Known For
Acting
Born
May 16, 1905
Died
Aug 12, 1982
Place of Birth
Grand Island, Nebraska, USA
Credits
199 titles
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.
Known For
Filmography
Henry Fonda for President
Self (archive footage)
The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Citizen Jane Fonda
Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth
Self(archive footage)
'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War
Self (archive footage)
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Spanish Western
Self (archive footage)
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Self (archive footage)
John Ford & Monument Valley
Self (archive footage)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men'
Self (archive footage)
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Self (archive footage)
Sacco and Vanzetti
Prof. Tommy Turner (archive footage)
Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'The Wrong Man'
Self (archive footage)
Something to Do with Death
Self (archive footage)
The Wages of Sin
Self (archive footage)
An Opera of Violence
Self - Actor (archive footage)
The Making of Midway
Self
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
(archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Self (archive footage)
Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero
Self (archive footage)
La Classe américaine
Hugues (archive footage)
Fonda on Fonda
Self (archive footage)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Self (archive footage)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
(archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
Let Poland Be Poland
Self
Summer Solstice
Joshua
On Golden Pond
Norman Thayer Jr.
The Greatest Man in the World
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
Gideon's Trumpet
Clarence Earl Gideon
The Oldest Living Graduate
Col. J.C. Kincaid
Barn Burning
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
Paul's Case
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
The Golden Honeymoon
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
Self (archive footage)
The Sky Is Gray
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
Rappaccini's Daughter
Self - Series Host (uncredited)
Meteor
The President
City on Fire
Fire Chief Risley
The Man Who Loved Bears
Self
Wanda Nevada
Old Prospector
Roots: The Next Generations
Colonel Frederick Warner
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
Self
Fedora
President of the Academy
The Swarm
Dr. Walter Krim