OPRAH.COM: LEGENDARY ICON JANE FONDA: HER LIFE, NEW LOVE AND WORKING OUT

Jane Fonda on “The Oprah Show” episode aired October 27, 2010

Oscar® winner Jane Fonda opens up about aging, motherhood, ex-husband Ted Turner and her new love. Plus, how she’s still feeling the burn.

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  1. I recorded the show and watched it when I got home last night. What a great show! As a regular reader of your blog, you have become so familiar to me that I feel like I know you. Seeing the show put your world wide status as an icon back into reality for me. You continue to inspire and help people with your courage, your honesty, and your passion. God bless you, Jane Fonda.

  2. I want to thank you so much for your interview on the Oprah show. I am not a huge fan of the show, but have been a huge fan of yours over the years. On the show yesterday you stated clearly and plainly all the things that have been running around in my 48 year-old brain but could not quite put into words. I turn 49 next month and have just lately been brave enough to admit to myself that I feel like the authenticity police are going to find me at any moment. It is annoying to be this age and still have no idea not only who I am, but who I want to be when I grow up. You are very brave and forthright to put this into words. I commend you for all your work on screen, off screen, and in life.
    Sincerly,
    Liza Schneider

  3. I thought you were great on Oprah yesterday! I’m so glad you were the only guest, so nothing was rushed! It was great seeing Ted and Richard, your new condo, and you dancing with Richard! The show was fun and interesting to watch…a total success!!:)

  4. Great show! I learned a lot.

  5. Hi Jane,
    I have followed your career for a long time. My favorite Movie: Barefoot in the Park. I saw you on Oprah yesterday and you look marvelous! Seems you get better with the years. You are an inspiration for me. Jeanie

  6. The Oprah show was magnificent….enjoyed it so. After reading your blog forever, it felt like sitting with a dear close friend. Such a calm and yet open demeanor. Thanks …it was inspirational.

  7. You did an excellent job on OPRAH. As always, thought-provoking. Super!

  8. Hi Jane, just wanted to tell you how great it was to see you on Oprah yesterday. You look wonderful and it’s so inspiring to hear you talk about the different stages of your life and all you’ve learned and are still learning. Gives all women hope!

  9. Hi Jane,

    You were great on Oprah! I loved it when you said that in your “third act” you are happier, less stressed and you don’t make mountains out of molehills and instead make lemonade out of lemons. What wonderful advice.

  10. Dear jane~and may I include richard too??!?! Lady B and I just came home from our perfect “sunny side of the st” autumn walk to “get a kick out of you” ROD STEWART! “My foolish heart” was “beyond the sea!” “I’ve got the world on a string” ROD! “Love me or leave me,” you had me at “fly me to the moon.” “What a difference a day makes” listening to your sweet voice sing “moon river” to me.you will never lose “that old black magic” not even in “september in the rain.” “I’ve got you under my skin” listening to THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK Volume V! Thank yous filled with kisses&hugs xox moon & lady b

  11. Jane~your HAIR is perfect here!! Perfect length, colour, feathers, fullness! Can you keep it like this? I know…I miss my true calling! The perfect mother-in-law. Sigh! Xox m&lb

  12. Dear Jane, The interview on Oprah was incredible! I felt truth and clarity come across so clearly. Clearly each part of what you shared was from your heart and soul. Thank you for sharing your journey. It helped me to hear what was true for you in your 50’s as I am 54 right now and going through alot of life changes- and feel it is all for the highest good. It was good to feel that validation from what you shared. Blessings to you for all of who you are and all you share in this world. thank you and Congratulations!
    Cynthia

  13. Jane, you look absolutely marvelous. I am a big fan of your work and you are just a wonderful human being. Even though you had some surgery, they did a great job because you still look like you. Keep on trucking Jane.

  14. Dear dear Jane,

    You changed my life today. I really believe everything happens for a reason, and people come into our lives when we need them. I needed you today. Your thoughts on your peri-menopause and what you experienced ahhhh it is my life. Thank you Thank you. I thought I was going crazy. Your lack of intimacy with your spouses, how you changed and learning and growing – it was like I was looking in a mirror. My father says I am nuts – I want fun and enthusiasm in my life – I enjoy a laugh and a bit of fun. My daughter and I act like teenagers together. But he thinks I should grow up – NO – I am grown up (50) but just not like him. We don’t have to be boring because we are grown up – life is for living and having fun. It is too short.

    My mother died 18 months ago of Alzheimers -it was a long horrible 7 years, my 22yr old son had a massive stroke 4 1/2 yrs ago – our family has been through alot these last years – we need to have fun.

    Thank you for giving me permission to enjoy my life. My husband and I are not connecting at the moment because of lifes cicumstances, I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I do know I will be alright. I need to help my son right now, however that is.

