Politicising stardom: Jane Fonda, IPC Films and Hollywood, 1977-1982 Rafferty, James Michael The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/675 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact
[email protected] 1 Politicising Stardom: Jane Fonda, IPC Films and Hollywood, 1977-1982 James Michael Rafferty Queen Mary, University of London Thesis submitted for the qualification of Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) 2 Abstract This thesis is an empirical analysis of Jane Fonda’s films, stardom, and political activism during the most commercially successful period of her career. At the outset, Fonda’s early stardom is situated in relation to contemporaneous moral and political ideologies in the United States and how she functioned as both an agent and symbol of these ideologies. Her anti-war activism in the early-1970s constituted the apex of Fonda’s radicalisation and the nadir of her popular appeal; a central question of this thesis, therefore, is how her stardom was rehabilitated for the American mainstream to the point of becoming Hollywood’s most bankable actress. As the star and producer of IPC Films, Fonda developed political projects using commercial formats, namely Coming Home (1978), The China Syndrome (1979), Nine to Five (1980), and Rollover (1981).