Jane Fonda recently shared a wild and funny story about an encounter with a bear while caring for her grandson. The 87-year-old actress revealed the incident on the "Skip Intro" podcast, hosted by Krista Smith, where she was joined by her son, Troy O’Donovan Garity.
Garity recounted how Fonda was living in New Mexico when the incident occurred. One night, while looking after her then-infant grandson, Malcolm, she heard a noise and went to investigate. When she returned to the bedroom, she found a bear in the room, sniffing around Malcolm’s crib. The screen door had been torn apart, allowing the bear to wander in.
In a humorous moment, Garity encouraged his mother to share how she handled the situation. Fonda playfully demonstrated by letting out a loud roar and raising her arms to appear larger. She explained that she had recently learned this technique for scaring bears. Fonda also mentioned that she opened her bathrobe to make herself look bigger.
Despite her brave efforts, the bear didn’t leave immediately. Fonda noted that the bear urinated on the rug before finally deciding to exit. With a chuckle, she admitted, “I did push it out, yeah.”
This amusing story comes shortly after Fonda received the SAG-AFTRA Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 SAG Awards in Los Angeles, where Garity was by her side. Fonda is a mother of three, including Garity, and has two daughters, Vanessa and Mary Luana Williams. She is also a proud grandmother to Malcolm and his sister, Viva Vadim.
Fonda’s lighthearted tale of her encounter with the bear adds to her legacy of adventurous and memorable moments in life.