Who is Jane Fonda?
Actor Bradley Whitford once said, “Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make you own love.” Jane Fonda is nothing if not a woman of action. Undoubtedly, the renowned actress, writer, and political activist has had her share of missteps through the years. Nonetheless, her willingness to consistently reinvent herself and to try something new, when she believes in it, is commendable.
Fonda once explained, “You can do one of two things; just shut up, which is something I don’t find easy, or learn an awful lot very fast, which is what I tried to do.” Surely, as many times as Fonda has seen adversity or failure in her life, she has seen double the success and prosperity.
The Actress
As an actress, Jane Fonda won two Oscars, one for Klute (1971) and another for Coming Home (1978). Her other major competitive awards include an Emmy Award for the 1984 TV film The Dollmaker, two British Academy of Film and Theater Awards for Julia and The China Syndrome and four Golden Globe Awards. In 1982, she released her first exercise video, Jane Fonda’s Workout, which became the highest-selling video of the time. In the years to come, Fonda would release 22 workout videos and sell more than 17 million copies.
The Activist
Fonda was a visible political activist in the counterculture era during the Vietnam War. She has been more recently involved in advocacy for women. She has also protested the Iraq War and violence against women. In 2005, she, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem co-founded the Women’s Media Center, an organization that works to amplify the voices of women in the media through advocacy, media leadership training, and the creation of original content.
The Philanthropist
Fonda founded the Jane Fonda Foundation in 2004 as a charitable corporation using one million dollars of her own money. The Foundation has funded the creation center in Fonda’s name at Emory as well as endowed a chair at the university named for Dr. Marion Howard, the nationally respected expert in adolescent reproductive health who was a mentor of Fonda’s. Fonda also helped create the state-of-the-art Grady Teen Clinic at Atlanta’s Grady Hospital. The Foundation gave $500,000 to Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential (GCAPP) a state nonprofit that Fonda founded in 1995.
Jane Fonda, Champ or Chump?
We honor Jane Fonda for her philanthropic work and persistent pursuit to better herself and the world around her. If you want to be a Legacy Champ in your own special way, contact The Mendel Law Firm, L.P. for a free initial consultation on estate planning, trust planning, and/or probate issues.
Sources:
https://www.janefonda.com/answering-attacks-on-my-credibility-as-a-philanthropist/
https://www.biography.com/people/jane-fonda-9298034
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