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Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda

ActingBorn May 16, 1905Died August 12, 1982 (age 77)Grand Island, Nebraska, USA

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.

Filmography

2025
Henry Fonda for President

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
2023
The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Movie
2020
Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth

as Self(archive footage)

Movie
2020
'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
2019
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Movie
2015
Spanish Western

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
2013Movie
2013
John Ford & Monument Valley

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
2008Movie
2006
Jezebel: Legend of the South

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
2006
Sacco and Vanzetti

as Prof. Tommy Turner (archive footage)

Movie
2004Movie
2003
The Wages of Sin

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
2003
Something to Do with Death

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
2003
An Opera of Violence

as Self - Actor (archive footage)

Movie
2001Movie
2000
Revisiting 'Fail-Safe'

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
1997Movie
1997
Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
1993
La Classe américaine

as Hugues (archive footage)

Movie
1992
Fonda on Fonda

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
1991
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
1990Movie
1988Movie
1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s

as (archive footage)

Movie
1982Movie
1981Movie
1981
On Golden Pond

as Norman Thayer Jr.

Movie
1981
The Greatest Man in the World

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1980
Gideon's Trumpet

as Clarence Earl Gideon

Movie
1980
The Oldest Living Graduate

as Col. J.C. Kincaid

Movie
1980
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1980
Barn Burning

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1980
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1980
Paul's Case

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1980
The Golden Honeymoon

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1980Movie
1980
Rappaccini's Daughter

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1980
The Sky Is Gray

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1979
Meteor

as The President

Movie
1979
City on Fire

as Fire Chief Risley

Movie
1979Movie
1979
Wanda Nevada

as Old Prospector

Movie
1979
Roots: The Next Generations

as Colonel Frederick Warner

TV
1978
Fedora

as President of the Academy

Movie
1978
The Swarm

as Dr. Walter Krim

Movie
1978Movie
1978
Home to Stay

as Grandpa George

Movie
1978
The Biggest Battle

as Generale Foster

Movie
1978Movie
1977
Laugh-In

as Guest Performer

TV
1977
Laugh-In

as Guest Performer (uncredited)

TV
1977
Rollercoaster

as Simon Davenport

Movie
1977
Soldier's Home

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1977
The Blue Hotel

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1977
The Displaced Person

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1977
I'm a Fool

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1977
Tentacles

as Mr. Whitehead

Movie
1977
Underground Doctors

as Self - Host

Movie
1976
Bernice Bobs Her Hair

as Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Movie
1976
Captains and the Kings

as Sen. Enfield Bassett

TV
1976
Midway

as Adm. Chester W. Nimitz

Movie
1976
Family

as James Lawrence

TV
1976Movie
1975Movie
1974
Dinah!

as Self

TV
1974
Spécial cinéma

as Self (archive footage)

TV
1974
Clarence Darrow

as Clarence Darrow

Movie
1974
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie
1974
The Last Four Days

as Kardinal Schuster

Movie
1974
Parker Adderson, Philosopher

as Narrator (Voice)

Movie
1974
The Music School

as Narrator (voice)

Movie
1973
My Name Is Nobody

as Jack Beauregard

Movie
1973
Ash Wednesday

as Mark Sawyer

Movie
1973
The Alpha Caper

as Mark Forbes

Movie
1973
The Serpent

as Alan Davies

Movie
1973
The Red Pony

as Carl Tiflin

Movie
1971
Sometimes a Great Notion

as Henry Stamper

Movie
1971Movie
1971
Film '72

as Self

TV
1971TV
1971TV
1971
The Smith Family

as Chad Smith

TV
1971TV
1970
There Was a Crooked Man...

as Woodward W. Lopeman

Movie
1970
The Cheyenne Social Club

as Harley Sullivan

Movie
1970
Too Late the Hero

as Capt. John G Nolan

Movie
1969
The Bill Cosby Show

as Joshua Richards

TV
1969Movie
1968
Pat Paulsen for President

as Narrator (voice)

Movie
1968
The Boston Strangler

as John S. Bottomly

Movie
1968
The Doris Day Show

as Henry Fonda (uncredited)

TV
1968
The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest

TV
1968
Yours, Mine and Ours

as Frank Beardsley

Movie
1968
Madigan

as Commissioner Anthony X. Russell

Movie
1968
Firecreek

as Bob Larkin

Movie
1968
A Space to Grow

as Narrator

Movie
1967TV
1967
Stranger on the Run

as Ben Chamberlain

Movie
1967
Welcome to Hard Times

as Mayor Will Blue

Movie
1966
To Save a Soldier

as Narrator (voice)

