Fonda, Henry, 1905-1982

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Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982), known more commonly as Henry Fonda, was an American film and stage 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 fiancé 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 (1940), about an Oklahoma family who moved to California during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. This film is widely considered to be among the greatest American films, based on a novel of the same name by Nobel laureate for literature, John Steinbeck.

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 1956, at the age of fifty-one, he played the title role as the thirty-eight-year-old Manny Balestrero in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Wrong Man. In 1957, he starred as Juror #8, the hold-out juror, in 12 Angry Men. Fonda, who was also the co-producer of this film, won the BAFTA award 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 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.

Fonda was the patriarch of a family of famous actors, including daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity. His family and close friends called him "Hank". In 1999 he was named the sixth-Greatest Male Screen Legends of the Classic Hollywood Era (stars with a film debut by 1950) by the American Film Institute.

Fonda died in Los Angeles, California on August 12, 1982. His wish was that his body be cremated and that there be no service.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Fort Devens Film Collection, ca. 1940-1971 : Guide. Harvard Film Archive, Fine Arts Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
creatorOf Lenzi, Umberto, 1931-.... La grande bataille / Umberto Lenzi, réal., scénario ; Cesare Frugoni, scénario ; Franco Magalizzi, comp. ; John Huston, Henry Fonda, Stacy Keach... [et al.], act. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
referencedIn Arthur Unger collection of recorded interviews [sound recording] The New York Public Library. Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.
referencedIn Frederick Brisson papers, 1934-1984 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
creatorOf French, Carol. [Culinary ephemera : condiments]. Box 77. William L. Clements Library
referencedIn Lillian Gish papers, 1909-1992 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
referencedIn Crawford, Bill, 1932-1980. Bill Crawford photograph collection, 1952-1979. Museum of the Great Plains
referencedIn Hayward, Leland, 1902-1971. Leland Hayward papers, 1920-1995 (bulk 1920-1974). New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Windust, Bretaigne, 1906-1960. Bretaigne Windust collection, 1929-1958. Princeton University Library
referencedIn Brooke Hayward collection of noncommercial recordings The New York Public Library. Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.
referencedIn Jo Mielziner papers, 1903-1976 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
referencedIn Fox Movietone News Collection. 1957 - 1963. Motion Picture Newsreel Films. 1957 - 1963. Movietone News, Vol. 45, No. 85 National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Howard Teichmann Papers, 1857-2001, (bulk 1940-1987) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Paramount Pictures, Inc., Collection. 1951 - 1951. Motion Picture Newsreel Films. 10/1941 - 3/1957. PARAMOUNT NEWS [NOV. 4] National Archives at College Park
referencedIn American screen and theater : photographs and lobby cards, 1914-1965, (bulk: 1930-1949) Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Thomas Orlo Heggen Papers, 1940-1960 University of Minnesota Libraries. University Archives [uarc]
referencedIn RKO Radio Pictures, inc. correspondence, 1931-1958 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
referencedIn John F. Kennedy Presidential campaign materials, 1959-1960 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Records of the U.S. Information Agency, 1900 - 2003. Photographic File of the Paris Bureau of the New York Times, ca. 1900 - ca. 1950. Prominent Personalities: Fonda, Henry. National Archives at College Park
creatorOf Lenzi, Umberto, 1931-.... La grande bataille / Umberto Lenzi, réal., scénario ; Cesare Frugoni, scénario ; Franco Magalizzi, comp. ; John Huston, Henry Fonda, Stacy Keach... [et al.], act. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Fonda family. Fonda family papers, 1736-1870. Churchill County Museum
referencedIn General Records of the Department of State, 1763 - 2002. Applications and Recommendations for Appointment to the Consular and Diplomatic Services, 1901 - 1924. Fonda, Henry. National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Fox Movietone News Collection. 1957 - 1963. Motion Picture Newsreel Films. 1957 - 1963. Movietone News, Vol. 45, No. 89 National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Raphaelson, Samson, 1896-1983. Papers, 1916-1982. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Souvenir programs of motion pictures, 1915-1978. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn "March of Time" Collection. 1934 - 1951. March of Time Documentary/Newsreel Films Relating to U.S. History, Government, Politics, Culture, and International Affairs. 1935 - 1953. ON STAGE National Archives at College Park
