Bridget Fonda is the daughter of Peter Fonda, the granddaughter of Henry Fonda, and the niece of Jane Fonda, so it only seemed natural that she would become an actor. She started appearing on stage as a girl and appeared in “Easy Rider” with her father when she was only five years old.
Fonda would go on to study method acting at the famed Lee Strassberg Theater. She started appearing in films only two years after graduating at NYU. Acting was in her blood and it seemed like she never considered doing anything else. From 1988 to 2002, Fonda appeared in dozens of high-profile Hollywood films, and was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy. She retired unexpectedly in 2002 and hasn’t been seen on screen since. Throughout the 1990s, however, Fonda was something of a cinematic “It” girl, appearing in raucous comedies, dramatic indies, intense crime films, and a few of Sam Raimi’s productions.
Why did she retire? It was largely because she wanted to spend more time with her family and her then new husband, legendary film composer Danny Elfman (whom she married in 2003). That same year, she also suffered a serious spinal injury in a car accident and likely wanted some time to recover. Rather than work her way back into the Hollywood pantheon, Fonda took some time for herself.
Her career in the 1990s, however, is enviable and impressive.