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\n\tJane Fonda came to open the 17th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival Thursday night at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, but her purpose was to honor her late co-star Robert Redford. The fest chose to open this year\u2019s four day splash of cherished movies from the past with her 1967 Neil Simon comedy with Redford, <\/em>preceded by an on stage conversation with Fonda and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. She wasted no time confessing that she was smitten with Redford right from the start when they met for the first time and made 1966\u2019s The Chase. <\/em>\u201cI met him on The Chase<\/em> and we were both married, and I asked him, \u2018do you ever have affairs?\u2019, and he said, \u2018well if I was gonna have an affair it would be with somebody like a hooker\u2019.\u00a0 We actually bonded over the film. I think The Chase <\/em>maybe was his first movie,\u201d she said. On Barefoot <\/em>she had total recall of certain scenes in the bedroom. \u201c\u2019I remember being in the bed and he would rub up against me. I had such a crush on him, it was painful,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\tFonda may not realize it but actually, <\/em>according to iMDB, Redford\u2019s first <\/em>feature film was an uncredited role as a basketball player in 1960\u2019s Tall Story <\/em>which just happened to be the leading movie debut of none other than Jane Fonda and he made a few other films before finally formally meeting Fonda on the set of The Chase <\/em>which starred Marlon Brando. The next year in 1967 they reteamed in Barefoot In The Park. <\/em>\u201cHe wasn\u2019t a big star then. We made the movie on the Paramount lot and I remember walking \u00a0down the corridor and I noticed every secretary ogling him and thinking. \u2018He\u2019s gonna be a big star!\u2019,\u201d she recalled. \u00a0\u201cHe was the most gorgeous human being I have ever met. He was really smart, and really funny. He loved practical jokes.\u00a0 He was reckless also, not so<\/em> reckless that he would have an affair with me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFonda talked about her deep admiration for what he accomplished in his career, particularly in starting Sundance and providing a haven for future filmmakers. .\u00a0 \u201cHe could have built an empire and instead he built a nest for artists.\u00a0 He could have asked Hollywood for money and he never did . He paid out of his own pocket every year,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \n\tFonda did note it wasn\u2019t always idyllic making movies with Redford. She said he was chronically two or three hours late all the time. On their 1978 film, The Electric Horseman <\/em>she said that bad habit sent the movie\u2019s planned two month shoot into six months. On their fourth and final co-starring film, 2017\u2019s Our Souls At Night, <\/em>she was a bit less forgiving. \u201cI knew I had grown up because when he would show up two hours late and I got angry,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n \n\tBut tardiness aside, Fonda still has a crush on the guy as evidenced all the way up to this year\u2019s Oscar show and In Memoriam tribute to Redford with his The Way We Were <\/em>co-star Barbra Streisand getting that spotlight to honor him and share memories. \u201cI did four movies with him and I would have done a lot more if I had the chance.. I loved him and I deeply respected him.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t ask me to do the Oscars,\u201d she lamented. \u201cBy the way Barbra came on to honor Bob, and I was on the press line and thought I was being funny and said, \u2018well why did they ask her<\/em> when I made four<\/em> movies with him\u2019, but actually<\/em> I thought it was fabulous that they had Barbra out there because that was such an iconic movie\u00a0 and the song is so incredibly beautiful. Bob would have liked it. \u201c Fonda mentioned also her personal favorite Redford movie is The Way We Were, <\/em>and also The Natural. <\/em>\u201cI hated it when he kissed Glenn Close!,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\tInvoking Redford\u2019s name, Fonda also didn\u2019t mince words when mentioning the current planned takeover of Warner Bros by Paramount, the very studio for which she and Redford made Barefoot In The Park. <\/em>\u201cHe mattered. When\u00a0 I look at what\u2019s \u00a0happening to the town. When I look at the impending merger for example, if that goes through we are going to lose what we are trying to do. We have to fight. I want to fight in the spirit of Robert Redford. \u201c<\/p>\n \n\tThe TCM Classic Film Festival continues all this weekend through Sunday. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n