Henry Fonda
Biography
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor who had a career that spanned five decades in Hollywood. Fonda cultivated a strong, appealing screen image in several films now considered to be classics, earning one Academy Award for Best Actor on two nominations. Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor and made his Hollywood film debut in 1935. His film career began to gain momentum with roles such as Bette Davis's fiancee in her Academy Award-winning performance in Jezebel (1938), brother Frank in Jesse James (1939), and the future President in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), directed by John Ford. His early career peaked with his Academy Award-nominated performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, about an Oklahoma family who moved to California during the Dust Bowl 1930s. This film is widely considered to be among the greatest American films. In 1941 he starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the screwball comedy classic The Lady Eve. Book-ending his service in WWII were his starring roles in two highly regarded westerns: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and My Darling Clementine (1946), the latter directed by John Ford, and he also starred in Ford's western Fort Apache (1948). After a seven-year break from films, during which Fonda focused on stage productions, he returned with the WWII war-boat ensemble Mister Roberts (1955). In 1957 he starred as Juror No.8, the hold-out juror, in 12 Angry Men. Fonda, who was also co-producer, won the BAFTA for Best Foreign Actor. Later in his career, Fonda moved into darker roles, such as the villain in the epic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), underrated and a box office disappointment at its time of release, but now regarded as one of the best westerns of all time. He also played in lighter-hearted fare such as Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball, but also often played important military figures, such as a Colonel in Battle of the Bulge (1965), and Admiral Nimitz in Midway (1976). He finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 54th Academy Awards for his final film role in On Golden Pond (1981), which also starred Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane Fonda, but was too ill to attend the ceremony. He died from heart disease a few months later.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (48)
Henry Fonda for President
as Self (archive footage)
2025
The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
2023
'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War
as Self (archive footage)
2020
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
2019
Spanish Western
as Self (archive footage)
2015
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage)
2013
John Ford & Monument Valley
as Self (archive footage)
2013
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men'
as Self (archive footage)
2008
Jezebel: Legend of the South
as Self (archive footage)
2006
Sacco and Vanzetti
as Prof. Tommy Turner (archive footage)
2006
Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'The Wrong Man'
as Self (archive footage)
2004
The Wages of Sin
as Self (archive footage)
2003
Something to Do with Death
as Self (archive footage)
2003
An Opera of Violence
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
2003
Revisiting 'Fail-Safe'
as Self (archive footage)
2000
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
as (archive footage)
1999
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
as Self (archive footage)
1997
Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero
as Self (archive footage)
1997
La Classe américaine
as Hugues (archive footage)
1993
Fonda on Fonda
as Self (archive footage)
1992
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
as Self (archive footage)
1991
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
as (archive footage)
1990
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
as Self (archive footage)
1988
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
1984
Let Poland Be Poland
as Self
1982
Summer Solstice
as Joshua
1981
On Golden Pond
as Norman Thayer Jr.
1981
The Greatest Man in the World
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1981
Gideon's Trumpet
as Clarence Earl Gideon
1980
The Oldest Living Graduate
as Col. J.C. Kincaid
1980
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1980
Barn Burning
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1980
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1980
Paul's Case
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1980
The Golden Honeymoon
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1980
The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
as Self (archive footage)
1980
Rappaccini's Daughter
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1980
The Sky Is Gray
as Self - Series Host (uncredited)
1980
Meteor
as The President
1979
City on Fire
as Fire Chief Risley
1979
The Man Who Loved Bears
as Self
1979
Wanda Nevada
as Old Prospector
1979
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
as Self
1978
Fedora
as President of the Academy
1978
The Swarm
as Dr. Walter Krim
1978
The Great Smokey Roadblock
as Elegant John
1978
Home to Stay
as Grandpa George
1978
