Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
May 16, 1905
Place of Birth:
Grand Island, Nebraska, USA
Social Media
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.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Henry Fonda, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Henry Fonda for President | Self (archive footage) |
| 2023 | The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty | Self - Actor (archive footage) |
| 2020 | 'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War | Self (archive footage) |
| 2020 | Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth | Self (archive footage) |
| 2020 | Charles Bronson: The Spirit of Masculinity | Self (archive footage) |
| 2019 | John Ford: The Man Who Invented America | Self - Actor (archive footage) |
| 2018 | Jane Fonda in Five Acts | Self (archive footage) |
| 2015 | Spanish Western | Self (archive footage) |
| 2013 | John Ford & Monument Valley | Self (archive footage) |
| 2013 | Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia | Self (archive footage) |
| 2008 | Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men' | Self (archive footage) |
| 2006 | Jezebel: Legend of the South | Self (archive footage) |
| 2006 | Sacco and Vanzetti | Prof. Tommy Turner (archive footage) |
| 2004 | Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'The Wrong Man' | Self (archive footage) |
| 2003 | Something to Do with Death | Self (archive footage) |
| 2003 | The Wages of Sin | Self (archive footage) |
| 2003 | An Opera of Violence | Self - Actor (archive footage) |
| 2000 | Revisiting 'Fail-Safe' | Self (archive footage) |
| 1999 | Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults | Self (Archival Footage) |
| 1997 | Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line | Self (archive footage) |
| 1997 | Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero | Self (archive footage) |
| 1993 | La Classe américaine | Hugues (archive footage) |
| 1992 | Fonda on Fonda | Self (archive footage) |
| 1991 | Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker | |
| 1991 | Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire | Self (archive footage) |
| 1990 | Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To | (archive footage) |
| 1988 | The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind | Self (archive footage) |
| 1984 | Going Hollywood: The '30s | (archive footage) |
| 1982 | Let Poland Be Poland | Self |
| 1981 | On Golden Pond | Norman Thayer Jr. |
| 1981 | The Greatest Man in the World | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1981 | Summer Solstice | Joshua |
| 1980 | The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's | Self (archive footage) |
| 1980 | Gideon's Trumpet | Clarence Earl Gideon |
| 1980 | Rappaccini's Daughter | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1980 | The Sky Is Gray | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1980 | The Golden Honeymoon | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1980 | Paul's Case | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1980 | The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1980 | Barn Burning | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1980 | The Oldest Living Graduate | Col. J.C. Kincaid |
| 1980 | The Jilting of Granny Weatherall | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1979 | Meteor | The President |
| 1979 | Wanda Nevada | Old Prospector |
| 1979 | The Man Who Loved Bears | Self |
| 1979 | City on Fire | Fire Chief Risley |
| 1978 | The Great Smokey Roadblock | Elegant John |
| 1978 | The Swarm | Dr. Walter Krim |
| 1978 | The Biggest Battle | Generale Foster |
| 1978 | Fedora | President of the Academy |
| 1978 | Inside 'the Swarm' | Self |
| 1978 | A Special Sesame Street Christmas | Self |
