Background

Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska, on May 16, 1905. He was the oldest of three children, born to William Brace Fonda and his wife, Herberta (nee Jaynes). William Fonda worked as a printer. When Fonda was still an infant, the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where his father opened a print shop.

Education

Fonda was a bashful, short boy who tended to avoid girls, except his sisters, and was a good skater, swimmer, and runner. As a child, Fonda liked to write, winning a short story contest when he was ten years old. He also enjoyed drawing.

He worked part-time in his father's print plant and imagined a possible career as a journalist. After graduating from Omaha Central High School in 1923, Fonda entered the University of Minnesota to study journalism. William Fonda insisted that his son hold a job while in college, and Fonda held two. He worked as a physical education instructor at a settlement house and for the telephone company. The strain of maintaining two jobs may have contributed to Fonda's dropping out of school after about two years.

Career

In 1925, Fonda returned to Omaha, to look for a job in journalism. A friend of his mother, Dorothy Brando (mother of famous American actor Marlon Brando), offered him a chance to audition for a part at the Omaha Community Playhouse. Dorothy Brando was an amateur actress and very involved with the group. Despite his inexperience, Fonda was cast as Ricky in You and I. Though initially unsure of himself, Fonda grew to love the experience. Soon he was spending a significant amount of time at the Playhouse, performing odd jobs such as ushering and set building.

Fonda's father did not approve of his son's new career choice. He made Fonda take a job as a clerk in a credit company to support himself. Still, Fonda was cast in the lead role of Merton of the Movies at the Playhouse in 1926 or 1927. When William Fonda attended a performance, he recognized his son's talent. Fonda got an early break in 1927 when he wrote a sketch for George Billings, a leading impersonator of former president Abraham Lincoln. The sketch featured a role for Fonda as Lincoln's secretary. He toured on the vaudeville circuit with Billings for three months. When he returned to Omaha at the end of the tour, Fonda became the assistant director at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

In 1928, Fonda moved to New York City to pursue a professional acting career. That summer, he worked in summer stock at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts. He was the third assistant stage manager and had several small roles. Fonda began an association with the University Players Guild, based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. He spent the next four summers (and one-year-long season in Baltimore, Maryland) appearing in a number of University Players productions, first in smaller roles, then in bigger ones. Not all were successes. Fonda's role as the dumb boxer in Is Zat So? was critically panned. As he had done in Omaha, Fonda performed other tasks for the Guild, including setting up the lighting and building and painting sets.

Fonda's first appearance on Broadway was a small walk-on role in the 1929 production of The Game of Life and Death. The production closed after six weeks, and it would take several years for Fonda to establish himself in New York City. In addition to his summer work with the University Players Guild, Fonda appeared in many productions of the National Junior Theatre in Washington, D.C. He appeared in many productions in 1929 through 1931, including a stint as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.

By the early 1930s, Fonda appeared more regularly in productions in New York City. In 1932, for example, he played Eustace in I Loved You Wednesday. Critics began noticing Fonda in 1934 when he appeared in the revue New Faces, doing comic sketches with actress Imogene Coca. Through his work in summer stock, Fonda got a big break later in 1934 when he was cast as the farmer, Dan Harrow, in The Farmer Takes a Wife. After a run in Washington D.C., the play moved to New York City, where it was critically and commercially acclaimed. Producer, Walter Wanger offered Fonda a film contract. Although Fonda demanded $1000 per week, Wanger agreed to the terms. Instead of jumping immediately to films, Fonda appeared in the Broadway play All Good Americans.

In 1935, Fonda made his film debut in The Farmer Takes a Wife, opposite co-star Janet Gaynor. Though he had created the role on stage, Fonda was not the first choice for the screen version. His work garnered widespread critical attention. Fonda immediately began making American epic-type films including The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936) and was a recognized film star. Despite his Hollywood success, Fonda continued to appear both in films and in theater in New York City.

