--- title: Jane Fonda As Barbarella: Photos From the Set of a Camp Classic description: Pictures — many of which were not published in LIFE magazine — made on the set of the 1968 sci-fi camp classic by Carlo Bavagnoli canonical: https://time.com/3634395/life-with-jane-fonda-behind-the-scenes-on-the-camp-classic-barbarella/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-12-20T20:27:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:40.363Z og:title: LIFE With Jane Fonda: Behind the Scenes on the Camp Classic, 'Barbarella' og:description: LIFE.com presents a series of pictures — many of which were not published in LIFE — made on the set of the 1968 sci-fi camp classic by Carlo Bavagnoli og:url: https://time.com/3634395/life-with-jane-fonda-behind-the-scenes-on-the-camp-classic-barbarella/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83826ad12844b026/69876edacd6848018f098a03/141215-jane-fonda-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Jane Fonda as Barbarella, 1968 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: LIFE With Jane Fonda: Behind the Scenes on the Camp Classic, 'Barbarella' twitter:description: LIFE.com presents a series of pictures — many of which were not published in LIFE — made on the set of the 1968 sci-fi camp classic by Carlo Bavagnoli twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83826ad12844b026/69876edacd6848018f098a03/141215-jane-fonda-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE With Jane Fonda: Behind the Scenes on the Camp Classic, 'Barbarella' > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=e423b0a4-ddff-4ab7-8876-24d3c89fd7c0&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=e423b0a4-ddff-4ab7-8876-24d3c89fd7c0&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Dec 20, 2012 8:27 PM UTC  Jane Fonda on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Jane Fonda on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Dec 20, 2012 8:27 PM UTC The list of movies that were dismissed by critics — or that simply bombed at the box office — when first released, only to enjoy a renaissance and renewed appreciation after years of neglect, is as long as it is distinguished. _The Wizard of Oz_, _Blade Runner_ and _It’s a Wonderful Life_ are just a few of the now-celebrated films that looked, on their first go ’round, like they were doomed to eternal obscurity. And then there are movies like _Barbarella_. While the 1968 psychedelic-sci-fi-meets-soft-porn marvel doesn’t quite warrant the accolades accorded to genuine classics, it still has aged rather well for such a bizarre creation. No one in his or her right mind would ever call it _great_; but 45 years after it was unleashed on a head-scratching public, _Barbarella_ feels like a movie that, if released today, might well garner raves for its garish retro stylings, or its warm evocation of late Sixties camp. Or something. Love it or like it — very few people would admit actively hating it — _Barbarella_ will probably last forever as a pop-culture curiosity not because it’s a misunderstood _auteur_ gem, or because it was ahead of its time, but for one reason and one reason only: Jane Fonda. Playing a 41st-century “astronautical aviatrix” and “Queen of the Galaxy,” the 30-year-old Fonda gives a playful, sexy and self-possessed performance in the movie — in short, she appears to be having fun in the singularly absurd role, with its even more absurd outfits and preposterous plot twists. (In the future, it seems, clothing will be revealing, uncomfortable and, more often than not, made of hard plastic, while mad villains will occasionally attempt to vanquish their enemies via mechanically induced and literally heart-stopping orgasms.) Here, LIFE.com presents a series of pictures — many of which were not published in LIFE — made on the set of _Barbarella_ by Carlo Bavagnoli. Here is Henry Fonda’s precocious daughter, all grown up, married to _Barbarella_‘s director, Roger Vadim, and photographed at a pivotal point in her already remarkable career. By 1968, after all, she had starred in well-received comedies like _Cat Ballou_ (in the title role) and _Barefoot in the Park_, with Robert Redford. Within a few short years she would be winning major screen honors — for example, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for _They Shoot Horses Don’t They_ (1969) and for _Klute_ (1971). For the latter, of course, she would also earn the first of her two Best Actress Oscars. After Barbarella, Fonda would become a political lightning rod for her anti-Vietnam activism; she would earn the enduring enmity of countless veterans with a hugely controversial trip to Vietnam in 1972 that earned her the nickname (or badge of dishonor, depending on one’s perspective), “Hanoi Jane”; she would marry the prominent Sixties political activist Tom Hayden and, years later, “Captain Outrageous” himself, Ted Turner; she would, late in life, become a Christian; she would remain, always, a vocal advocate for progressive causes. She would, in short, lead (and she continues to lead) an absolutely amazing American life. _Barbarella_, meanwhile, continues to lead its own only slightly less amazing life, as a cult classic and a prime example of a genre that, alas, has seen far too few entries of late: namely, futuristic goofball erotica. It might not have won its young star any awards, but all these years later, people still watch it, and many of those fans genuinely, without a trace of irony, enjoy it. And there’s nothing wrong with that.  Cover image from the March 29, 1968, issue of LIFE. Jane Fonda in the title role of the movie, Barbarella. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  The set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda at the mercy of the evil Durand-Durand (Milo O'Shea) in the "excessive machine" on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda ensconced in the "excessive machine" on the set of Barbarella, 1968\. At right is her husband, the director Roger Vadim. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda and her husband, the director Roger Vadim, on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda and her husband, the director Roger Vadim, on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda (in white) and other cast members on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda and Milo O'Shea (as Durand-Durand) on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda on the set of Barbarella, 1968. Carlo Bavagnoli—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jane Fonda on the set of Barbarella, 1968. 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