Jane Fonda to be honoured with AFI film award

Fonda turned fitness guru in the 1980s, selling millions of copies of The Jane Fonda Workout

Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda is to be recognised with the American Film Institute's lifetime achievement award.

She follows in the footsteps of her father, Henry Fonda, who was handed the AFI's highest honour in 1978.

Fonda has made more than 40 films, winning Academy Awards for both Klute in 1971 and 1978's Coming Home.

She returned to acting in 2005 after a 15-year hiatus and has recently been seen in HBO drama The Newsroom and as Nancy Regan in Lee Daniels' The Butler.

"Jane Fonda is American film royalty," said chair of the AFI board, Howard Stringer, in a statement.

"A bright light first introduced to the world as the daughter of Henry Fonda, the world watched as she found her own voice and forged her own path as an actor and a cultural icon.

"Today she stands tall among the giants of American film."

Off screen Fonda is well known as a political activist, protesting against the war in Vietnam in the 1970s, and campaigning for other causes such as equal rights and the environment.

The actress was also a prominent figure in the aerobics craze of the 1980s, releasing two dozen workout videos and numerous books.

She received an Emmy nomination earlier this year for her role as Leona Lansing in Aaron Sorkin drama The Newsroom, which also stars Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer.

Her autobiography, My Life So Far, topped the New York Times bestseller list.

The Fondas are the first father and daughter to both be recognised by the AFI, although several other families have received double honours, including father and son Kirk and Michael Douglas and brother and sister Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine.

Fonda made her film debut in 1960 comedy Tall Story but it was her performance in 1969 depression-era drama They Shoot Horses, Don't They? that earned her her first Oscar nomination.

The actress, whose other film credits include Barbarella, The China Syndrome and The Morning After, will be presented with the honour at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles next year.