    Have fun Jane, we are not perfect and that is O.K.
    OMG thank you.

  15. Hi Jane,I am a women in my 60’s and have been working out to your tapes and DVD’s forever,I too work out every day….you look amazing I hope to look half that good and feel half that good at your age….What kinds of skin care and make-up do you use?Thank you for years of inspiration,Take care…Sincerely Sharon

  16. Jane,

    I have read your book and am voraciously reading your blog. I just turned 40, and like you am a seeker. I am finishing up a doctorate in psychology that has really shown me to myself. You have inspired me to strive for true authenticity in my life. The way you described intimacy on Oprah has helped me realize why I’ve never been happy in my two marriages, and why I have purposely been single for the last five years, creating a relationship with myself. I like you, do not want a relationship without intimacy, and so I am committed to showing up as myself, and seeing who might want to join me in celebrating that. Anything else just feels like posing, and a lot of work. I thank you for sharing the truth of your journey and your life. My journey has also included recovery from an ED, an so I relate to you on so many levels.

    I will continue to follow you, as I find your courage to speak your truth very helpful and motivational. Thank You!

  17. Hi Jane,
    I am a jewelry designer/artist and I could not help noticing the beautiful necklace you had on at the Oprah show Oct. 27, 2010. Would you mind telling me something about it, where you purchased it, is it a designer piece, etc.

    I really enjoyed your interview with Oprah!

    Warm regards,
    Sherry McKinney

  18. LOVED LOVED LOVED your appearance on OPRAH!
    I have been wanting you to be on show since your article/interview in O magazine in 2000!
    So insightful, so healing. Your exude authenticity.
    I have loved you my entire life…. and now
    my heart has broken open for you… even more…
    even now.

    Bradley J

    • Jane, I watched the Oprah interview and connected with you on so many levels! You shared your “life lessons” as a mom, wife and career woman. But most importantly, as a “whole” woman! I’m in my second act and have important decisions to make. Sharing with us your “truth” has given me courage to find mine! Thank you and God’s continued blessings!
      Fondly,
      Sherri

  19. Your honesty matches Oprah’s unique ability to overcome herself and be right there for the millions of fans who count on this.

    This year I am 62 and wondering if indeed there could be another act. You reminded me it’s never too late to be true to yourself. I particularly loved the image of you pulling up in the limo in front of your daughter’s place. Every time I think of letting go of what is easy in order to be IN integrity with myself, I shiver and go on the way it is.

    I gave up on a “role” as an educator at the state’s department of education several years ago and began a new career as writer and individual. I often think: the nerve!

    Thanks for, once again, reminding your sistas that it’s not about what you should do or what others expect you to do, it’s about who you are and what you long for as long as you can pack a suitcase; age is nothing but a number.

    You are the only person I could imagine taking over for Oprah on the afternoon stage where we all come together once a day to commiserate on being human-beings.

    If you’re ever looking for good help on a project (hard to find) I’m available.

    Camille

  20. Enjoy and learn from you.
    Could you please offer your book on iBooks?

  21. I watched you on Oprah and as I always do when I catch up with what you are doing, I feel better to live in a world where Jane Fonda is alive and working hard for the world and herself. Your earnestness and commitment to do the right things has always shone through and always made a difference.

  22. I just pre ordered your new workout video’s! And I can’t wait to get them! Thanks Jane!!!! I am 55 and need something new, my treadmill is getting old!

  23. I enjoyed your appearance on Oprah, being 66 and working hard to stay young and enjoy the balance of my life I found your message inspiring.

    Then you mentioned your “Life Review”. I’ve reviewed that segment on YouTube several times. I entered my third act, retirement, with issues that I couln’t resolve. After six months I started writing “Tall Grass” a review of the first fourteen years of my life in an effort to discover “why I am who I am”. At completion I had a new awareness as well as a new level of peace. I then recognized that I had another opportunity. I know more about Abe Lincoln and George Washington then I know about my two grandfathers. So I hired an editor and had “Tall Grass” published, it’s available on Amazon.com and at http://www.grinkmeyer.com. I’m leaving something behind so my descendents will know who I was and possibly have a better understand of who they are.

    I’d like to send you a copy, if your interested please forward me a mailing address. You can learn more at http://www.grinkmeyer.com.

    Thanks again for your continued commitment to what you believe in.
    Kerry

  24. Thank you for the Oprah Interview. It was wonderful, as are you.

  25. magnifiques photos !… et j’adore votre coupe de cheveux.
    Je ne sais pas si vous parvenez à voir tous les messages que je vous écris ? Peut-être un problème informatique !
    Si vous pouvez lire celui-là, je voulais vous dire que c’est génial et un plaisir de pouvoir communiquer avec vous.
    Merci pour ces moments là. +++

  26. Dear Ms. Fonda,

    Seeing you on Oprah was a gift, a wonderful, wonderful gift. You inspire me and validated the way I think and feel about picking myself up and liberating myself from things that use to weigh me down and make me feel out of step with myself.

