# Henry Fonda

| Henry Fonda |
| --- |
| Fonda in *Warlock* (1959) |
| Born | Henry Jaynes Fonda (1905-05-16)May 16, 1905 Grand Island, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | August 12, 1982(1982-08-12) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Minnesota |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1928–1981 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses |

Margaret Sullavan
​ ​(m. 1931; div. 1933)​

Frances Ford Seymour
​ ​(m. 1936; died 1950)​

Susan Blanchard
​ ​(m. 1950; div. 1956)​

Afdera Franchetti
​ ​(m. 1957; div. 1961)​

Shirlee Mae Adams ​(m. 1965)​ |
| Children | 3, including Jane and Peter |
| Relatives | * Bridget Fonda (granddaughter)
* Troy Garity (grandson)
 |
|  |
| Military career |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Air Combat Intelligence |
| Battles / wars | * World War II
	+ Pacific War
		- Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
		- Truk Lagoon
		- Battle of Iwo Jima
 |
| Awards | * Bronze Star
* Presidential Unit Citation
 |
|  |

**Henry Jaynes Fonda** (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor in many movies and plays. He usually played a character that was an "everyman" (a humble and ordinary protagonist).

Fonda was born on May 16, 1905 in Grand Island, Nebraska. He studied at the University of Minnesota. Fonda played in his first Hollywood movie in 1935. He became very popular from his movies. He was in many popular movies like *Jezebel* (1938), *Jesse James* (1939) and *Young Mr. Lincoln* (1939). He was given a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Tom Joad in *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940). In 1941, Fonda was an actor with Barbara Stanwyck in the movie classic *The Lady Eve*. After being in World War II, he played in 2 popular Western movies. These were *The Ox-Bow Incident* (1943) and *My Darling Clementine* (1946). *My Darling Clementine* was directed by John Ford. He also was in Ford's Western *Fort Apache* (1948). After that, Fonda, became a stage actor for many years. He played in *Mister Roberts* in 1955. In 1956, Fonda played Manny Balestrero in Alfred Hitchcock's movie *The Wrong Man*. In 1957, Fonda starred as Juror 8 in *12 Angry Men*. He earned a BAFTA award for Best Foreign Actor for this movie.

Fonda played many characters in his later career. He was a villain in *Once Upon a Time in the West* (1968). He was the lead in the romantic comedy *Yours, Mine and Ours* with Lucille Ball. He also acted as military people in *Battle of the Bulge* (1965) and Admiral Nimitz in *Midway* (1976).

Fonda's last movie was in 1981's *On Golden Pond*. Fonda won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 54th Academy Awards for this movie. The movie co-starred Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane Fonda. He was too sick to attend this year's Academy Awards. Fonda died 5 months later on August 12, 1982. He died from a heart disease in Los Angeles, California. He was 77.

In 1999, he was called the sixth-Greatest Male Screen Legend of the "Classic Hollywood Era" by the American Film Institute.

Fonda was the father in a family of actors. His daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda and grandson Troy Garity were all actors.

## Personal life

| CollapseHenry Fonda family tree |
| --- |
|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| William Brace Fonda 1879–1935 |  | Herberta Krueger Jaynes 1879–1934 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|
|  |  | Henry Fonda 1905–1982 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Margaret Sullavan 1909–1960 |  |  | Frances Ford Seymour 1908–1950 |  |  | Susan Blanchard 1928– |  |  | Afdera Franchetti 1931– |  |  | Shirlee Mae Adams 1932– |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  | Roger Vadim 1928–2000 |  | Jane Fonda 1937– |  | Tom Hayden 1939–2016 |  |  |  | Peter Fonda 1940–2019 |  | Susan J. Brewer |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  | Vanessa Vadim |  | Troy Garity 1973– |  | Mary Williams 1967– |  | Bridget Fonda 1964– |  | Danny Elfman 1953– |  | Justin Fonda |  |  |
|  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
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|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Daniel Robert Elfman |  |  |  |  |  |
|

 |

Then he was married to Frances Ford Seymour from 1936 until her death in 1950. Then he was married to Susan Blanchard

Fonda was married 5 times. He also had 3 children. One of them was adopted.

He was married to Margaret Sullavan in 1931. They divorced in 1932. In 1935, Fonda started dating the singer and actress Shirley Ross. By the end of 1935, many people, such as columnist Ed Sullivan, discovered that they were engaged. However, in January 1936 they separated. It was then reported that Fonda was dating the actress Virginia Bruce. However, Fonda and Frances Ford Seymour Brokaw had met later that year. They had 2 children after they married in 1931. These were Jane (b. 1937) and Peter (1940–2019). They both became successful actors. Jane has won two Best Actress Academy Awards. Peter was nominated for two Oscars.

In 1949, Fonda announced that he wanted to divorce Frances. Frances was very sad at this announcement. Frances went to the Craig House Sanitarium in January 1950 for treatment. She committed suicide there on April 14.

