How Jane Fonda Once Saved Her Grandson From A Bear
Actor Jane Fonda is known for her long career and many talents — plus some iconic workout tapes — but fans might not realize that Fonda has a heroic side to her that has extended into her life beyond her acting roles. While Fonda has made a name for herself as an activist for multiple causes during her time in Hollywood, including protesting the Vietnam War and the Dakota Access Pipeline, as reported by Time, one of her acts of bravery had nothing to do with her public life and everything to do with her personal one.
On a virtual appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Fonda played a game host Jimmy Fallon calls "Best Worst First." While playing that game, as shown in a clip from the show on YouTube, Fonda revealed to Fallon that she once had to rescue her infant grandson from a bear, and the incident in question happened in the unlikeliest of places.
Jane Fonda had to rescue her grandson from a bear in her home
As she told Jimmy Fallon (via YouTube), Jane Fonda didn't just have to rescue her grandson from a bear; she had to rescue her grandson from a bear in her own bedroom. Said Fonda in response to the prompt of her worst uninvited guest, "My grandson was about three months old. I was in a very small cabin in New Mexico on a ranch that I had, and his crib was in the corner. And I was in bed, and I heard this weird noise." After going to investigate the source of the noise she'd heard, Fonda found her dog frightened and ran in to find a bear "right in the middle of [her] small bedroom."
Fonda explained that, luckily, she opened her bathrobe and was able to scare the bear, but there was a downside: It peed on her rug in the process. She was then able to get the bear out of the cabin, where it could no longer harm her or her grandson.
Fonda's interaction with the bear follows the advice given by the website BearWise, which provides tips to those who might encounter a bear. This includes not running from the bear but making oneself appear larger, as Fonda did.
Jane Fonda had shared the same story previously
When Jane Fonda explained her run-in with a bear on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," this wasn't the first time that she had done so. She has brought up the story on at least two other television appearances. One was on an undated episode of "Ellen" (via YouTube), where she joked with host Ellen DeGeneres, "I had a bear in my bedroom. I wasn't married to him, either."
Fonda also shared the same story with Conan O'Brien during a guest appearance on a 2014 episode of "Conan," (via YouTube) saying that the bear incident happened following the end of her marriage to Ted Turner. She also said during that appearance that her thought process was that she wasn't sure where her gun was and that she didn't have enough time to look for it before reacting to the bear's presence in the cabin. Exclaimed O'Brien afterward, "You flashed the bear!"