-fonda-arrested-jail-climate-change-protest-explained/">Fire Drill Fridays</a>, Fonda has found inspiration in the young climate activist <a href="https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greta Thunberg</a>, who is known for the global&nbsp;<a href="https://fridaysforfuture.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fridays for Future</a> climate change protests. In the fall of 2019, Fonda partnered with Greenpeace and moved to Washington D.C. for several months before beginning filming on the next season of <a href="https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a30536773/grace-and-frankie-season-7-release-date-trailer-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grace and Frankie.</a> There, she held demonstrations on the steps of the Capitol Hill building every Friday to fight for environmental legislative reform and the Green New Deal. She was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/arts/television/04jane-fonda-arrest-protest.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested multiple times</a> for&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/5885452/jane-fonda-climate-change-what-can-i-do/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">civil disobedience</a>, once again creating headlines for her activism. Fonda continued virtual Fire Drill Fridays amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting discussions via <a href="https://www.instagram.com/firedrillfriday/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram Live</a> with other activists, political figures, and celebrities.&nbsp;

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In her quest for self-fulfillment, Fonda&rsquo;s mission in life is to help others&ndash;to provide a platform for marginalized groups and to educate the public on climate change, sexism, and racism, from Richard Nixon&rsquo;s tumultuous America to Donald Trump&rsquo;s. While she may remain a controversial figure to some, no one could ever accuse Fonda of not walking the walk. As a woman of action, she will forever be known for her inimitable acting chops, timeless beauty, courageous heart, and enduring strength.

Looking at Jane Fonda's Decades of Activism and Protest

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