Claim: Jane Fonda is an actress.

Julia is a 1977 American drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann , from a screenplay by Alvin Sargent . It is based on Lillian Hellman 's book Pentimento . A chapter of Pentimento tells the story of her relationship with a lifelong friend , `` Julia , '' who fought against the Nazis in the years prior to World War II . Hellman said the story was true , but critics have challenged its accuracy . The film in DeLuxe Color was produced by Richard Roth , with Julien Derode as executive producer and Tom Pevsner as associate producer .   Julia was received positively from the critics and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards , including Best Picture , Best Director for Fred Zinnemann and Best Actress for Jane Fonda . It ended up winning three awards , Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards , Best Supporting Actress for Vanessa Redgrave , and Best Adapted Screenplay for Alvin Sargent 's script . Julia was the first film to win both supporting actor categories since The Last Picture Show six years earlier in 1971 , and would be followed by Hannah and Her Sisters nine years later in 1986 .