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Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda

Acting

Born May 16, 1905, Grand Island, Nebraska, USA

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.

Filmography

Appearances as themselves (69)
  • 2025Henry Fonda for President — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2020'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War — Self (archive footage)
  • 2020Citizen Jane Fonda — Self (archive footage)
  • 2019John Ford: The Man Who Invented America — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2015Spanish Western — Self (archive footage)
  • 2013Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia — Self (archive footage)
  • 2013John Ford & Monument Valley — Self (archive footage)
  • 2008Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men' — Self (archive footage)
  • 2006Jezebel: Legend of the South — Self (archive footage)
  • 2004Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'The Wrong Man' — Self (archive footage)
  • Parkinson — Self - Guest (archive footage)
  • 2003An Opera of Violence — Self - Actor (archive footage)
  • 2003Something to Do with Death — Self (archive footage)
  • 2003The Wages of Sin — Self (archive footage)
  • 2001The Making of Midway — Self (archive footage)
  • 1997Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line — Self (archive footage)
  • 1997Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero — Self (archive footage)
  • 1992Fonda on Fonda — Self (archive footage)
  • 1991Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire — Self (archive footage)
  • 1988The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind — Self (archive footage)
  • 1982Let Poland Be Poland — Self
  • 1981The Greatest Man in the World — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1980Barn Burning — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1980Paul's Case — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1980Rappaccini's Daughter — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1980The Golden Honeymoon — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1980The Jilting of Granny Weatherall — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1980The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1980The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's — Self (archive footage)
  • 1980The Sky Is Gray — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1979The Man Who Loved Bears — Self
  • 1978A Special Sesame Street Christmas — Self
  • 1978Inside 'the Swarm' — Self
  • The Kennedy Center Honors — Self
  • 1977I'm a Fool — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1977Soldier's Home — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1977The Blue Hotel — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1977The Displaced Person — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1977Underground Doctors — Self - Host
  • 1976Bernice Bobs Her Hair — Self - Series Host (uncredited)
  • 1975Parkinson: Meet Henry Fonda — Self
  • People's Choice Awards — Self
  • Dinah! — Self
  • 1974Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • Spécial cinéma — Self (archive footage)
  • The American Film Institute Salute to ... — Self
  • The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts — Self
  • All in the Family — Self
  • Cadet Rousselle — Self
  • Film '72 — Self
  • 1971The American West of John Ford — Self - Narrator
  • V.I.P. Schaukel — Self
  • The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
  • 1966The Really Big Family — Self - Narrator
  • 1963Hollywood: The Great Stars — Self - Host
  • 1962President Kennedy's Birthday Salute — Self
  • The Merv Griffin Show — Self
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
  • 1961Hollywood: The Selznick Years — Self - Narrator
  • The Mike Douglas Show — Self
  • The Bell Telephone Hour — Self - Host
  • The Steve Allen Show — Self
  • Tony Awards — Self - Host / Presenter, Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee, Self - Co-Host / Special Award Recipient, Self (archive footage)
  • The Star and the Story — Self - Host
  • What's My Line? — Self
  • The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
  • Golden Globe Awards — Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient
  • 1938Breakdowns of 1938 — Self (archive footage)
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