Movie
1966
Born to Buck

as Narrator

Movie
1966Movie
1966
The Really Big Family

as Self - Narrator

Movie
1965
Battle of the Bulge

as Lt Col Kiley

Movie
1965
The Dirty Game

as Dimitri Koulov

Movie
1965
In Harm's Way

as CINCPAC II

Movie
1965
The Rounders

as Marion 'Howdy' Lewis

Movie
1964
Sex and the Single Girl

as Frank Broderick

Movie
1964
Fail Safe

as The President

Movie
1964
The Best Man

as William Russell

Movie
1963
Spencer's Mountain

as Clay Spencer

Movie
1963Movie
1962
Hollywood: The Fabulous Era

as Narrator / Host

Movie
1962
How the West Was Won

as Jethro Stuart

Movie
1962TV
1962
The Longest Day

as Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

Movie
1962
Advise & Consent

as Robert Leffingwell

Movie
1961Movie
1960
The Fabulous Fifties

as Narrator (segment "Fifties Dead Sequence") (voice)

Movie
1959Movie
1959
The Deputy

as Marshal Simon Fry

TV
1959
Warlock

as Clay Blaisedell

Movie
1959TV
1958
Stage Struck

as Lewis Easton

Movie
1957
The Tin Star

as Morgan Hickman

Movie
1957
12 Angry Men

as Juror 8

Movie
1956
The Wrong Man

as Manny Balestrero

Movie
1956
War and Peace

as Pierre Bezukhov

Movie
1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Host / Presenter

TV
1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Presenter

TV
1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Host

TV
1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Nominee

TV
1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Co-Host / Special Award Recipient

TV
1956
Tony Awards

as Self (archive footage)

TV
1955
Mister Roberts

as Lieutenant Roberts

Movie
1955
The Petrified Forest

as Alan Squier

Movie
1955TV
1953TV
1952
The Real Miss America

as Narrator (voice)

Movie
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Clarence Earl Gideon

TV
1951
Pictura

as Narrator (segment "Grant Wood") (voice)

Movie
1951
Benjy

as Narrator (voice)

Movie
1950
What's My Line?

as Self - Mystery Guest

TV
1949
Jigsaw

as Nightclub Waiter (uncredited)

Movie
1948
Fort Apache

as Lt. Col. Owen Thursday

Movie
1948
On Our Merry Way

as Lank Solsky

Movie
1947
Daisy Kenyon

as Peter Lapham

Movie
1947
The Fugitive

as A Fugitive

Movie
1947
The Long Night

as Joe Adams

Movie
1946Movie
1944
Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient

TV
1944TV
1943
Immortal Sergeant

as Corporal Colin Spence

Movie
1943
The Ox-Bow Incident

as Gil Carter

Movie
1942
The Battle of Midway

as Narrator (voice)

Movie
1942Movie
1942
The Big Street

as Little Pinks

Movie
1942Movie
1942
The Magnificent Dope

as Thadeus Winship 'Tad' Page

Movie
1942
Rings on Her Fingers

as John Wheeler

Movie
1942
The Male Animal

as Tommy Turner

Movie
1941
You Belong to Me

as Peter Kirk

Movie
1941
Wild Geese Calling

as John Murdock

Movie
1941
The Lady Eve

as Charles Pike

Movie
1940
Chad Hanna

as Chad Hanna

Movie
1940Movie
1940
Lillian Russell

as Alexander Moore

Movie
1940Movie
1939
Drums Along the Mohawk

as Gilbert Martin

Movie
1939
Young Mr. Lincoln

as Abraham Lincoln

Movie
1939Movie
1939
Let Us Live

as "Brick" Tennant

Movie
1939
Jesse James

as Frank James

Movie
1938
Breakdowns of 1938

as Self (archive footage)

Movie
1938
The Mad Miss Manton

as Peter Ames

Movie
1938
Spawn of the North

as Jim Kimmerlee

Movie
1938
Blockade

as Marco

Movie
1938
Jezebel

as Preston Dillard

Movie
1938
I Met My Love Again

as Ives Towner

Movie
1937
That Certain Woman

as Jack V. Merrick, Jr.

Movie
1937
Slim

as Slim Kincaid

Movie
1937
Wings of the Morning

as Kerry Gilfallen

Movie
1937
You Only Live Once

as Eddie Taylor

Movie
1936
Spendthrift

as Townsend Middleton

Movie
1936
The Moon's Our Home

as Anthony Amberton / John Smith

Movie
1936Movie
1935
I Dream Too Much

as Johnny Street

Movie
1935
Way Down East

as David Bartlett

Movie
1935Movie

Personal Info

DepartmentActing
BirthdayMay 16, 1905
Day of DeathAugust 12, 1982
Place of BirthGrand Island, Nebraska, USA
Popularity1.5