The 'Barbarella' actress admits she feared for her life as she's being spied by the government when she opposed the Vietnam war and supported the Black Panthers in the 1970s.
- Oct 9, 2020
AceShowbiz - Jane Fonda feared her anti-war and anti-racism activism would get her killed in the 1970s.
The "Barbarella" star's opposition to the Vietnam War made her one of the most prominent peace campaigners in the U.S. and, in 2013, it was revealed the government had spied on her.
Speaking to Indya Moore for Interview magazine, Jane revealed that she feared her activism, which included support for the Black Panthers, would get her killed, due to the threats she received.
"My home was broken into," Jane explains. "I was followed for a number of years. We had a lot of death threats. We had to have someone turn on our car remotely before we would get in it, because we were afraid that bombs had been planted. It was an interesting time, to say the least."
Recalling how her activism dented her film career, the star adds, "There wasn't an official institutionalised blacklist the way there was in the '50s, but there was kind of a grey list. The studios didn't really want to work with me. The governor of Maryland issued a proclamation that I was not allowed to come into the state and that my movies were not allowed to be shown there. That kind of thing."
However, she says she was determined not to let the government frighten her away from campaigning for peace.
"A counterintelligence program that was used against me and Angela Davis, a lot of the Panthers, and a lot of anti-war activists at the time," she reveals. "I think they felt I was this white, privileged young woman that they could scare away. But the more they did it, the more I dug my heels in and refused to be intimidated."