| 1978 | Home to Stay | Grandpa George |
| 1977 | Rollercoaster | Simon Davenport |
| 1977 | Tentacles | Mr. Whitehead |
| 1977 | The Blue Hotel | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1977 | The Displaced Person | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1977 | Soldier's Home | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1977 | I'm a Fool | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1977 | Underground Doctors | Self - Host |
| 1976 | Midway | Adm. Chester W. Nimitz |
| 1976 | Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur | Gen. Douglas MacArthur |
| 1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Self - Series Host (uncredited) |
| 1975 | Parkinson: Meet Henry Fonda | Self |
| 1975 | Henry James' The Jolly Corner | Narrator |
| 1974 | Clarence Darrow | Clarence Darrow |
| 1974 | The Last Four Days | Kardinal Schuster |
| 1974 | Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 1974 | The Music School | Narrator (voice) |
| 1974 | Parker Adderson, Philosopher | Narrator (Voice) |
| 1973 | My Name Is Nobody | Jack Beauregard |
| 1973 | The Serpent | Alan Davies |
| 1973 | The Alpha Caper | Mark Forbes |
| 1973 | The Red Pony | Carl Tiflin |
| 1973 | Ash Wednesday | Mark Sawyer |
| 1971 | Sometimes a Great Notion | Henry Stamper |
| 1971 | Directed by John Ford | |
| 1971 | The American West of John Ford | Self - Narrator |
| 1970 | There Was a Crooked Man... | Woodward W. Lopeman |
| 1970 | The Cheyenne Social Club | Harley Sullivan |
| 1970 | Too Late the Hero | Capt. John G Nolan |
| 1969 | Stiletto | |
| 1969 | An Impression of John Steinbeck: Writer | John Steinbeck (voice) |
| 1968 | Madigan | Commissioner Anthony X. Russell |
| 1968 | Firecreek | Bob Larkin |
| 1968 | The Boston Strangler | John S. Bottomly |
| 1968 | Yours, Mine and Ours | Frank Beardsley |
| 1968 | Pat Paulsen for President | Narrator (voice) |
| 1968 | A Space to Grow | Narrator |
| 1968 | Once Upon a Time in the West | Frank |
| 1967 | Stranger on the Run | Ben Chamberlain |
| 1967 | Welcome to Hard Times | Mayor Will Blue |
| 1966 | A Big Hand for the Little Lady | Meredith |
| 1966 | Born to Buck | Narrator |
| 1966 | The Really Big Family | Self - Narrator |
| 1966 | To Save a Soldier | Narrator (voice) |
| 1965 | The Rounders | Marion 'Howdy' Lewis |
| 1965 | Battle of the Bulge | Lt Col Kiley |
| 1965 | In Harm's Way | CINCPAC II |
| 1965 | The Dirty Game | Dimitri Koulov |
| 1964 | Fail Safe | The President |
| 1964 | Sex and the Single Girl | Frank Broderick |
| 1964 | The Best Man | William Russell |
| 1963 | Spencer's Mountain | Clay Spencer |
| 1963 | Hollywood: The Great Stars | Self - Host |
| 1962 | How the West Was Won | Jethro Stuart |
| 1962 | The Longest Day | Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. |
| 1962 | Advise & Consent | Robert Leffingwell |
| 1962 | Hollywood: The Fabulous Era | Narrator / Host |
| 1962 | President Kennedy's Birthday Salute | Self |
| 1961 | Hollywood: The Selznick Years | Self - Narrator |
| 1960 | The Fabulous Fifties | Narrator (segment "Fifties Dead Sequence") (voice) |
| 1959 | Warlock | Clay Blaisedell |
| 1959 | The Man Who Understood Women | Willie Bauche |
| 1958 | Stage Struck | Lewis Easton |
| 1957 | The Tin Star | Morgan Hickman |
| 1957 | 12 Angry Men | Juror 8 |
| 1956 | War and Peace | Pierre Bezukhov |
| 1956 | The Wrong Man | Manny Balestrero |
| 1955 | Mister Roberts | Lieutenant Roberts |
| 1955 | The Petrified Forest | Alan Squier |
| 1952 | The Real Miss America | Narrator (voice) |
| 1951 | Benjy | Narrator (voice) |
| 1951 | Pictura | Narrator: Grant Wood episode (voice) |
| 1949 | Jigsaw | Nightclub Waiter (uncredited) |
| 1948 | Fort Apache | Lt. Col. Owen Thursday |
| 1948 | On Our Merry Way | Lank Solsky |
| 1947 | Daisy Kenyon | Peter Lapham |