In 1939, Fonda's first film with director John Ford, Young Mr. Lincoln, received much acclaim. This marked the beginning of a fruitful creative association. Fonda appeared in many of Ford's films, as did another screen legend, John Wayne. After the pair made Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Ford was eager to cast him as Tom Joad in a 1940 screen version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. To secure the role, however, Fonda had to sign a seven-year deal with 20th Century-Fox. The result was one of Fonda's best performances, one that cemented his reputation for emotionally honest and powerful acting. Unfortunately, the contract also meant that Fonda was forced to take roles he probably would not have agreed to otherwise. For example, he appeared in the 1941 comedy, Lady Eve. While he did receive some praise for this work, the genre as a whole was not his strong suit.

In the early 1940s, during the onset of American involvement in World War II, Fonda wanted to serve in the military. The head of 20th-Century Fox, Darryl Zanuck, worked behind the scenes to ensure this did not happen. After Fonda completed The Immortal Sergeant and The Ox-Bow Incident in 1942, he volunteered for the United States Navy, though he was exempt from serving. Fonda worked in operations and air combat intelligence. Before his discharge in 1945, Fonda reached the rank of lieutenant.

After his tour of duty was ended, Fonda briefly returned to film before concentrating on theater. After his calmly valiant turn as Wyatt Earp in John Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946), Fonda appeared in Ford's Fort Apache (1948). Fonda's role in Fort Apache showed a different side to his acting abilities: his character was darker, meaner, and a bit stuffy. It was his last starring film role for seven years.

In 1948, Fonda returned to Broadway and starred in Mister Roberts. He did not miss any of the long-running show's 1077 performances, and later claimed that this was one of his favorite roles. Fonda was praised for his accomplishments, receiving critical acclaim for his genuine performances. He later recreated the role on a national tour.

While Fonda continued to appear on Broadway in the 1950s, in such plays as Point of No Return (1951) and The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1953), he also returned to film. His first project was a film version of Mister Roberts (1955). This was the last collaboration between Fonda and John Ford, who took over the directorial helm at Fonda's request. However, they had completely opposite opinions on interpretation, which resulted in physical clashes. Ford became ill and was unable to complete the work, so Mervyn Le Roy took over as director. Still, Fonda was never happy with the way the film turned out.

Fonda had mixed success with films throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Though many critics believed that he was miscast as Pierre, others praise his work in War and Peace (1956). The only time Fonda acted as a film producer was for 1957's Twelve Angry Men, in which he also had a starring role as the juror who saves the life of the accused man. He played political roles in several movies in the early 1960s, including a turn as the president of the United States in Fail-Safe (1963). Fonda continued to explore his dark side by playing villains several times, primarily in westerns such as Firecreek (1968) and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1969).

Professionally, Fonda concentrated on theater and television. In 1959, he was the co-producer and star of the short-lived series The Deputy. In 1962, he returned to Broadway to appear in A Gift of Time with Olivia De Havilland. Fonda took a second try at a television series in 1971-72 as the patriarch of The Smith Family. One of Fonda's last major theater roles was as Clarence Darrow in a one-man show. From 1974 until 1975, Fonda appeared in this role on Broadway and on a national tour. Before one performance, he collapsed backstage and was forced to have a pacemaker installed on his heart. This marked the beginning of frequent health problems. Despite frequent hospitalization, Fonda continued to work.

Fonda's last film role was one of his most memorable and acclaimed. In 1981, he appeared in On Golden Pond as an irascible old professor reflecting on his life, trying to make peace with his daughter (played by Fonda's daughter Jane), and face his own fears about death. Fonda won his only Academy Award for this role, a short time before his death. He died of heart failure on August 12, 1982, in Los Angeles, California. He was 77 years old.

Achievements

• A star of both stage and screen for more than 50 years, Henry Fonda was known for portraying the average "every man" with sincerity, integrity, and decency. Nicknamed ‘One Take Fonda’ he soon became one of America’s greatest stars and in a career that lasted for almost five decades he acted in 106 films, TV shows and shorts. In 1999, he was named the sixth-Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.
  
