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.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
What's My Line?
1950
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Golden Globe Awards
1944
0Tony Awards
1956
0Tony Awards
1956
0Tony Awards
1956
0Tony Awards
1956
0Tony Awards
1956
Filmography
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self · 1962
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self · 1961
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self · 1962
What's My Line?
as Self · 1950
The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - Guest · 1968
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient · 1944
Golden Globe Awards
as Self · 1944
Tony Awards
as Self - Host / Presenter · 1956
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter · 1956
Tony Awards
as Self - Host · 1956
Tony Awards
as Self - Nominee · 1956
Tony Awards
as Self - Co-Host / Special Award Recipient · 1956
Tony Awards
as Self (archive footage) · 1956
Spécial cinéma
as Self (archive footage) · 1974
Dinah!
as Self · 1974
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self · 1948
All in the Family
as Self · 1971
The Steve Allen Show
as Self · 1956
The Doris Day Show
as Henry Fonda (uncredited) · 1968
Film '72
as Self · 1971
12 Angry Men
as Juror 8 · 1957
People's Choice Awards
as Self · 1975
Family
as James Lawrence · 1976
Parkinson
as Self - Guest (archive footage) · 2004
The Deputy
as Marshal Simon Fry · 1959
Once Upon a Time in the West
as Frank · 1968
The Kennedy Center Honors
as Self · 1978
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
as Self · 1973
The Bill Cosby Show
as Joshua Richards · 1969
V.I.P. Schaukel
as Self · 1971
The Bell Telephone Hour
as Self - Host · 1959
Sex and the Single Girl
as Frank Broderick · 1964
Roots: The Next Generations
as Colonel Frederick Warner · 1979
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
as Self · 1973
Captains and the Kings
as Sen. Enfield Bassett · 1976
Cadet Rousselle
as Self · 1971
The Longest Day
as Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. · 1962
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Clarence Earl Gideon · 1951
Midway
as Adm. Chester W. Nimitz · 1976
How the West Was Won
as Jethro Stuart · 1962
My Name Is Nobody
as Jack Beauregard · 1973
The Smith Family
as Chad Smith · 1971
The Grapes of Wrath
as Tom Joad · 1940
War and Peace
as Pierre Bezukhov · 1956
General Electric Theater
as Emmett Kelly · 1953
The Star and the Story
as Self - Host · 1955
My Darling Clementine
as Wyatt Earp · 1946
On Golden Pond
as Norman Thayer Jr. · 1981
Battle of the Bulge
as Lt Col Kiley · 1965
The Wrong Man
as Manny Balestrero · 1956
Yours, Mine and Ours
as Frank Beardsley · 1968
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
as Meredith · 1966
The Oldest Living Graduate
as Col. J.C. Kincaid · 1980
Fort Apache
as Lt. Col. Owen Thursday · 1948
The Cheyenne Social Club
as Harley Sullivan · 1970
Warlock
as Clay Blaisedell · 1959
Meteor
as The President · 1979
In Harm's Way
as CINCPAC II · 1965
Welcome to Hard Times
as Mayor Will Blue · 1967
The Ox-Bow Incident
as Gil Carter · 1943
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
as Thomas Watson · 1939
The Fugitive
as A Fugitive · 1947
The Mad Miss Manton
as Peter Ames · 1938
Fail Safe
as The President · 1964
The Tin Star
as Morgan Hickman · 1957
Laugh-In
as Guest Performer · 1977
Laugh-In
as Guest Performer (uncredited) · 1977
Sometimes a Great Notion
as Henry Stamper · 1971
You Only Live Once
as Eddie Taylor · 1937
Too Late the Hero
as Capt. John G Nolan · 1970
The Swarm
as Dr. Krim · 1978
Fedora
as President of the Academy · 1978
There Was a Crooked Man...
