Jane Fonda Pays Tribute to Ex-Husband Ted Turner After His Passing, Sharing 5 Personal Facts

Jane Fonda Reveals the Private Side of Ted Turner Few People Ever Saw

The actress shared an emotional tribute after the Turner family announced that the media pioneer died peacefully at age 87 on May 6, 2026. The family confirmed the news in a statement published on his official website. No cause of death was disclosed.

While Turner was best known as the founder of CNN, TNT, Cartoon Network, and TCM, Fonda focused on the man she knew behind the public image.

First, Fonda wrote in her Instagram tribute that Turner “had a big life,” while also praising his “brilliant mind” and “soaring sense of humor.”

She also reflected on how deeply he cared for her during their relationship.

Second, Fonda reflected on the comfort and support she found in Turner during their relationship.

“He could also take care of me. That was new as well,” she wrote. “To be needed and cared for simultaneously is transformative.”

Third, Fonda said Turner showed a softer side that surprised her. “Men like Ted aren’t supposed to express need and vulnerability. That was Ted’s greatest strength, I believe,” she added.

As her fourth insight about Turner, Fonda said she learned a great deal from him over the years. She wrote:

“He also taught me more than any other person or school classes, mostly about nature and wildlife, hunting and fishing (hunters and fishermen who follow the law are the best environmentalists), but also about business and strategy.”

She described him as “supremely strategic,” saying his studies of military history and years of competitive sailing shaped the way he approached business.

As her fifth reflection on Turner, Fonda opened up about his drive to outdo everyone around him. “Next to Katharine Hepburn, Ted was the most competitive person I have ever met,” she wrote.

Fonda recalled that Turner turned nearly everything into a challenge, from skiing to business achievements. Despite the difficulties, she said life with him was often rewarding.

The tribute later turned to Turner’s environmental work, which Fonda praised with admiration. She wrote that she imagines him reunited with the wildlife he helped protect, including wolves, bison, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets.

The Turner family’s statement also highlighted his environmental and philanthropic legacy. It noted that Turner donated more than $1 billion to charitable causes and preserved over two million acres of land.

The family described him as a man with an “endearing sense of humor” and “undying loyalty to those around him.”

Fonda ended her tribute by reflecting on the blended family they built together. She and Turner were married from 1991 to 2001.

Despite their divorce, Fonda said she stayed close to Turner’s children and still considered them family. She added that she understood the importance of stepparents because she grew up with four stepmothers herself.

“If it was complicated to be married to him, think how complicated it was being his child. And they are all doing fine,” she wrote.

Turner is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, according to the family statement. A private service is planned, while details for a public memorial have yet to be announced.

Just before Turner’s death was announced, Fonda publicly reflected on the legacy he left behind in both her life and Hollywood. During an appearance at the TCM Classic Film Festival, the actress spoke warmly about the media mogul and the network he created.

Jane Fonda Called Ted Turner Her ‘Favorite Ex-Husband’ Days Before His Death

In a video shared by TCM on X, Fonda reflected on the lasting impact Turner had on classic film fans and the network he built from the ground up.

“My favorite ex-husband created Turner Classic Movies, that was Ted Turner,” Fonda said. She also recalled that Turner spoke passionately about the network during the early stages of their relationship.

“On our very first date, he talked to me all about Turner Classic Movies,” she said in the video. “I do think it’s one of the great things that he did.”

As more details about Turner’s life resurfaced following his death, attention also returned to the health challenges he had previously discussed publicly.

Ted Turner Previously Revealed His Battle with a Progressive Brain Disorder

Although no cause of death has been released, Turner disclosed in a 2018 CBS interview that he had been living with Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder that can affect memory, thinking, and other cognitive abilities.

Speaking with journalist Ted Koppel, Turner compared the condition to Alzheimer’s disease while explaining how it impacted his life.

“It’s a mild case of what people have as Alzheimer’s. It’s similar to that. But not nearly as bad. Alzheimer’s is fatal,” Turner said. As he discussed the diagnosis, Turner briefly lost track of the condition’s name.

“Thank goodness I don’t have that. But, I also have got, let’s — the one that’s — I can’t remember the name of it,” he said before later adding, “Dementia. I can’t remember what my disease is.”

Ted Turner also shared the symptoms he experienced, such as feeling tired, exhausted, and forgetful.

The media executive added that he had previously been misdiagnosed with manic depression because of his emotional highs and lows. Despite his health challenges, Turner continued sharing his opinions on politics and television news.

He also revealed that he once considered running for president before Fonda pushed back against the idea. “She said, you know, ‘If you run for office, you run alone,'” Turner recalled.

The exchange reflected the candid dynamic that often defined Fonda and Turner’s relationship throughout their years together. Even after their divorce, the bond they built extended beyond their marriage and remained deeply tied to the blended family they created.

As reported in January 2020, after divorcing her second husband, Fonda dated Turner for two years before marrying him on the actress’s 34th birthday.

At the time, Fonda already had two children — son Troy Garity and adopted daughter Mary Williams, who later described Turner as a “true father.”

Ted Turner as the Father Figure

Turner had five children from his previous marriages, but he accepted Williams as if she were his own. Over the years, she came to see him as the father she never had. Williams said:

“I was nervous about Ted, and he turned out to be one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”

Even after Fonda and Turner parted ways, she still considered him and his five children family and even referred to them as her brothers and sisters.

Despite being Black, Williams said she never felt singled out or treated differently by her family with Fonda and Turner.

The Only Black in the Family

Williams said her race was never treated as an issue within the family, and her siblings saw her no differently because she was African-American. However, she shared the difficulty she had elsewhere:

“Sometimes, it was incredibly easy, and sometimes not. I think the most difficult part was living in Atlanta, which I didn’t like very much. I felt the most discrimination coming from other blacks.”

When Fonda welcomed Williams into the family, her son, Garity, who was then 12-years-old, was happy that he had someone whom he connected with.

Troy later said he thought it was “cool” that Williams, who was a teenager then, always listened to him. He never saw anything unusual about her joining the family.

How Jane Fonda and Mary Williams Changed Each Other’s Lives

Williams came from a low-income neighborhood and met the actress in camp, where Fonda noticed the teen distancing herself from the other campers.

When she saw that Williams‘ grades were dropping, the “Monster-In-Law’ star decided to invite the teen home until eventually adopting her.

While there’s much for Mary Williams to be thankful for, Fonda said in the interview that she’s likewise grateful for her daughter, who helped her “become whole.” The actress learned a lot from Williams through the years they spent together and learned to love her as her own.

These stories showed the close family bond Fonda and Turner built over the years. Now, Turner is being remembered not only for his media empire but also for the impact he had on those closest to him.