  Fonda won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 54th Academy Awards for the movie On Golden Pond, his final film role.
  
  For his heroism during World War II, Fonda was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Navy Presidential Unit Citation.
  
  

Works

More photos

• book

  • Fonda: My Life 1982

• movie

  • Mister Roberts 1955
  • Gideon's Trumpet 1980
  • The Oldest Living Graduate 1980
  • Spencer's Mountain 1963
  • Battle of the Bulge 1965
  • Fail Safe 1964
  • Young Mr. Lincoln 1939
  • The Return of Frank James 1940
  • The Grapes of Wrath 1940
  • The Biggest Battle 1978
  • On Golden Pond 1981
  • Welcome to Hard Times 1967
  • Midway 1976
  • Almos' a Man 1976
  • The Cheyenne Social Club 1970
  • Sometimes a Great Notion 1971
  • Soldier's Home 1977
  • The Ox-Bow Incident 1943
  • The Longest Day 1962
  • The Greatest Man in the World 1980
  • In Harm's Way 1965
  • Firecreek 1968
  • Warlock 1959
  • How the West Was Won 1962
  • The Boston Strangler 1968
  • War and Peace 1956
  • Blockade 1938
  • Male Animal 1942
  • Fort Apache 1948
  • The Fugitive 1947
  • 12 Angry Men 1957
  • You Only Live Once 1937
  • The Lady Eve 1941
  • My Name is Nobody 1973
  • Yours, Mine & Ours 1968
  • Wanda Nevada 1979
  • Jesse James 1939
  • The Big Street 1942
  • Jezebel 1938
  • The Swarm 1978
  • Slim 1937

Religion

Fonda was brought up as a Christian Scientist, though he was baptized an Episcopalian at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Grand Island. Despite having a religious background, he later became an agnostic.

Politics

Fonda was an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party and "an admirer" of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1960, Fonda appeared in a campaign commercial for presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. The ad focused on Kennedy's naval service during World War II, specifically the famous PT-109 incident.

Views

Quotations: "I'd just as soon not get into a discussion about Jane and her politics. I'd just as soon stick to what we're here for, the picture."

"No one could have nicer sisters. No sibling problems there."

"I must have had faith that day. When I went out, I was Henry Fonda again. An unemployed actor but a man."

"My whole damn family was nice. I don't think I've imagined it. It's true. Maybe it has to do with being brought up as Christian Scientists. Half of my relatives were Readers or Practitioners in the church."

"I found myself facing a Christian Science Reading Room. My God! It had been eight years. There had never been any renunciation of religion on my part, but like so many people, it was a gradual fading away."

"I've been close to Bette Davis for thirty-eight years - and I have the cigarette burns to prove it."

"My thinking was scrambled when Sullivan and I separated. Something happened to me that had never happend before. I couldn't cope. It was heartbreak time. I thought it was the end of the world."

"I don't know what was in his mind, but I do know Ford was stricken by what he had done, by hitting me."

"For me, college wasn't a breeze. I had 8 o'clock classes, I worked from 3 to 11 at the Settlement House. On weekends, if Northwestern Bell needed me, I'd troubleshoot for them, and I had a steady girl. God!"

"Ford didn't know what to do with Mister Roberts that wasn't repeating what was successful in New York. He was trying to do things to the play that would be his in the film."

Personality

During his heyday in Hollywood, Henry Fonda was known as a "ladies man." He had a reputation for having multiple affairs with several different actresses. Fonda liked to paint (primarily landscapes and still lifes), pursuing it as a hobby for the rest of his life.

Henry Fonda was known for making model airplanes as a hobby. He also enjoyed making kites. The strangest hobby that Henry Fonda was said to take part in was beekeeping.

Physical Characteristics: Initially, Henry was a short shy boy keenly interested in boys scouting; but avoided girls as much as he could. Towards the end of his school years he suddenly grew tall and handsome.

