She was very talented and ambitious even as a teenager and she taught dance at Fire Island Pines, New York, when she was 15. She enrolled at Vassar College, and while there she went to Paris to study art for two years. She returned to U.S. in 1958 and studied acting under Lee Strasberg.

Jane Fonda is the daughter of actor Henry Fonda; her younger brother, Peter Fonda, also became a noted actor. She left Vassar College after two years and lived in New York City, where she worked as a model and in 1958 studied acting under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

In 1950, when Fonda was 12, her mother died by suicide while undergoing treatment at Craig House psychiatric hospital in Beacon, New York. Later that year, Henry Fonda married socialite Susan Blanchard, 23 years his junior; this marriage ended in divorce. Aged 15, Jane taught dance at Fire Island Pines, New York.

Jane Fonda was born in 1937 in New York City, and she grew up in a family of actors. She started her acting career in the 1960s and quickly became a household name. In her younger years, Jane Fonda was known for her stunning beauty and her incredible talent. She was a natural on the screen, and her performances were always captivating.