| 1947 | The Fugitive | A Fugitive |
| 1947 | The Long Night | Joe Adams |
| 1946 | My Darling Clementine | Wyatt Earp |
| 1943 | The Ox-Bow Incident | Gil Carter |
| 1943 | Immortal Sergeant | Corporal Colin Spence |
| 1942 | Tales of Manhattan | George |
| 1942 | The Male Animal | Tommy Turner |
| 1942 | The Battle of Midway | Narrator (voice) |
| 1942 | Rings on Her Fingers | John Wheeler |
| 1942 | The Big Street | Agustus 'Little Pinks' Pinkerton, II |
| 1942 | The Magnificent Dope | Thadeus Winship 'Tad' Page |
| 1942 | It's Everybody's War | Narrator |
| 1941 | The Lady Eve | Charles Pike |
| 1941 | You Belong to Me | Peter Kirk |
| 1941 | Wild Geese Calling | John Murdock |
| 1940 | The Grapes of Wrath | Tom Joad |
| 1940 | The Return of Frank James | Frank James |
| 1940 | Chad Hanna | Chad Hanna |
| 1940 | Lillian Russell | Alexander Moore |
| 1939 | Jesse James | Frank James |
| 1939 | Young Mr. Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln |
| 1939 | The Story of Alexander Graham Bell | Thomas Watson |
| 1939 | Let Us Live | "Brick" Tennant |
| 1939 | Drums Along the Mohawk | Gilbert Martin |
| 1938 | Jezebel | Preston Dillard |
| 1938 | The Mad Miss Manton | Peter Ames |
| 1938 | Breakdowns of 1938 | Self (archive footage) |
| 1938 | Spawn of the North | Jim Kimmerlee |
| 1938 | Blockade | Marco |
| 1938 | I Met My Love Again | Ives Towner |
| 1937 | You Only Live Once | Eddie Taylor |
| 1937 | That Certain Woman | Jack V. Merrick, Jr. |
| 1937 | Wings of the Morning | Kerry Gilfallen |
| 1937 | Slim | Slim Kincaid |
| 1936 | The Trail of the Lonesome Pine | Dave Tolliver |
| 1936 | The Moon's Our Home | Anthony Amberton / John Smith |
| 1936 | Spendthrift | Townsend Middleton |
| 1935 | The Farmer Takes a Wife | Dan Harrow |
| 1935 | I Dream Too Much | Johnny Street |
| 1935 | Way Down East | David Bartlett |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Roots: The Next Generations | Col. Frederick Warner |
| 1978 | The Kennedy Center Honors | Self |
| 1977 | Laugh-In | Guest Performer |
| 1977 | Laugh-In | Guest Performer (uncredited) |
| 1976 | Captains and the Kings | Sen. Enfield Bassett |
| 1976 | Family | James Lawrence |
| 1974 | Dinah! | Self |
| 1974 | Spécial cinéma | Self (archive footage) |
| 1973 | The American Film Institute Salute to ... | Self |
| 1973 | The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts | Self |
| 1971 | All in the Family | Self |
| 1971 | The Smith Family | Chad Smith |
| 1971 | V.I.P. Schaukel | Self |
| 1971 | Cadet Rousselle | Self |
| 1969 | The Bill Cosby Show | Joshua Richards |
| 1968 | The Dick Cavett Show | Self - Guest |
| 1968 | The Doris Day Show | Henry Fonda (uncredited) |
| 1967 | The World About Us | Narrator |
| 1962 | The Merv Griffin Show | Self |
| 1962 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self |
| 1961 | The Mike Douglas Show | Self |
| 1959 | The Deputy | Marshal Simon Fry |
| 1959 | The Bell Telephone Hour | Self - Host |
| 1956 | The Steve Allen Show | Self - Guest |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self (archive footage) |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Nominee |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Host |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Co-Host/Special Award Recipient |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Presenter |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Host / Presenter |
| 1955 | The Star and the Story | Self - Host |
| 1953 | General Electric Theater | Emmett Kelly |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Clarence Earl Gideon |
| 1950 | What's My Line? | Self - Mystery Guest |
| 1948 | The Ed Sullivan Show | Self |
| 1944 | Golden Globe Awards | Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient |