Jane Fonda used her 80th birthday celebrations to raise $1.3 million for charity.
The ‘Barbarella’ star – who reaches the milestone age on 21 December – was the guest of honour at an intimate fundraiser staged in Atlanta on Saturday (09.12.17) by the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential (GCAPP), an organisation founded by the actress in 1995 to help prevent teenage pregnancy and provide sexual health education.
Asked what the evening meant to her and the organisation, Jane told People magazine: "[I am] very proud of what we have accomplished over the years.
"It is a very challenging time for [GCAPP] because government funding for teen pregnancy prevention has been cut.
"In spite of what’s happening, we will make changes. It’s going to be a challenge. But we have to remain robust."
The ‘Eight Decades of Jane’ event at The Whitley kicked off with a cocktail reception and a speech from the guest of honour, who reflected on her life and admitted she "never imagined living this long".
Some of her friends then paid tribute to her, and video messages from the likes of Ludacris, Oprah Winfrey – who revealed she had donated $100,000 to GCAPP – Kerry Washington and Dolly Parton were played.
Guests including Rosanna Arquette, Jane’s ex-husband Ted Turner, Catherine Keener, James Taylor and Carole King, then tucked into an eight-course meal from chef Alice Waters before a live auction took place, featuring items including lunch with Jane and her ‘Grace & Frankie’ co-star Lily Tomlin and a visit to the set of the show, as well as dinner at the ‘Monster-in-Law’ actress’ new Los Angeles home.
Singers James and Carole then performed for the attendees with hits including ‘You’ve Got a Friend’, ‘Carolina In My Mind’ and ‘So Far Away’ before singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jane and helping her blow out the candles on her birthday cake.
The Highland Bakery multi-layered red velvet sponge featured regal birds and a woman holding a lotus flower.
Jane Fonda’s birthday fundraiser
