Jane Fonda Remembers Ted Turner: A Life-Changing Love

When Jane Fonda posted her tribute to Ted Turner on Wednesday, May 6, she didn’t shy away from the profound impact their decade-long marriage had on her life. The actress, now 88, opened up about a man who entered her world like a force of nature—and left her fundamentally changed.

Turner, who died at age 87, was no ordinary figure in Fonda’s orbit. He created CNN and Turner Classic Movies, won the America’s Cup as a world-class sailor, and built an empire that made him one of the most powerful media moguls of his generation. But what struck Fonda most wasn’t his accomplishments—it was that he needed her. In her tribute, she reflected on how transformative it was to be both needed and cared for simultaneously, how Turner’s confidence in her gave her confidence in herself. For a woman raised in a world that taught her to be the nurturer, being on the receiving end of genuine vulnerability from someone like Ted was profound.

Fonda and Turner were married from 1991 to 2001, a partnership she’s openly called one of her favorites among her three marriages (to Roger Vadim and Tom Hayden). Their time together was marked by his relentless competitiveness—something she found both challenging and worthwhile. She compared his drive to that of Katharine Hepburn, noting how Turner approached everything from ski runs to real estate to romance with the same strategic intensity he’d honed studying the Classics in college and commanding sailboats across open water.

Beyond the personal connection, Fonda’s tribute reveals something larger about how we remember the people who change us. She painted a vivid picture of Turner in the afterlife surrounded by the wildlife he’d saved from extinction—black-footed ferrets, prairie dogs, Mexican Gray Wolves, and the Yellowstone wolf pack. It’s a distinctly Fonda touch, grounding his legacy not just in business and innovation, but in conservation and the natural world he stewarded with the same ferocity he brought to everything else.

Turner’s death closed a chapter, but not the bond. Fonda spoke warmly of his five children—Laura, Teddy, Beau, Rhett, and Jennie—and the extended, complicated family they built together. She knew firsthand how difficult it was to be a stepmother; she’d had four growing up. In the end, her message was simple: Ted Turner was loved, and he will be remembered. CNN Worldwide chairman and CEO Mark Thompson echoed that sentiment, calling Turner“the presiding spirit of CNN,”a man who was always willing to trust his own judgment and back a hunch. For Fonda, he was something different—a man who changed her forever.