AFI Life Achievement Award A Tribute to Jane Fonda

In October 2013, Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees, announced the Board's decision to honor Jane Fonda with the 42nd AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film. The award was presented to Fonda at a gala tribute on June 5, 2014 in Los Angeles, CA and originally aired on sister network TNT that same month. "Jane Fonda is American film royalty," said Stringer. "A bright light first introduced to the world as the daughter of Henry Fonda, the world watched as she found her own voice and forged her own path as an actor and a cultural icon. Today she stands tall among the giants of American film, and it is AFI's honor to present Jane Fonda with its 42nd Life Achievement Award." The Academy Award®-winning actor of Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978), Fonda has starred in more than 40 films since her screen debut. Spanning decades, her diverse career features celebrated comedies - including Cat Ballou (1965) and 9 to 5 (1980) - as well as powerful dramatic performances such as They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), The Morning After (1986) and On Golden Pond (1981) - in which she starred with her father, Henry Fonda, the AFI Life Achievement Award recipient in 1978. More recently, Fonda appeared in Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013), and currently stars in Aaron Sorkin's HBO series, The Newsroom. Last year's AFI Life Achievement Award tribute brought together the film community in force to honor Mel Brooks. AFI Life Achievement Award recipient Martin Scorsese (1997) presented the award, while other past honorees Robert De Niro (2003), Clint Eastwood (1996) , Morgan Freeman (2011), George Lucas (2005) and Steven Spielberg (1995) paid tribute to Brooks and his diverse talent. Among the other comedic and filmmaking greats who honored Brooks were Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, Larry David, David Lynch, Conan O'Brien, Amy Poehler, Carl Reiner, Martin Short, Sarah Silverman and Gene Wilder. About the AFI Life Achievement Award The highest honor given for a career in film, the AFI Life Achievement Award was established by the AFI Board of Trustees on February 26, 1973. It is presented to a single honoree each year based on the following criteria as mandated through a resolution passed by the AFI Board of Trustees: "The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time." Article courtesy of the American Film Institute