vious emotional and psychological problems. Jane Fonda was only twelve years of age when her mother entered an asylum and killed herself by cutting her throat. (Jane Fonda) This was to have an obviously negative effect on the young Jane and, "A year later, she began seriously hating her own body, resulting in bulimia and an addiction to Dexedrine that persisted well into Fonda's forties..." ( Jane Fonda 2)
             After several stage appearances, she made her Broadway debut in 1960 in There Was a Little Girl, with Gary Lockwood and Joey Heatherton. (Jane Fonda) Her real interest in acting was motivated by her meeting with Lee Strasberg, the famous acting teacher in 1958. After joining the Actors Studio she made her film debut in Tall Story (1960), a romantic comedy co-starring with Anthony Perkins, who was later to star in Psycho. This was to be the beginning of her lucrative and highly successful film and acting career. Her talent was obvious from the beginning. " Early films like George Cukor's "The Chapman Report" (1962) hinted at her promise, and she was quickly cast in several more films." ( Jane Fonda 2)
             Jane Fonda has received two academy awards; one for the performance in Klute (1971) and for Coming Home in 1978. She also received five Oscar nominations. These included, Best Actress in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The Morning After (1986) and On Golden Pond (1981). (Biography for Jane Fonda) She acted in the acclaimed hit Cat Ballou in 1965, a Western comedy and was to be one of many other box-office hits, such as Barefoot in the Park with the late Robert Redford. The films that she acted in are often linked or associated with different stages or periods of development in her life and will be referred to in relation to important phases in her personal life and to her artistic as well as political and social awareness.
             While Jane Fonda received acting accolades and was h...