With two Oscars, an AFI Life Achievement Award, two BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, and an Honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival under her svelte belt, Jane Fonda needs to make room for The Chicago International Film Festival’s Gold Hugo Career Achievement Award this summer.
The accolade will be presented on Saturday, July 29, during Cinema/Chicago’s A Tribute to Jane Fonda at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago. In addition to showing clips from Fonda’s illustrious career, the evening features a conversation with the acclaimed actress, bestselling author of “My Life So Far,” former model, and fitness phenom.
“I have grown up on the films of Jane Fonda from ‘Barbarella’ and ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ to ‘Klute’ and ‘Coming Home’—and I am now enchanted all over again by her television series ‘Grace and Frankie.’ She continually reinvents herself in exciting and brilliant ways,” notes Cinema/Chicago Founder and CEO Michael Kutza.
“To call Jane Fonda an icon is an understatement,” adds Cinema/Chicago Governing Board Member Lauren Robishaw. “With tremendous bravery and poise, she has defined what it means to be an entertainer, a revolutionary, a survivor and, above all, a formidable woman. I am in awe of her achievements and her spirit and cannot wait to see what roles she takes on in the future, both on screen and off.”
Robishaw co-chairs the Tribute with Director of Decorative Arts at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers Corbin Horn who says, “Jane Fonda is fabulous—there’s no other word to use. She has already been an inspiration for fifty years, and then along comes ‘Grace and Frankie,’ and Jane is more enthralling than ever. We are watching someone electric, at the apex of her career, and at the top of her life.”
Throughout the stages of Fonda’s life, she has been known as the daughter of actor Henry Fonda, sister of hipster Peter Fonda, wife of director Roger Vadim (1965-’68), wife of political activist Tom Hayden (1973-’90), and wife of media tycoon Ted Turner (1991-2001). Yet despite being attached to powerful men, she’s created a legacy as her own person—an anti-war advocate and proponent of the environment, civil, human, and women’s rights.
“Instead of drifting along like a leaf in a river,” Fonda told Parade in 2013, “understand who you are and how you come across to people and what kind of an impact you have on…the community around you and the world, so that when you go out, you can feel you have made a positive difference.”
A Tribute to Jane Fonda starts at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception and concludes with music and dancing. Sponsored by SAGE Private Wealth Group with partners American Airlines, Sound Investment AV, Chloe Wine Collection and Wansas Tequila, the event benefits Cinema/Chicago’s Education Program. For tickets ($200 and up), visit www.chicagofilmfestival.com. To learn more about Jane Fonda, visit www.janefonda.com.
