The night Jane Fonda swam naked with Michael Jackson
Jane Fonda revealed that she went skinny dipping with Michael Jackson on a beautiful moonlit night when he visited her on the set of 1981's 'On Golden Pond.'
(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Film » Cutting Room Floor
Thu 23 January 2025 22:15, UK
An iconic star like Jane Fonda is never short of a story to tell from her long, illustrious Hollywood career. After all, it has spanned six decadesâand countingâand encompassed everything from Oscar winners to blockbuster comedies, from Broadway plays to her iconic exercise videotapes.
Along the way, sheâs probably encountered every famous celebrity worth their salt from the last 60 years, including pop music idols like Michael Jackson. In fact, she once admitted she saw Jackson naked one night when the pair went skinny dipping â much to Katharine Hepburnâs chagrin.
In 1981, Fonda starred in On Golden Pond, the cinematic swansong of her father, Henry Fonda, who died less than a year after the filmâs release. The drama, directed by Mark Rydell, co-starred Katharine Hepburn and Fonda, who played the daughter of her fatherâs character. It was an enormous hit critically and commercially, becoming the second-highest grosser of 1981 and winning three Oscars.
Unfortunately for Fonda, she and Hepburn, who was 74 at the time, didnât exactly get along. âShe was very prickly,â Fonda told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. âI mean, she was a snob. She was very moody; she was very judgmental.â For some reason, one thing Hepburn particularly disliked was the idea of Fonda receiving visitors to the set â and Fonda revealed she had to ask her if she could invite one of her famous pals to come see her.
âWhen I first asked her permission, she was not happy,â Fonda admitted. âBut then the crew said, âYou donât understand: itâs Michael Jackson.â
Eventually, Hepburn relented, and Jackson came to stay with Fonda in her cottage by the lake on the filmâs New Hampshire set. For ten days, the pair hung out in the beautiful surroundings, and even Hepburn began to soften to the young music star. Fonda revealed that he had recently starred in The Wiz and was determined to become a movie star, so he often sat under the learning tree with Hepburn.
âHe had a tape recorder with him,â explained Fonda, âAnd every day, I would bring him to the set, and in between scenes, she wouldâŠpull over a chair for him and tell him stories. And every story embedded a lesson.â
While Jackson stayed with Fonda, she revealed, âHe slept on a mattress that he pulled out on the floor of the living room. I slept in the loft upstairs.â She found him to be an interesting character and revealed that they were still pretty close six years later when he made Thriller in 1987.
With a smile, though, in 2023, she told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that Jackson could also be mischievous and spontaneous, such as when he suggested they go skinny dipping one beautiful moonlit night. Fonda revealed that her abiding memory of the evening is that Jackson was very thin, but she had a lot of fun, and it left her with a great story to tell.
âI skinny-dipped with him, how about that?â the Barbarella star grinned. âPut that in your pipe and smoke it.â
Related Topics
Jane FondaKatharine HepburnMIchael Jackson