Jane Fonda’s Ex-husband Ted Turner Became a ‘True Father’ to Her Adopted Daughter Mary

When Jane Fonda welcomed Mary Williams into their lives, her son didn’t see her as any different, and neither did her ex-husband Ted Turner, who became the teen’s father figure.

After her divorce with her second husband, Jane Fonda started dating billionaire Ted Turner for two years and got married on the actress’s 34th birthday.

Fonda then already had two kids, a son Troy Garity and an adopted African-American daughter Mary Williams, who saw Turner as a “True Father.”

TED THE FATHER FIGURE

Turner had five children from his previous marriages but accepted Williams like his own. Since then, she considered 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 separated, she still considered him and his five children as family, and even calls them brother and sister.

Despite being different in color, Williams never felt singled out nor treated any differently by her family with Fonda and Turner.

Garity never saw anything unusual with their relationship nor with her joining the family.

THE ONLY BLACK IN THE FAMILY

Being African-American may have never been a problem for Williams in her family as her siblings never thought of her race as being anything other than a race.

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

In fact, he found it “cool” that Williams, who was then a teen, always listened to him. Garity never saw anything unusual with their relationship nor with her joining the family.

WILLIAMS HELPS FONDA

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 is much Williams is thankful for, Fonda is likewise grateful for her daughter who helped her “become whole.”

The actresses learned a lot from Williams through the years they spent together and learned to love her as her own.