How is Jane Fonda coping with recent celebrity losses? 87-year-old star opens up about a particularly challenging year

Jane Fonda is carrying a heavy kind of Hollywood heartbreak. The 87-year-old legend says her 2025 has left her shaken after losing three of her longtime friends — Diane Keaton, Robert Redford, and Gene Hackman.

In an exclusive conversation with People while at the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power’s 30th Anniversary EmPower Party, Fonda talked about what she describes as "a tough year," remembering the friends she lost.

When asked about Hackman, who passed away in February at 95, Fonda shared:

"You know, there’s him and Redford. He came down here to support GCAPP. And we screened 'Barefoot in the Park'."

Recalling, Hackman and Betty, his wife for thirty years, were found lifeless at their residence in New Mexico, as well as their dog.

Autopsy later revealed Gene died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, while Betty died of hantavirus. The veteran actor's Alzheimer's disease also reportedly contributed to his death.

Jane Fonda reminisces about Robert Redford: "It hit me hard"

Jane Fonda also remembered Robert Redford, who died last September at age 89. They starred together in the above-mentioned 1967 romance film.

At the time of his passing, with the cause still kept under wraps, Fonda heavily mourned in an official statement.

"It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone. I can’t stop crying. He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for."

READ: From Scarlett Johansson to Leonardo DiCaprio: Celebrities pay tributes to late legend Robert Redford as he dies at 89

Jane Fonda and Robert Redford co-starred in a variety of projects together for six decades, such as Tall Story (1960), The Chase (1966), Barefoot in the Park, The Electric Horseman (1979), and Our Souls at Night (2017).

Through the years, the two kept being good friends. In a 2008 interview with the outlet, Jane Fonda also praised Redford:

"He is so handsome and just such a wonderful human being… Every movie I made with him, I developed a crush on him."

Jane Fonda speaks fondly of Diane Keaton: "Boy, I was shocked"

In her talk with People, the veteran star also spoke of Diane Keaton, who passed away last October at 79.

Jane Fonda expressed her grief as she and the Annie Hall star just worked together in 2023’s Book Club: The Next Chapter.

"And Diane Keaton — I just finished working with her. Boy, I was shocked. Really shocked. You get to be old and everybody is dying around you."

A week after her passing, Keaton's family finally divulged the cause of her death in an exclusive statement to People.

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"The Keaton family are very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love and support they have received these past few days on behalf of their beloved Diane, who passed away from pneumonia on October 11."

A source also reported that Diane Keaton was surrounded by her loved ones in her final moments.

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