Two-time Academy Award winner Jane Fonda has been announced as the commencement speaker for the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s 2014 graduation ceremony. The announcement was made on Thursday by Teri Schwartz, dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television, who will be presiding over the June 13 event in Royce Hall.
In a film career that has lasted more than five decades, with interruptions, Fonda has received seven Academy Award nominations, including two best actress wins for her roles in “Klute” and “Coming Home.” She started her own production company, IPC Films, in the 1970s and will be awarded the 42nd American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in June.
In addition, she has received a Tony Award nomination for her role in “33 Variations,” and her 2005 autobiography “My Life So Far” reached the top of the New York Times bestsellers list. Fonda is a renowned political activist, who has supported the civil rights and feminist rights movements, and has spoken in opposition to the Vietnam War.
“She has effortlessly placed herself at the heart of what (the School of Theater, Film and Television) stands for,” Schwartz said. “The education and development of outstanding new artists and scholars whose stories, performances and research enlighten, engage and inspire change for a better world.”
Darren Star and Wendy C. Goldberg will also receive distinguished alumni awards at the graduation ceremony for their roles in television and theater, respectively. Star (‘83) is a producer and writer who created the popular television series “Melrose Place,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Sex and the City.” Goldberg (‘98) has been the artistic director of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center for 10 years, and the theater center won the Regional Theatre Tony Award in 2010.
Compiled by Sebastian Torrelio, A&E; senior staff.
Nice choice, she posed with Vietnamese soldiers during the war, ask a veteran their opinion of her. she’s a traitor.
I was not a Vietnam veteran, but I did serve three years in the US Army during that conflict (in Germany). In my view, she committed treason by going to Hanoi during that war. Our generation will never forget what she did. As an adjunct teacher at UC Irvine, I am even more sickened that a University of California campus would host her. Ayaan Hirsi Ali isn’t good enough for Brandeis, and Condoleeza Rice isn’t good enough for Rutgers, but UCLA thinks it’s just dandy to have Fonda as commencement speaker. Dean Schwartz’s gushing statement about Fonda also makes me want to throw up.
Who’s Jane Fonda?