Jane Fonda has become a well-known name throughout the world not only because of her status as a Hollywood film star, but also because of her advocacy and activism with regard to certain social and political issues. She has been an outspoken opponent of war and particularly the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War, as well as many contemporary issues, such as genital mutilation in Kenya. Very often her artistic concerns have coincided with her prevailing social and political views. At the same time Fonda's personal life has been characterized by a certain degree of turbulence, personal problems and issues. The following outline of her life as an actor and activist is not intended to be exhaustive but is intended rather to highlight periods and events that illustrate the interconnections between her role as an artist and actor and as a social commentator and activist.
             Jayne Seymour Fonda was born in 21 December 1937 in New York City. She is the daughter of the film legend Henry Fonda and New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw. Her involvement with Hollywood and the film world was therefore almost guaranteed from the beginning and she was to act in a play with her father in 1954 Omaha Community Theatre production of The Country Girl. (Biography for Jane Fonda)
             Critics and biographers note that her relationship with her father was not always ideal. Henry Fonda is described by some commentators as "pathologically cold" and some assert that her youth was emotionally and psychologically demanding in many respects. According to one pundit, she lived in an environment as a child which, "...required staying in her pathologically cold father's good graces, where having a perfect body and being "on the winning team" were of primary importance, while emotional expression was met with disgust and disdain." ( Jane Fonda 2)
             This was also compounded by a mother who had ob...