Is there anyone more of a Senior Dynamo than Jane Fonda? Recently she was, in the words of the Internet, “rocking the red carpet,” looking stunning in her designer gown, slim figure, blond tresses and big smile. How does she look like that at 75 plus? It takes money, is her reported response.
Perhaps she takes those oxygenating treatments for the face I’ve read about, and of course she’s been working out for years. It’s inspiring to see someone at the three-quarter century mark so vital and dynamic.
As far as “Me and Jane Fonda” goes, she and I were born in the same year, about the same time. I first became aware of her some fifty years ago when we were both living in Europe. I was in Brussels, working as a secretary for the U.S. Foreign Service, and she was making movies and working with Roger Vadim, the French director and her husband.
As she was being interviewed on the radio, Rene, my Belgian friend, was chuckling at her use of the familiar “tu” instead of “vous,” and declaring, “elle est charmante.” Other than being tall, wearing the same hairdo — a half-pony tale fall with long hair … there was no comparison with Jane, although my West Virginia tinged French accent brought amused smiles from Rene and other French-speaking locals.
Another link to Jane came with a visit to Roger Vadim’s beach house in Malibu shortly after I married in the 60’s. He and Jane weren’t there, as it was being rented by Joe Hyams and Elke Sommer. Hyams, a writer of celebrity-related books and articles, had been my husband’s mentor at one time and helped him get a job in publicity at Twentieth Century Fox. My memory of that visit was Joe commenting to Larry that I was “just as movie-starrish as Elke.” Hah!
My husband did not pursue a career in Hollywood, but went on to become a professor of Mass Communications and Journalism. While he was earning his Ph.D., I developed my passion for photography and studied photojournalism.
I was aware of Jane Fonda’s travels to VietNam and ensuing publicity, but she really came back into my consciousness sometime in the 70’s with her workout tapes. I enjoyed exercising, first with Jack LaLanne’s TV program, then at a local gym and at home with a Total Gym and rebounder. Of course I bought Jane Fonda’s Workout along with millions of other women, and took pride in keeping my 5’9” frame in reasonable shape.
Like Jane, I had two children by the mid-seventies: a boy and a girl, and as they weighed in at 11 lbs. 15 oz. and 11 lbs. 4 oz. at birth, my body took a bit of a beating. Why so big? Perhaps, as my husband commented, we were simply a family of gentle giants. He was 6’4” and our son grew to be 6’6” and daughter to 5’10.” It was predicted that they and I would develop diabetes, but that hasn’t developed. Jane also had two children, a girl with Vadim and a boy with Tom Hayden.
Unlike Jane with her many lovers, three marriages and nannies, as noted in her biography, I had one husband and loved being a hands-on mother from the get-go. I haunted toy stores and devoured books on such topics as how to raises a brighter child, Montessori teaching methods, and more. As a result my daughter was reading before pre-school and my son was drawing complex pictures of dragons and other creatures. One of his favorite past times at age three was to lie on the floor listening to “Peter and the Wolf” and drawing pictures of the main characters.
As Jane was reinventing herself from sex kitten in “Barbarella” with her marriage to Vadim, to political activist with her marriage to Hayden, and to billionaire’s wife with Ted Turner, I was living the more conventional life. Says Jane per brainyquote.com, “I always had a penchant for falling in love. Every time I found myself without a mate, I fell into a state of low-sizzling panic.”
For me, I fell in love once and continued in a loving relationship, with the usual ups and downs, for some 43 years until his death.
Jane, seems very intelligent and motivated to learn because of the varying roles she takes in film and in life. For me, I’m a lifelong learner. I’m not happy if I’m not learning something new. I’ve even taken acting classes, which led to speaking at my spiritual center, and now I’m learning to sing. There’s so much to learn, and so many opportunities to learn, as we progress through life. So as I actively participate in parenthood, personal growth, photography, counseling psychology, career development, health and fitness, spirituality, aging and more, I’m also a student.
Now in her later years, Jane has survived breast cancer, knee and hip replacement, arthritis and osteoarthritis. For me, I’m a nearly twenty-year breast cancer survivor, still mobile with no other major medical interventions, and working to stay fit and healthy.
One of Jane’s activist interests is female empowerment, including empowerment for older women. As a Senior Dynamo, I also encourage personal empowerment, As Senior Dynamos, let’s move ahead with clarity, focus, grace and ease into this fabulous Third Act of Life.
Jane Fonda can be an inspiration. As she says in “My Life So Far,” It’s never too late- never too late to change your life, never too late to be happy.”