    Self liberation is one of the greatest most positive gifts anyone can provide themselves.

    Your smile and energy light up any where you are.

    Thank you for your awesome healing mindset and sharing it with the world.

    I wish you continued happiness and successes in your advocacy works.

    I also wish you continued joy in all things great and small.

    You are a very special lady.

    Most respectfully,
    Ginger Ferrer

  27. Hi Jane~
    I saw your interview on Oprah and just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your candidness. You have inspired me, at 52, to look forward to my own “Third Act”. My mother died when I was 30 and since then I’ve looked for role models and women of wisdom as I’ve navigated through my life and everything you shared resonated with me. It was as if so many things I’d asked God for~wisdom, direction, being on the right ‘path’~ He was answering thru YOU! What you shared was so much what I wished my own mother would have shared with me had she lived.
    Thank you, Jane. You are blessed to be a blessing!
    In Warm Regards,
    Myrna

  28. Jane,

    Please tell me more about how you suffered during menopause. I just turned 50. I need a role mode. You are an inspiration to me and I need help to get through this stage.

    • Patricia Jo, wow, that would take too long. Rent my memoirs, “My Life So Far”. I went onto hormone replacement therapy (there is no history of breast cancer in my father so the risks were minimal.) A very low dose in the form of the Vivelle Patch..and promethium. Also a seratonin uptake inhibitor. Mine was Prozac but I wouldn’t do that one again because it kills your libido. There are others that don’t do that but you have to try different ones and see what works. All this just to get you thru the rough parts. Some women go through it easier than others. Whatever, be sure to work closely with your Obgyn. And stay physically active. I continued my exercises cause they helped me know I still existed even though I wasn’t sure who “I” was. Don’t drink a lot and eat a lot of whole grains and fresh veggies and fruit. Hope this helps a little

      • Thanks. Your kinds words mean a lot to me. I am not having any physical symptoms such as hot flashes. I am just not who I used to be . . . I can barely work (I am a water resource scientist), or read, or make art (I am a papermaker), or cook, or even swim laps — though I still do yoga and swim almost every day, I have to force myself to do all the things I used to enjoy. I am not engaged anymore (I am grieving some long-buried wounds from early motherloss by abandonment). Aging + grieving + menopause = exhaustion. I would like to get into bed and never get out. When I feel that way, I often turn to your blog. (I see a lifelong pattern of being drawn to motherless girls.) YOU are so engaged and alive. And involved. And active. P.S. I did read (most of) “My Life So Far.” But maybe I didn’t get to act three: where you made a conscious decision about how to live, and to be a role model. I am on the cusp of re-defining who I am (now that I have finally done the hard work of grieving). So I am in the grey zone. But I look around and I don’t see any good role models in my day-to-day. It is hard for me to envision a future . . . I ordered “My Life So Far” from the library again. I am trying to create a future for myself and answer the question, “what will do me justice?”

        • Patricia Joe, you seem to be in what I call “the fertile void,” a difficult place where you’re not sure who you are, a betwixt and between place. Very hard. BUT, the fertile void can also be the plCe where tendrils of a new life begging to emerge…if you stay focused and not too busy, careful to be with surrportive people, listening to soothing, uplifting music, same with movies…nothing bad or violent, stay close to the wall, read inspiring books, meditate…and, I do believe, the next stage will manifest in time. The lessons are all there waiting for you to discover them. Read Elizabeth Lesser’s “Broken Open.” a helpful book for right now. Hang in there!!

          • Jane, it is incredible that until today I realize, the Prozac caused me exactly what you mentioned, I never commented it with my psychiatrist or with my husband, I just endured it, but it is good after so many years to know that my assumptions were true.

      • Thanks. Your kinds words mean a lot to me. I am not having any physical symptoms such as hot flashes. I am just not who I used to be . . . I can barely work (I am a water resource scientist), or read, or make art (I am a papermaker), or cook, or even swim laps — though I still do yoga and swim almost every day, I have to force myself to do all the things I used to enjoy. I am not engaged anymore (I am grieving some long-buried wounds from early motherloss by abandonment). Aging + grieving + menopause = exhaustion. I would like to get into bed and never get out. When I feel that way, I often turn to your blog. (I see a lifelong pattern of being drawn to motherless girls.) YOU are so engaged and alive. And involved. And active. P.S. I did read (most of) “My Life So Far.” But maybe I didn’t get to act three: where you made a conscious decision about how to live, and to be a role model. I am on the cusp of re-defining who I am (now that I have finally done the hard work of grieving). So I am in the grey zone. But I look around and I don’t see any good role models in my day-to-day. It is hard for me to envision a future . . . I ordered “My Life So Far” from the library again. I am trying to create a future for myself and answer the question, “what will do me justice?”

