Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman - Paperback

by Patricia Bosworth (Author)

"An irresistible biography of the accomplished, controversial actress whose roles on screen and off helped define a generation. Whether you love Jane Fonda or abhor her, Jane Fonda is a detailed and generous exploration not only of the contradictory world Fonda grew up in but of the many people who shaped her." --Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle

Patricia Bosworth has gone beyond the image of an American superwoman to reveal a Jane Fonda more powerful and vulnerable than ever expected. Fonda emerged from a heartbreaking Hollywood family drama to become a '60s onscreen ingénue and then an Oscar-winning actress. At the top of her game she risked all, rising up against the Vietnam War and shocking the world with a trip to Hanoi. While becoming one of Hollywood's most committed feminists, she financed her husband Tom Hayden's political career in the '80s with exercise videos that began a fitness craze and brought in millions of dollars. Just as interesting is Fonda's next turn, as a Stepford Wife of the Gulfstream set, marrying Ted Turner and seemingly walking away from her ideals and her career. Fonda's multilevel story is a blend of the deep insecurity, magnetism, bravery, and determination that has fueled her inspiring and occasionally infuriating public life.

"The definitive portrait of a woman conflicted, torn between ferocious ambition, family, and feminist causes." --Gail Sheehy, author of Passages

"The Private Life does Jane Fonda the service of making us remember why she was relevant in the first place: the movies. Bosworth's thorough account of this wild, uniquely twentieth-century Hollywood life makes Jane Fonda the actress even more intriguing." --San Francisco Chronicle

Front Jacket

Bosworth goes behind the image of an American superwoman, revealing Jane Fonda more powerful and vulnerable than ever expected whose struggles for high achievement, love, and successful motherhood mirror the conflicts of a generation of women.

In the hands of this seasoned, tenacious biographer, the evolution of one of the century s most controversial and successful women becomes nothing less than a great, enthralling American life.
Jane Fonda emerged from a heartbreaking Hollywood family drama to become a 60s onscreen ingenue and then an Oscar-winning actress. At the top of her game she risked all, rising against the Vietnam War and shocking the world with a trip to Hanoi. Later, while becoming one of Hollywood s most committed feminists, she financed her husband Tom Hayden s political career in the 80s with exercise videos that began a fitness craze and brought in millions of dollars. Just as interesting is Fonda s next turn, as a Stepford Wife of the Gulfstream set, marrying Ted Turner and seemingly walking away from her ideals and her career.
Fonda s is a story of the blend of deep insecurity, magnetism, bravery, and determination that fuels the most inspiring and occasionally infuriating public lives. Finally here is Fonda and all the women she s been.
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Back Jacket

An irresistible biography of the accomplished, controversial actress whose roles on screen and off helped define a generation. Whether you love Jane Fonda or abhor her, "Jane Fonda" is a detailed and generous exploration not only of the contradictory world Fonda grew up in but of the many people who shaped her. Jeannette Walls, author of "The Glass Castle"
Patricia Bosworth has gone beyond the image of an American superwoman to reveal a Jane Fonda more powerful and vulnerable than ever expected. Fonda emerged from a heartbreaking Hollywood family drama to become a 60s onscreen ingenue and then an Oscar-winning actress. At the top of her game she risked all, rising up against the Vietnam War and shocking the world with a trip to Hanoi. While becoming one of Hollywood s most committed feminists, she financed her husband Tom Hayden s political career in the 80s with exercise videos that began a fitness craze and brought in millions of dollars. Just as interesting is Fonda s next turn, as a Stepford Wife of the Gulfstream set, marrying Ted Turner and seemingly walking away from her ideals and her career. Fonda s multilevel story is a blend of the deep insecurity, magnetism, bravery, and determination that has fueled her inspiring and occasionally infuriating public life.
The definitive portrait of a woman conflicted, torn between ferocious ambition, family, and feminist causes. Gail Sheehy, author of "Passages"
The Private Life does Jane Fonda the service of making us remember why she was relevant in the first place: the movies. Bosworth s thorough account of this wild, uniquely twentieth-century Hollywood life makes Jane Fonda the actress even more intriguing. "San Francisco Chronicle"
[insert author photo] PATRICIA BOSWORTH, a contributing editor at "Vanity Fair," has known Jane Fonda since they were both students at the Actors Studio and has been writing about her since 1968. Bosworth has also written acclaimed biographies of Montgomery Clift, Diane Arbus, and Marlon Brando, as well as a family memoir, "Anything Your Little Heart Desires."
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