Judy Bernly

Judy Bernly was a fictional character in the movie Nine to Five as well as the short-lived television series of the same name. In the movie, she was played by Jane Fonda and in the television series, she was played by Valerie Curtin. Ironically, Jane Fonda also helped produce the early seasons of the TV series, and played a security guard, named O'Neill, as well.

Character

A college graduate, Judy Bernly was also a recent divorcee, her husband, Dick Radman (Lawrence Pressman), had divorced her after he had an affair with his secretary, Liza; and having just moved to a new apartment, desperately needed a job. She joined Consolidated Companies working in the same section as Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin) who became one of her best friends. She also made friends with several of her office mates, namely a nice woman in her section named Maria Del Gado, who helped her get used to the harshness of office life.

At first, she wasn't used to being around Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton), the secretary of her boss, Franklin Hart, Jr (Dabney Coleman), because of what was rumored that she had been doing, because it reminded her all too clearly about Dick and Liza, but in time, she became a friend to her as well. The tyrannical Hart, however, scared Judy to death, ranting and raving at her for what he thought was not handling a copier properly.

Later, during a pot party at Doralee's house, she thought of doing him in, in the style of a big game hunter, after he fired her friend Maria for what seemed to be a real petty reason. She had talked about how low she (Maria) had been paid, and made estimates of both Hart's salary and Rosalind "Roz" Keith's (Elizabeth Wilson) salary, which, supposedly, was much higher.

She helped Violet and Doralee try to prove embezzlement charges against her boss, while at the same time, her husband tried to get her back, but he failed, after they had a very huge argument and the newly empowered Judy told him "Hit the road, Buster, this is where you get off!"

At the film's end, Judy became one of the three bosses, after Hart had been reassigned to Brazil, and she fell in love and married the Xerox representative. As played by Valerie Curtin, Judy was a bit more scatterbrained and somewhat klutzy.