Mary Williams on Being Invited to Live with Jane Fonda: "She Threw Me a Lifeline"

In 1979, Oscar®-winning actress Jane Fonda met a teenager named Mary Williams at her performing arts camp. Mary lived in a rough part of Oakland, California, and was being raised as one of six children by her mother in a single-parent home after Mary's father had been incarcerated. At camp, Jane and Mary took an immediate liking to one another. Four years after they met, Jane invited Mary into her home and offered Mary a future she could never dream of. Mary says Jane's invitation was a "lifeline" during a traumatic part of her life. Watch as Mary opens up about surviving sexual assault as a teenager—and the light that helped her through.