Fonda at son Peter's 1961 wedding to Susan Brewer
Later in 1950, Fonda married Susan Blanchard from 1950 until they divorced in 1956. Then he was married to Afdera Franchetti from 1957 until they divorced in 1961. Then he was last married to Shirlee Mae Adams from 1965 until his death in 1982.

## Movies

Fonda was in 106 movies, TV programs, and shorts. He was in many classics such as *12 Angry Men* and *The Ox-Bow Incident*. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for *The Grapes of Wrath*. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1981 for *On Golden Pond*. Fonda was also in many westerns and war movies.

## Theatre

**Broadway stage performances *The Game of Love and Death* (November 1929 – January 1930)
* *I Loved You, Wednesday* (October – December 1932)
* *New Faces of 1934* (Revue; March – July 1934)
* *The Farmer Takes a Wife* (October 1934 – January 1935)
* *Blow Ye Winds* (September – October 1937)
* *Mister Roberts* (February 1948 – January 1951)
* *Point of No Return* (December 1951 – November 1952)
* *The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial* (January 1954 – January 1955)
* *Two for the Seesaw* (January 1958 – October 1959)
* *Silent Night, Lonely Night* (December 1959 – March 1960)
* *Critic's Choice* (December 1960 – May 1961)
* *A Gift of Time* (February – May 1962)
* *Generation* (October 1965 – June 1966)
* *Our Town* (November – December 1969)
* *Clarence Darrow* (March – April 1974; March 1975)
* *First Monday in October* (October – December 1978)

## Awards and nominations

| Awards | Year | Category | Work | Result |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Academy Awards** | 1940 | Best Actor | *The Grapes of Wrath* | Nominated |
| 1957 | Best Picture | *12 Angry Men* | Nominated |
| 1980 | Academy Honorary Award | —N/a | Honored |
| 1981 | Best Actor | *On Golden Pond* | Won |
| **BAFTA Awards** | 1958 | Best Actor | *12 Angry Men* | Won |
| 1981 | *On Golden Pond* | Nominated |
| **Primetime Emmy Awards** | 1973 | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie | *The Red Pony* | Nominated |
| 1975 | *Clarence Darrow* | Nominated |
| 1980 | *Gideon's Trumpet* | Nominated |
| **Golden Globe Awards** | 1958 | Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | *12 Angry Men* | Nominated |
| 1980 | Cecil B. DeMille Award | —N/a | Honored |
| 1982 | Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | *On Golden Pond* | Won |
| **Grammy Awards** | 1977 | Best Spoken Word Album | *Great American Documents* | Won |
| **Tony Awards** | 1948 | Best Actor in a Play | *Mister Roberts* | Won |
| 1975 | *Clarence Darrow* | Nominated |
| 1979 | Special Tony Award | —N/a | Honored |
| **AFI Awards** | 1978 | Life Achievement Award | —N/a | Honored |

* Bosworth, Patricia (2011). *Jane Fonda, The Private Life of a Public Woman*. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. p.18. ISBN 9780547504476.
* Collier, Peter (1991). *The Fondas: A Hollywood Dynasty*. Putnam. ISBN 0-399-13592-8.
* Fonda, Henry (1982). *Fonda: My Life*. Fulcrum Publishing. ISBN 0-453-00402-4.
* Fonda, Jane (2005). *My Life So Far*. Random House. ISBN 0-375-50710-8.
* Fonda, Peter (1998). *Don't Tell Dad*. Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6111-8.
* Houghton, Norris (1951). *But Not Forgotten: The Adventure of the University Players*. New York: William Sloane Associates.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
* James, John Douglas (1976). *The MGM Story*. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-52389-2.
* McKinney, Devin (2012). *The Man Who Saw a Ghost: The Life and Work of Henry Fonda*. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-00841-1.
* Roberts, Allen; Goldstein, Max (1984). *Henry Fonda: A Biography*. McFarland & Co. ISBN 0-89950-114-1.
* Sweeney, Kevin (1992). *Henry Fonda: A BioBibliography*. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-26571-2.
* Thomas, Tony (1990). *The Films of Henry Fonda*. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1189-3.
* Wise, James (1997). *Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services*. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557509379. OCLC 36824724.
* Beidler, Philip D. (1996). "Mr. Roberts and American Remembering; or, Why Major Major Major Major Looks Like Henry Fonda". *Journal of American Studies*. **30**. Cambridge University Press: 47–64. doi:10.1017/S0021875800024312. OCLC 143830992. S2CID 143830992.

## Other websites

* Henry Fonda at the Internet Broadway Database  Retrieved on 2008-07-26
* Henry Fonda on IMDb Retrieved on 2008-07-26
* Henry Fonda at the TCM Movie Database  Retrieved on 2008-07-26
* Henry Fonda as found in the 1910 US Census, 1920 US Census, 1930 US Census, 1931 Maryland Marriages, and Social Security Death Index.
* Literature on Henry Fonda