A beloved, enduring screen star who embodied an idealized yet recognizable vision of the average but nonetheless intelligent and honorable American man, Henry Fonda began his acting career in his native Nebraska with the Omaha Community Playhouse. He worked his way to Broadway in 1929 and arrived in Hollywood in 1934. Fonda's benign, paternal presence landed him roles ranging from conscientious US presidents, in "Young Mr. Lincoln" (1939) and "Fail-Safe" (1964), to the patient juror who saves an innocent man's life in "Twelve Angry Men" (1957). He continued both his stage and screen careers through the 1970s, performing in such fine films as the romantic comedy "The Lady Eve" (1941), the John Ford Westerns "Drums Along the Mohawk" (1939), "My Darling Clementine" (1946) and "Fort Apache" (1948), the Sergio Leone "spaghetti" Western "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969, one of his rare villainous roles) and the political drama "Advise and Consent" (1962). Amazingly, for years Fonda's only Oscar nomination was for his moving work as itinerant farm worker Tom Joad in Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940); a year after the Academy granted him an honorary award, though, he won another statuette as best actor Oscar for his swansong performance in "On Golden Pond" (1981). The first of his five marriages was to actress Margaret Sullavan, opposite whom he worked in the romantic comedy "The Moon's Our Home" (1936). Children Jane and Peter Fonda, by second wife Frances Seymour Brokaw, are both actors.
Profession(s):
Actor, theater director, TV producer, assistant manager, scene designer, office boy
Sometimes Credited As:
Henry Jaynes Fonda
Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama) "On Golden Pond" 1981
National Board of Review Award Best Actor "On Golden Pond" 1981
Oscar Best Actor "On Golden Pond" 1981
Cecil B DeMille Award 1980
Honorary Oscar 1980
Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award 1979
Special Tony 1979
American Film Institute Life Achievement Award 1978
Grammy Best Spoken Word Recording "Great American Documents" 1976
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance "Clarence Darrow" 1974
British Film Academy Award Best Foreign Actor "Twelve Angry Men" 1957
Tony Actor (Dramatic) "Mister Roberts" 1948
National Board of Review Award Best Acting "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Return of Frank James" 1940
National Board of Review Award Best Acting "Young Mr. Lincoln" 1939
1981 Last film, "On Golden Pond"
1962 Starred on Broadway opposite Olivia De Havilland in "A Gift of Time"
1957 Lone credit as feature film producer, "Twelve Angry Men", in collaboration with playwright and screenwriter Reginald Rose; Fonda also starred in the film
1955 Returned to films to star in an adaptation of "Mister Roberts"
1948 Last feature films for seven years, "A Miracle Can Happen/On Our Merry Way" and John Ford's "Fort Apache"
1948 Returned to Broadway to star in "Mister Roberts"; stayed with the hit for much of its lengthy run, and later went on tour with the show
1946 Returned to films in John Ford's "My Darling Clementine"
1943 Last films before WWII service, "The Immortal Sergeant" and "The Ox-Bow Incident"
1939 First collaboration with director John Ford, "Young Mr. Lincoln"
1935 Made film debut in a leading role opposite Janet Gaynor in "The Farmer Takes a Wife"
1929 Broadway actor (walk-on) "The Game of Life and Death"
Amateur stage actor at Omaha Community Playhouse
Joined the University Players Guild
