A walk on the wild side.
Jane Fonda once scared off a bear that was sniffing around her grandson’s crib before it left a memento of its visit.
The “Grace & Frankie” star‘s son, Troy O’Donovan Garity, revealed the simultaneously scary and sidesplitting story while appearing alongside his famous mom on Tuesday’s episode of Netflix’s “Skip Intro” podcast.
Asked by host Krista Smith what he could tell the world that they don’t already know about Fonda, 87, the 51-year-old actor, whom Fonda shared with late ex-husband Tom Hayden, replied, “She pushed a bear out of her bedroom.”
The “Monster-in-Law” star smiled as she gave a confirmatory nod.
“She was living in New Mexico, out in the wild…ish. And she was [taking] care, or looking after her grandson, who is in a crib in the bedroom,” Garity said, referring to Fonda’s now 25-year-old grandson Malcolm Vadim.
“She heard something so she left the bedroom in the middle of the night to go see what the sound was. And when she came back in, the screen door was dismantled and there was a bear in the bedroom, sniffing over the crib.”
A stunned Smith then asked Fonda, “What did you do?”
“Go ahead!” Garity urged his mom, who then let out a giant roar as she raised her arms to look larger.
All three laughed at Fonda’s outburst, with Garity apologizing to the “sound man” in the control booth.
“I had just learned what to do if you’re close to a bear. And that was it,” Fonda said, referring to her roar. “And get very big; I opened my bathrobe.”
Though she scared the animal way from the crib of her then-infant grandson, the bear didn’t leave right away.
“The bear urinated on the rug,” Fonda said. “And then walked back to the door and sat down and I did, I pushed it out, yeah.”
The actress recently accepted SAG-AFTRA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 SAG Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 23. Garity was by his mother’s side as she took home the honor.
A mother of three, the actress also has two daughters — Vanessa, 56, whom she shares with late ex-husband Roger Vadim, and daughter Mary Luana Williams, 57 -— and one son, Garity.
In addition to Malcom, Fonda has a granddaughter, Max’s sister Viva Vadim, 22, who attended the TIME Earth Awards Gala in New York City alongside her famous grandmother.