as Woodward W. Lopeman · 1970
The Lady Eve
as Charles Pike · 1941
The Boston Strangler
as John S. Bottomly · 1968
Jesse James
as Frank James · 1939
Drums Along the Mohawk
as Gilbert Martin · 1939
The Blue Hotel
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1977
Mister Roberts
as Lieutenant Roberts · 1955
Madigan
as Commissioner Anthony X. Russell · 1968
Advise & Consent
as Robert Leffingwell · 1962
The Best Man
as William Russell · 1964
The Return of Frank James
as Frank James · 1940
On Our Merry Way
as Lank Solsky · 1948
The Rounders
as Marion 'Howdy' Lewis · 1965
The World About Us
as Narrator · 1967
Stranger on the Run
as Ben Chamberlain · 1967
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1980
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
as Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2019
Young Mr. Lincoln
as Abraham Lincoln · 1939
Directed by John Ford
· 1971
Daisy Kenyon
as Peter Lapham · 1947
Jezebel
as Preston Dillard · 1938
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
as Dave Tolliver · 1936
Rings on Her Fingers
as John Wheeler · 1942
The Biggest Battle
as Generale Foster · 1978
Firecreek
as Bob Larkin · 1968
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited) · 1974
Citizen Jane Fonda
as Self (archive footage) · 2020
Tentacles
as Mr. Whitehead · 1977
Spawn of the North
as Jim Kimmerlee · 1938
The Long Night
as Joe Adams · 1947
The Last Four Days
as Kardinal Schuster · 1974
You Belong to Me
as Peter Kirk · 1941
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
as Self (archive footage) · 1991
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
· 1991
Rollercoaster
as Simon Davenport · 1977
The Battle of Midway
as Narrator (voice) · 1942
The Great Smokey Roadblock
as Elegant John · 1978
Gideon's Trumpet
as Clarence Earl Gideon · 1980
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
as Self · 1978
Spencer's Mountain
as Clay Spencer · 1963
The Serpent
as Alan Davies · 1973
Henry Fonda for President
as Self (archive footage) · 2025
Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth
as Self(archive footage) · 2020
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
as (archive footage) · 1990
Tales of Manhattan
as George · 1942
Let Poland Be Poland
as Self · 1982
La Classe américaine
as Hugues (archive footage) · 1993
Slim
as Slim Kincaid · 1937
The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
as Self (archive footage) · 1980
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage) · 2013
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
as Self (archive footage) · 1988
Wanda Nevada
as Old Prospector · 1979
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1980
The Big Street
as Little Pinks · 1942
Benjy
as Narrator (voice) · 1951
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
as Self - Narrator · 1961
City on Fire
as Fire Chief Risley · 1979
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage) · 1984
The Male Animal
as Tommy Turner · 1942
Clarence Darrow
as Clarence Darrow · 1974
The Fabulous Fifties
as Narrator (segment "Fifties Dead Sequence") (voice) · 1960
The American West of John Ford
as Self - Narrator · 1971
The Dirty Game
as Dimitri Koulov · 1965
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
as Self (archive footage) · 1997
An Impression of John Steinbeck: Writer
as John Steinbeck (voice) · 1969
I'm a Fool
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1977
Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero
as Self (archive footage) · 1997
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1976
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
as Gen. Douglas MacArthur · 1976
Henry James' The Jolly Corner
as Narrator · 1975
The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty
as Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2023
I Met My Love Again
as Ives Towner · 1938
Jezebel: Legend of the South
as Self (archive footage) · 2006
The Man Who Understood Women
as Willie Bauche · 1959
The Farmer Takes a Wife
as Dan Harrow · 1935
I Dream Too Much
as Johnny Street · 1935
The Alpha Caper
as Mark Forbes · 1973
The Greatest Man in the World
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1981
Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'The Wrong Man'
as Self (archive footage) · 2004
'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War
as Self (archive footage) · 2020
The Wages of Sin
as Self (archive footage) · 2003
Pictura
as Narrator (segment "Grant Wood") (voice) · 1951
Ash Wednesday
as Mark Sawyer · 1973
The Sky Is Gray
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1980
President Kennedy's Birthday Salute
as Self · 1962
The Making of Midway
as Self (archive footage) · 2001
Spanish Western
as Self (archive footage) · 2015
The Moon's Our Home
as Anthony Amberton / John Smith · 1936
Breakdowns of 1938
as Self (archive footage) · 1938
The Red Pony
as Carl Tiflin · 1973
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
as (archive footage) · 1999
Wings of the Morning
as Kerry Gilfallen · 1937
Let Us Live
as "Brick" Tennant · 1939
The Petrified Forest
as Alan Squier · 1955
Something to Do with Death
as Self (archive footage) · 2003
John Ford & Monument Valley
as Self (archive footage) · 2013
Chad Hanna
as Chad Hanna · 1940
Stage Struck
as Lewis Easton · 1958
Jigsaw
as Nightclub Waiter (uncredited) · 1949
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men'
as Self (archive footage) · 2008
That Certain Woman
as Jack V. Merrick, Jr. · 1937
Parkinson: Meet Henry Fonda
as Self · 1975
Inside 'the Swarm'
as Self · 1978
Lillian Russell
as Alexander Moore · 1940
Way Down East
as David Bartlett · 1935
Immortal Sergeant
as Corporal Colin Spence · 1943
Home to Stay
as Grandpa George · 1978
The Golden Honeymoon
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1980
Paul's Case
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1980
Blockade
as Marco · 1938
An Opera of Violence
as Self - Actor (archive footage) · 2003
Loving Against Time: the Making of On Golden Pond
as (archive footage)
Pat Paulsen for President
as Narrator (voice) · 1968
Summer Solstice
as Joshua · 1981
Parker Adderson, Philosopher
as Narrator (Voice) · 1974
The Really Big Family
as Self - Narrator · 1966
Hollywood: The Fabulous Era
as Narrator / Host · 1962
Spendthrift
as Townsend Middleton · 1936
Soldier's Home
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1977
The Magnificent Dope
as Thadeus Winship 'Tad' Page · 1942
To Save a Soldier
as Narrator (voice) · 1966
Underground Doctors
as Self - Host · 1977
A Space to Grow
as Narrator · 1968
Wild Geese Calling
as John Murdock · 1941
Hollywood: The Great Stars
as Self - Host · 1963
The Man Who Loved Bears
as Self · 1979
Sacco and Vanzetti
as Prof. Tommy Turner (archive footage) · 2006
It's Everybody's War
as Narrator · 1942
Fonda on Fonda
as Self (archive footage) · 1992
The Displaced Person
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1977
Rappaccini's Daughter
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1980
Barn Burning
as Self - Series Host (uncredited) · 1980
The Real Miss America
as Narrator (voice) · 1952
The Music School
as Narrator (voice) · 1974
Born to Buck
as Narrator · 1966