Jane Fonda leads tributes for ex-husband Ted Turner, dead at 87

Jane Fonda has paid tribute to her ex-husband Ted Turner.

The CNN founder died at the age of 87 on Wednesday, surrounded by family, according to a release from Turner Enterprises.

Fonda, who was married to the media mogul from 1991 to 2001, took to Instagram to share a lengthy statement.

"He swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate, and I've never been the same," she began.

"He needed me. No one had ever let me know they needed me, and this wasn't your average human being that needed me; this was the creator of CNN, and Turner Classic Movies, who had won the America's Cup as the world's greatest sailor. He had a big life, a brilliant mind and a soaring sense of humour."

Fonda went on to praise his skills around hunting, fishing and sailing, and his legendary business acumen.

"He taught me more than any other person or school classes. He could see around corners for sure," she shared. "Next to Katharine Hepburn, Ted was the most competitive person I have ever met, and that was fascinating to witness."

Turner was well known for his conservation work. As one of the largest private landowners in the US, he was dedicated to ecological restoration and wildlife preservation.

"I loved Ted with all my heart. I see him in heaven now with all the wildlife he helped bring back from extinction," Fonda wrote. "The black-footed ferrets, the prairie dogs, the big-horned sheep, Mexican Gray Wolf, the Yellowstone wolf pack, bison, the red woodpecker and so many more. They're all gathered at the pearly gates, applauding and thanking him for saving their species."

Fonda married Turner shortly after her marriage to social activist Tom Hayden ended in 1990. Despite their divorce 10 years later, they maintained a close friendship, and she often referred to him as her "favourite ex-husband", of which she had three, including Hayden and director Roger Vadim.

Turner revealed he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a degenerative nerve disease, about eight years ago.