Jane Fonda: I nearly married a famous gay actor before he came out

Grace and Frankie star Jane Fonda has revealed she had real-life experience of her partners coming out as gay.

Fonda and Lily Tomlin  – who previously appeared together in the cult classic 9 to 5 – star in new Netflix comedy ‘Grace and Frankie’ as two women  left abandoned when their husbands declare their love for eachother.

Speaking to PrideSource, the star opened up about her own similar life experience.

She said: “When I was young, I was the female that gay guys wanted to try to become heterosexual with. A very famous actor who’s gay – and I will not name names – asked me to marry him.

“I was very flattered, but I said, ‘Why?’ This was 1964.

“And I mean, he wasn’t the only one. It’s very interesting. And I lived for two years with a guy who was trying to become heterosexual. I’m intimately acquainted with that.”

The veteran actress also spoke about her gay rights hero Harvey Milk – with whom she was close friends before his assassination.

Sharing her favourite memory, she said: “Campaigning with Harvey Milk in the Castro District in San Francisco for Prop 6. He was the most joyous. He was like Allen Ginsberg.

“He was always smiling and laughing, and he was beloved and he was funny. The most lovable person. I was so happy when I was with him.

“And it was just so much fun going into those gay bars with him – oh my god!”

Click here to read our review of ‘Grace and Frankie’.

• TV
• Dec 18 2024

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