Jane Fonda Kids: Meet the 'Grace and Frankie' Star's 3 Children

She’s had an incredible career, filled with a ton of recognition including two Academy Awards and an AFI Life Achievement Award, but Jane Fonda values something else a lot more than all of her accolades: her children.

The legendary actress welcomed her first child, a daughter named Vanessa Vadim, with her first husband, Roger Vadim, in September 1968. Although the pair’s marriage only lasted from 1965 to 1973, Jane went on to find love again with her second husband, Tom Hayden.

The lovebirds welcomed two kids together after their 1973 wedding. Their son, Troy Garity, became a well-known Hollywood actor and their daughter, Mary Luana Williams, followed in her dad’s footsteps and became a social activist. But even though Jane and Tom looked like they were going to be together forever, they ended up getting divorced in 1990. The next year, the Hollywood star married media mogul Ted Turner.

However, that marriage didn’t last long either. The former couple got hitched in 1991 but called it quits in 2001. After their marriage ended, Jane spent most of her time trying to be a better parent to her kids.

“I didn’t know how to do it,” she previously told The Edit. “But you can learn, so I studied how to be a parent. It’s never too late.”

The Youth star noted she’s “trying to make up” for what she “didn’t know before,” and she “regrets” some things in her past. “When I die, I want my family to be around me. I want them to love me and I have to earn that,” she said. “I’m still working at it.”

Jane explained in February 2023 interview that one of her few regrets in life was how she raised her kids. “I was not the kind of mother that I wish that I had been to my children. I just didn’t know how to do it,” the On Golden Pond star told CNN.

“I have an organization in Georgia that deals with adolescents, and I’ve studied parenting. I know what it’s supposed to be now. I didn’t know then. So, I’m trying to show up now,” Jane added, gushing, “I have great, great children. Talented. Smart.”

Although it’s a process, Jane and her kids are doing pretty well. In June 2014, they attended the 42nd Life Achievement Award Gala for AFI together and as always, they looked like a great bunch.

Scroll below to learn a bit about each of Jane’s three kids!

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Vanessa Vadim

Vanessa is a director and cinematographer. She’s best known for directing the 2002 short film The Quilts of Gee’s Bend and for working on her mom’s 2018 flick, Jane Fonda in Five Acts.

But that’s not all. Vanessa is also an ecological advice columnist for the “Mother Nature Network,” and she has two kids with her longtime husband, Paul Van Waggoner.

Vanessa and her son, Malcolm Vadim, were seen with Jane protesting at the U.S. Capitol building in November 2019.

“Passing the [Fire Drill Friday] torch. My kids getting arrested on the Capitol steps. #proudmomma,” Vanessa share via Instagram at the time.

Troy Garity

Troy is probably the most famous of the bunch. He’s an actor whose been nominated for a Golden Globe award for his role as Barry Winchell in the television movie Soldier’s Girl. He’s also had starring roles in the 2002 comedy Barbershop and its 2016 sequel, The Next Cut. Most recently, he starred in HBO’s Ballers alongside A-list actor Dwayne Johnson.

Troy does not have kids of his own, but he has been married to actress Simone Bent since 2007.

Mary Luana Williams

Mary was born in October 1967. In 2003, she released a memoir called The Lost Daughter which talked about her life growing up.

Mary American social activist who currently works with Sudanese refugees and the Lost Boys Foundation, an organization that is all about the reunification and living enhancement of the Lost Boys of Nashville.