Quotes from others about the person

• Andre Sennwald of The New York Times: "Mr. Fonda, in his film debut, is the bright particular star of the occasion. As the virtuous farm boy, he plays with an immensely winning simplicity which will quickly make him one of our most attractive film actors."
  
  Vincent Canby of The New York Times: "Mr. Fonda gives one of the great performances of his long, truly distinguished career. Here is film acting of the highest order—As you watch him in On Golden Pond, you're seeing the intelligence, force and grace of a talent that has been maturing on screen for almost 50 years."
  
  Jane Fonda: "My father can't articulate the way he works. He just can't do it. He's not even conscious of what he does, and it made him nervous for me to try to articulate what I was trying to do. And I sensed that immediately, so we did very little talking about it...he said, 'Shut up, I don't want to hear about it.' He didn't want me to tell him about it, you know. He wanted to make fun of it."

Interests

• Politicians

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

Connections

Fonda was married in 1931, to fellow actress, Margaret Sullavan. The marriage was short-lived, however, and the couple divorced in 1933. He married his second wife, Frances Seymour Brokaw, in 1936. They had two children together, Jane and Peter, both of whom later became actors.

During his run of Mister Roberts, Fonda's tumultuous marriage to Frances Seymour Brokaw came to an end. Mentally unstable for much of their marriage, she committed suicide on October 14, 1950, when Fonda demanded a divorce. Fonda was married for a third time to Susan Blanchard, on December 28, 1950. He adopted her daughter, Amy, from a previous relationship. The couple divorced in 1956.

Fonda married his fourth wife, Countess Adfera Franchetti, on March 10, 1957. They divorced in 1962. Fonda married for the fifth and final time model and stewardess Shirlee Adams, in 1965.

Father:

William Brace Fonda

(1879–1935)

Mother:

Herberta Jaynes Fonda

(1879–1934)

Spouse:

Shirlee Fonda

Shirlee Fonda was born in 1932 in the USA as Shirlee Mae Adams. She is known for her work on Joanne Carson's VIPs (1972), Gala Opening of the American Ballet Theater (1984) and The 5th Annual Legacy Awards (1993).

ex-spouse:

Susan Blanchard

Susan Blanchard (née Jacobson; born March 8, 1928) is an American socialite and former lyricist and theatrical producer.

ex-spouse:

Margaret Sullavan

(May 16, 1909 – January 1, 1960)

Margaret Brooke Sullavan was an American actress of stage and film.

late spouse:

Frances Ford Seymour

(April 4, 1908 – April 14, 1950)

Frances Ford Seymour was a Canadian-born American socialite, the second wife of actor Henry Fonda, and the mother of actors Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda.

ex-spouse:

Afdera Franchetti

(b. 8 July 1931)

Afdera Franchetti is an Italian baroness, descended from an old Jewish family of Venice which intermarried with the Rothschild family and who eventually converted to Roman Catholicism. She is most famous for being the fourth wife of American actor Henry Fonda.

Son:

Peter Henry Fonda

(b. February 23, 1940)

Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda (by first wife Susan Brewer, stepdaughter of Noah Dietrich). Fonda was a part of the counterculture of the 1960s.

Daughter:

Jane Fonda

(b. December 21, 1937)

Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model and fitness guru. She is a two-time Academy Award winner, two-time BAFTA Award winner, and four-time Golden Globe Award winner.

Daughter:

Amy Fonda Fishman

Friend:

James Stewart

(May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997)

James Stewart was an American actor and military officer who is among the most honored and popular stars in film history.

References

• Hank and Jim The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart
  2017
• The Films of Henry Fonda
  1990
• Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda: Like Father Like Daughter
  2014
• Henry Fonda and the Deputy The Film and Stage Star and His TV Western
  2010
• Henry Fonda A pyramid illustrated history of the movies
  1975
• The Man Who Saw a Ghost: The Life and Work of Henry Fonda
  2012
• Henry Fonda: His Life and Work
  1982