Whether you know of Jane Fonda as a movie star, fitness guru or political activist, she’s certainly made her mark over the years. Here are some facts you might not know about her…

1. Her real name is Lady Jayne Seymour Fonda. I have no idea whether the ‘Lady’ means she was titled, or whether it was just a strange first name. I’m guessing the latter, if anyone knows for sure please let me know!
2. She was named after Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour (one of the few of Henry’s wives who wasn’t beheaded) to whom she is distantly related on her mother’s side.
3. Jane Fonda was featured on the cover of Vogue twice while she was a fashion model in the 1950s.
4. She turned a few major movie roles including Mia Farrow’s part in Rosemary’s Baby and Fay Dunaway’s role in Bonnie and Clyde.
5. Over 17 million copies of her fitness videos were sold worldwide (including 1 copy to the teenage me)
6. Jane Fonda was under surveillance by the NSA between 1967 and 1973 because of her political activism connected with the Vietnam War.
7. Fonda has been married 3 times: to screenwriter and director Roger Vadim, political activist Tom Hayden and media tycoon Ted Turner.
8. Her mother committed suicide when Fonda was just 12.
9. In 1962 she won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer as well as “Year’s Worst Actress” from the Harvard Lampoon
10. The movie Barabarella, which established Fonda as a sex-symbol, was directed by her then husband Roger Vadim.

Read more from my 10 things you didn’t know about… series

Above: Original publicity photo of Jane Fonda for the film Period of Adjustment in 1962.

Photo source and copyright:This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice.