Jane Fonda (1937- ) is an American actress and political activist whose opposition to the Vietnam War proved controversial. Fonda was born in New York City, the oldest child of acclaimed Hollywood actor Henry Fonda. Educated in Connecticut, the teenaged Fonda worked as both a dance teacher and a fashion model. In 1962 Fonda was given the honorary title “Miss Army Recruiting” by the US Defence Department. She became involved in acting in the early 1960s, winning roles on Broadway and later in Hollywood films. Among Fonda’s best known films are Cat Ballou (1965), Barbarella (1968), The China Syndrome (1979) and On Golden Pond (1981). Fonda’s acting has received seven Academy Award nominations. She has won best actress Oscars twice, for Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978). In Coming Home Fonda played a woman who has an affair with a wounded and embittered Vietnam veteran, while her own husband is serving in Vietnam.
During the late 1960s, Fonda was an outspoken political activist with left-wing views. She supported the US civil rights movement, the Black Panthers (an African-American militant group), Native American land rights and other revolutionary movements around the world. Fonda was also heavily involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement. In 1970 Fonda, along with other artists, held a number of “Free The Army” rallies, where serving soldiers and their families were questioned about America’s military involvement in Vietnam. Fonda also attended and spoke at several anti-Vietnam War rallies, both in the US and abroad. Fonda’s activism brought her to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which kept a comprehensive file on her statements and activities.
In July 1972 Fonda caused enormous controversy by engaging in a two-week tour of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, with the support of its government. During this visit, Fonda visited American prisoners of war, spoke on local radio and publicly criticised US actions in Vietnam, particularly its bombing campaign against the North. Toward the end of her visit Fonda was photographed wearing a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) helmet and sitting on an anti-aircraft gun (see picture). This provocative tour saw many condemn “Hanoi Jane” (a disparaging nickname given to Fonda) as an enemy collaborator and a mouthpiece for North Vietnamese propaganda. Fonda has since defended her tours of North Vietnam, describing them as an attempt to provide balance and to humanise the North Vietnamese. Fonda has admitted, however, that some of her actions and comments in Vietnam were “thoughtless and careless”.
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