  29. Jane,

    When I saw you on Oprah, you reminded me of one of my best friendships that started in college. I was sitting in the back of class my freshman year, nervous and anxious (but trying not to look that way) and in walks this girl with the brightest smile, so confident, meeting and greeting people with ease that she just met! A freshman also, but she was so well adjusted, so in control! I made up my mind right then and there that she was going to be my friend. 31 years later she is still one of my very best friends:-) We laugh about it now, because obviously at 18 she was just trying to fit in too.

    The reason for this story is, we were both wanting to be exactly where you are right now! I remember Oprah saying, wouldn’t it be great if people got it WITHOUT the stripes, the lessons learned?

    I am 48 living a very blessed life, Praise The Lord! However, prior to your interview, I realize (once again) I have not been living IN my blessed life. Such a bystander I have been to my feminine side. That show, your entrance, your sharing, your energy, my Goodness even your walk, has sparked a new beginning for me Jane and I am beyond excited!!!

    I told my husband that I am now revealing the feminine side of me! A more vivacious me! A more sexy me! A more confident me! And I have a new sassy walk to outwardly express and celebrate my life! Needless to say he is thrilled along with thinking I’m a little crazy but hey, he can call me crazy. I want some of what you had on that stage, in your life, as I read your blog.

    Anyway, you may never read this crazy comment, but I have enjoyed sharing it. Continue to DO YOU Jane because you do it so well!

    Inspired By You,
    Penny

    • Wow, Penny, your letter makes me very happy! Thanks. Xx Jane

  30. Sweet Jane,

    I just watched you on Oprah here in Dubai!! You are such an inspiration and I can understand so much of what you said. I am in the Third Act, 63 years old. Funny how much time you spend on looking back and reflecting, and most of all understanding why we are the way we are and those who figured in our development (or lack of!). I was molested just once, but once is enough to change the course of one’s life. It contributed to the low self esteem I already had as a child, being an only child and my parents divorcing when I was around 4 years old. I was always told I was beautiful but never believed it or saw it. I guess that’s part of the feeling of being worthless. I always wondered if not for that one incident, what road would I have taken??? would it have been a better one??? Can’t change what has been done, can’t dwell on it, but coming to terms with our past can make for a wonderful future.

    I learned to accept my poor parenting and know that it contributed to who my daughter is today. My guilt caused me to overindulge my daughter and as a result it enabled her. I tell her I know where I went wrong and why. She has a heart of gold and doesn’t hold my shortcomings as a mother against me.

    I am scheduled to see a plastic surgeon this coming Monday. About 3 years ago I had my eyes done, now I’m going for the whole enchilada!!! Am so looking forward to it. I know that I will see the beauty, outwardly, that everyone else saw but I couldn’t.

    I lost my mother 4 years ago and it was after her passing that I was able to forgive – not her, but myself for not understanding her life, because I was so focused on my own. She never had it easy but she was a woman of great pride and dignity. She did the best she could with the cards that were dealt her. I’m glad that I was able to see that. I miss her so very much.

    Anyway, writing to you gives me a good feeling. The Third Act has all the answers to the First and Second Acts. I feel I am at the best I could be at this age and I will only get better. I am so happy that I was able to figure it out so that I can enjoy what awaits me.

    Hugs to you.

  31. I saw your Oprah interview and had to laugh….I am sure you do not remember me, but I worked for Ted and yourself during the mid 90s (I was your help desk manager at Turner and did all your support as my staff was terrified of you!). I laughed as you said the very words I often do when I tell stories of those days – ‘Ted in his big booming voice’. So very funny to hear those words from you! The time, and saying from him I remember so well was when you all were at the ranch and you needed some help. I called and Ted says, “Jane’s in the bathtub right now, let me get her”….in his big booming voice. Funny memories….hope all is well. Thank you for those days!

  32. I have just seen the Oct. 27th Oprah show for the second time. It was as the first time an uplifting and emotional experience. So many of the issues that plagued Jane have plagued me also and I am sure there are many other women who feel the same. I wish I had a copy of that show and could watch it often to remind myself of what I want to do with the rest of my life. Jane – you really are an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your life so frankly and freely.

  33. Jane

    I have now watched the Oprah interview twice. It is an inspiration to me – you are an inspiration to me. Wish I had known some of this during menopause. I’m continuing on my journey as you are to grow every day. Thank you for so openly sharing you life with others.

  34. Jane I think your fabulous. I’m a 36 year old Australian and just watched you on the Oprah show. What an Inspirational woman you are. Smart, self- assured, gorgeous. If I can look as good as you at your age, I will be very happy. Xx

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