Cast

Henry Fonda

Acting

Cast

Henry Fonda

Known for

Acting

Born

1905-05-16

From

Grand Island, Nebraska, USA

Died

1982-08-12

Also known as Hank Fonda, Henry Jaynes Fonda, One-Take 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.

Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda

Biography

12 Angry Men

Once Upon a Time in the West

Sex and the Single Girl

The Longest Day

Midway

The Return of Frank James

War and Peace

How the West Was Won

Let Poland Be Poland

Fedora

My Name Is Nobody

Slim

Directed by John Ford

The Grapes of Wrath

On Golden Pond

The Last Four Days

Battle of the Bulge

In Harm's Way

Madigan

A Special Sesame Street Christmas

The Wrong Man

Fort Apache

Warlock

Benjy

My Darling Clementine

Fail Safe

The Tin Star

Drums Along the Mohawk

A Big Hand for the Little Lady

Too Late the Hero

La Classe américaine

Advise & Consent

The Battle of Midway

The Boston Strangler

The Swarm

John Ford: The Man Who Invented America

Yours, Mine and Ours

The Fabulous Fifties

There Was a Crooked Man...

Gideon's Trumpet

The Ox-Bow Incident

Wanda Nevada

Young Mr. Lincoln

Citizen Jane Fonda

The Making of Midway

The Lady Eve

Tentacles

Jezebel

The Rounders

Stranger on the Run

Jesse James

Spencer's Mountain

Firecreek

Tales of Manhattan

Meteor

Mister Roberts

On Our Merry Way

The American West of John Ford

Sometimes a Great Notion

The Biggest Battle

The Big Street

The Dirty Game

Pictura

Welcome to Hard Times

Rings on Her Fingers

Soldier's Home

Parker Adderson, Philosopher

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

You Only Live Once

City on Fire

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

The Serpent

Rollercoaster

I'm a Fool

The Cheyenne Social Club

The Wages of Sin