Jane Fonda

Highest Rated: 100% Sunday in New York (1963)

Lowest Rated: 18% Monster-in-Law (2005)

Birthday: Dec 21, 1937

Birthplace: New York, New York, USA

Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda had undergone nearly as many transformations throughout her career as a cat has lives, with each new phase of her life - however scandalous or controversial - keeping the public eternally fascinated. As the daughter of film legend Henry Fonda, she parlayed the family name into a movie career that began with "Tall Story" (1960). Her comedic role in "Cat Ballou" (1965) was followed by a full-fledged metamorphosis into a 1960s sex kitten, as embodied in decadent French director and then-husband Roger Vadim's "Barbarella" (1968). Disturbed by her sexual exploitation, Fonda recreated herself as the cause-conscious champion of Black Panthers, Native Americans and anti-war activists, and her visit to North Vietnam in 1972 earned her the lasting enmity of the Right, who venomously dubbed her "Hanoi Jane." But she was able to shake off such abuse with successful films like "Coming Home" (1978) and "9 to 5" (1980), while making another career turn as "Queen of the Exercise Video," when her aerobic workout tapes helped popularize at-home exercise, raking in millions. Though she retired from acting in 1990 and primarily came to be known for her less-than-idyllic marriage to cable tycoon Ted Turner, Fonda re-emerged in 2005 to reactivate her career, cementing her place as one of Hollywood's truly iconic actresses.