Jane Fonda and Ted Turner: A turbulent and iconic love story

It was 1990, and Jane Fonda had just divorced her second husband, activist and politician Tom Hayden (she had previously been married to French director Roger Vadim). The actress said she “wasn’t interested in dating,” but media mogul Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and a vast communications empire, managed to get her phone number and took the initiative. From that moment on, the two formed one of the most unlikely, powerful and glamorous couples of the 1990s.Robin Platzer (Getty Images)

At first, the actress, who won two Oscars for 'Klute' and 'Coming Home,' declined Turner's invitation. “He wanted to know if I was available to date. I think I said I wasn't feeling so hot, that he was an interesting guy, too, but I wasn't feeling peppy,” she told 'People' magazine. They say persistence pays off, and the media mogul's determination eventually won her over. From then on, the two became inseparable throughout their 10-year relationship. Pictured in October 1990.ARNAL (Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Confirming the old adage that opposites attract, Fonda and Turner became one of the most iconic and coolest couples of the 1990s. They were also among the most unlikely. Fonda, Hollywood royalty as the daughter of actor Henry Fonda and socialite Frances Ford Seymour, had grown up in a more liberal milieu and was a committed feminist and political activist. Turner, by contrast, hailed from Cincinnati, Ohio, and embodied a more conservative, Southern worldview. Against all expectations, the relationship flourished. In this photograph, the couple attend a sporting event in Seattle in 1990.Bill Pugliano (Getty Images)

For her third wedding, the actress chose a dress that had been hanging in her wardrobe for a decade. The high-necked, long-sleeved design, inspired by Victorian fashion, had been purchased during the filming of 'On Golden Pond' in 1981 and was also worn by Fonda in the movie. The dress was auctioned in 2016, 15 years after the couple's separation, along with other personal belongings, including the engagement ring the media mogul had given her.Getty Images (Getty Images)

The actress and the media mogul did not have children together, but they formed a large blended family made up of her three children, Vanessa, Troy and Mary, and his five, Laura, Teddy, Beau, Rhett and Jennie. They even spent part of their honeymoon travelling with the family they had created together. In this photograph, taken at the 1990 Academy Awards, Fonda is pictured with her son Troy Garity, who would later follow her into acting.Frank Trapper (Corbis via Getty Images)

In August 1992, the couple attended the Emmy Awards together. That evening, Turner received the Governors Award in recognition of his contribution to the television industry. Their appearance symbolically brought together Fonda's celebrated acting career, then largely on hold following her marriage, and Turner's rapidly expanding television empire.Ron Galella, Ltd. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)

When Turner died in May 2026 at the age of 87, eight years after publicly revealing that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, Fonda paid tribute to her former husband in a lengthy Instagram post that reflected on the best moments of their relationship, despite their divorce in 2001. “He swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate and I've never been the same,” she wrote. “He needed me. No one had ever let me know they needed me, and this wasn't your average human being that needed me. This was the creator of CNN and Turner Classic Movies, who had won the America's Cup as the world's greatest sailor. He had a big life, a brilliant mind and a soaring sense of humor.”Ron Galella (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)

During her marriage, Fonda stepped away from acting, setting aside her celebrated career to focus on family life and on a range of social and political causes that she and Turner championed together, particularly environmental conservation, one of the causes to which the businessman devoted much of his life. “I loved Ted with all my heart," she wrote after his death. "I see him in heaven now with all the wildlife he helped bring back from extinction, the black-footed ferrets, the prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, the Mexican gray wolf, the Yellowstone wolf pack, bison, the red-cockaded woodpecker and so many more. They're all gathered at the pearly gates applauding and thanking him for saving their species.”Ron Galella, Ltd. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)

In March 1997, Turner and Fonda attended the Academy Awards alongside her son, Troy Garity. The appearance was particularly noteworthy because Fonda had by then stepped away from acting, although she remained a prominent presence in Hollywood. The actress turned heads in a canary-yellow haute couture gown by Versace, one of the evening’s most memorable red-carpet looks.Vinnie Zuffante (Getty Images)

In her memoir 'My Life So Far,' Fonda revealed that she discovered about a month after their wedding that Turner had been unfaithful to her. The media mogul had a reputation as a womaniser, a heavy drinker and a provocateur, traits that undoubtedly contributed to the gradual deterioration of their marriage. Fonda also reflected on a recurring pattern in her relationships, writing that during her marriages she had often tried to become the woman she believed her partner wanted her to be. Her separation from Turner, she explained, ultimately led her to a profound realization: that she did not need a man in order to feel complete.Ron Galella, Ltd. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)

However, in the same memoir, 'My Life So Far,' published in 2005, Fonda also recalled some of the happiest moments of their relationship. “There were lovemaking times when we'd lock eyes and melt into one. There were times when something would set us to laughing so hard we'd sink to the floor, like the night when our guffaws collapsed us at the foot of the 'Gone With the Wind' staircase at his plantation, and we had to crawl up to bed on hands and knees,” she wrote.Heinz Kluetmeier (Sports Illustrated via Getty Ima)

Fonda formally filed for divorce in April 2001, describing the marriage as “irretrievably broken” with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation. The divorce was finalized the following month, bringing to an end nearly a decade together. According to accounts from those close to him, Turner was devastated by the breakup and is said to have spent months mourning the loss of the actress. More than a decade later, in a 2012 interview, the media mogul revealed that he was maintaining four romantic relationships at the same time and organized his schedule so that he could spend one week each month with each partner. The contrast seemed to encapsulate the very different paths the former couple took after their separation. While Fonda increasingly focused on personal growth, activism and her return to acting, Turner remained true to the larger-than-life persona that had made him one of America’s most colorful and unconventional businessmen.Frank Trapper (Corbis via Getty Images)

Beyond his infidelities and reputation as a womanizer, the reasons that ultimately led to the breakdown of their relationship were varied. Religion even played a role: as part of her search for integrity and authenticity, Fonda converted to Christianity. Turner not only did not share her beliefs, but also reproached her for being baptized without even telling him beforehand.CHRIS WILKINS (AFP via Getty Images)

Years later, in an interview with Piers Morgan, the businessman said that Fonda had been the love of his life, adding that when you truly love someone, you never stop loving them. After their divorce, the two often spoke about the close relationship they maintained. In the photo, they are attending a 2006 fundraiser for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, an organization they both supported. Despite having been divorced for five years, they arrived together, joked about their marriage, and were as affectionate as ever.Ben Rose (WireImage)

“Ted was challenging, but I’ve always been up for a challenge, and with Ted it was almost always worth it,” Fonda wrote after his death, also remembering his five children and the privilege she felt in “becoming their stepmother.” “We all did our best to build an extended, ragtag family, and I love them to this day,” she added. In this photograph, the former couple are pictured together in 2013.Daniel Zuchnik (WireImage)

Despite the intensity and complexity of their love story, and the irreconcilable differences that eventually drove them apart, both were always clear about the importance they held in each other’s lives. Fonda often referred to Turner as her “favorite ex-husband,” and after his death she spoke warmly of the bond they continued to share. In this photograph, taken at the celebration of Fonda’s 80th birthday in 2017, the former couple appear together in one of their last public appearances side by side.Paras Griffin (WireImage)