creatorOf Records of the Agency for International Development. 1948 - 2003. Moving Images Relating to International Development Programs and Activities. 1979 - 1991. America and Americans National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Samson Raphaelson Papers, 1916-1982 Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection. Cinema showcase collection, 1972-1992.
referencedIn Ford, J. mss., 1906-1976 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
referencedIn Steinbeck, Elaine A. Autograph letters signed (5) : New York, to Graham and Dorothy Watson, [n.d.] and 1969. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Fonda, Henry, 1905-1982. Correspondence with Marian Anderson, 1967. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Boris Kaufman papers, 1836-2004 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Fonda, Henry, 1905-1982. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
creatorOf Fonda, Henry, 1905-1982. Reminiscences of Henry Fonda : oral history, [195-?]. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf Shavelson, Melville, 1917-2007. His, hers and theirs, 1967 July 3 / written by Melville Shavelson and Mort Lachman. Ohio State University Libraries
referencedIn Records of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, 1973 -. Video Tape Programs and Worldnet Broadcasts, 1999 - 2009. Henry Fonda, 1978. National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Barksdale, Alfred D. (Alfred Dickinson), 1892-1972. Papers of Alfred Dickinson Barksdale, 1905-1973 (bulk 1940-1972). University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Van de Water, Kenneth Brooke, Jr., 1920-. Papers, 1941-1946. Washington & Lee University, James G. Leyburn Library
referencedIn Records of the U.S. Information Agency. 1900 - 2003. Background Reports Relating to Film Festivals National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Records of the Small Business Administration, 1951 - 2001. Moving Images Relating to Small Business Management, 1960 - 2000. Rip Off. National Archives at College Park
referencedIn The Bell Telephone Hour collection of sound recordings [sound recording], 1940-1968 The New York Public Library. Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.
referencedIn Records of the U.S. Information Agency, 1900 - 2003. Master File Copies of Magazines and Periodicals, 1953 - 1993. American Film Institute Honors Henry Fonda. National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Alix Jeffry photographs Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Gouri Ivanov-Rinov papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Leland Hayward papers, 1920-1995, 1920-1974 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
referencedIn Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Souvenir programs for theatrical productions, 1906-2005. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Daves, Delmer, 1904-1977. Delmer Daves papers, 1930-1965. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn American Vaudeville Museum collection, 1845-2007, (bulk 1910-1940) University of Arizona Libraries, Library Special Collections
referencedIn John Eldon Thayer collection of motion picture memorabilia, 1916-1979. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn The Railroad hour, radio program [sound recording], 1948-1954 The New York Public Library. Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.
Relation Name
associatedWith American Museum of Vaudeville corporateBody
associatedWith Arnold, Maxwell; collector person
associatedWith Barksdale, Alfred D. (Alfred Dickinson), 1892-1972. person
associatedWith Brisson, Frederick, 1912-1984 person
associatedWith Communist Party of the United States of America. corporateBody
associatedWith Crawford, Bill, 1932-1980. person
associatedWith Cullen, Frank, 1936- person
associatedWith Daves, Delmer, 1904-1977. person
associatedWith Fonda family. family
parentOf Fonda, Jane, 1937- person
associatedWith Ford, John, 1895-1973 person
associatedWith Ford, John, 1895-1973 person
associatedWith Franklin, Joan, person
associatedWith Franklin, Robert, person
associatedWith Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993 person
associatedWith Hayward, Brooke, 1937- person
associatedWith Hayward, Leland, 1902-1971. person
associatedWith Heggen, Thomas Orlo person
associatedWith Ivanov-Rinov, Gouri, 1903-1966. person
associatedWith Jeffry, Alix person
associatedWith Kaufman, Boris. person
associatedWith Kaufman, Boris. person
associatedWith McNeilly, Donald, 1945- person
associatedWith Mielziner, Jo, 1901-1976 person
associatedWith Mielziner, Jo, 1901-1976 person
associatedWith Railroad Hour Radio Program corporateBody
associatedWith Raphaelson, Samson, 1896-1983. person
associatedWith RKO Radio Pictures corporateBody
associatedWith Shavelson, Melville, 1917-2007. person
associatedWith Steinbeck, Elaine A. person
acquaintanceOf Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968 person
associatedWith Teichmann, Howard. person
associatedWith Thayer, John Eldon, 1899-1980 person
associatedWith Unger, Arthur person
memberOf United States. Navy corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Small Business Administration corporateBody
associatedWith Van de Water, Kenneth Brooke, Jr., 1920- person
associatedWith Windust, Bretaigne, 1906-1960. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Grand Island NE US
Los Angeles CA US
Subject
Theater
Actors
Acting
Motion pictures
Occupation
Actors
Film Actor
Stage Actor
Activity

Person

Birth 1905-05-16

Death 1982-08-12

Male

Americans

English

Information

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Ark ID: w6kf2n1n

SNAC ID: 83919963