
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.
Acting (159 movies)

The Ox-Bow Incident
1943

Fail Safe
1964

The Grapes of Wrath
1940

The Lady Eve
1941

My Darling Clementine
1946

Jezebel: Legend of the South
2006

Jezebel
1938

Rollercoaster
1977

Daisy Kenyon
1947

Madigan
1968

Firecreek
1968

The Tin Star
1957

Midway
1976

War and Peace
1956

The Wrong Man
1956

On Golden Pond
1981

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men'
2008

'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War
2020

The Wages of Sin
2003

Something to Do with Death
2003

The Rounders
1965

How the West Was Won
1962

My Name Is Nobody
1973

The Longest Day
1962

There Was a Crooked Man...
1970

The Boston Strangler
1968

Sex and the Single Girl
1964

Tales of Manhattan
1942

Yours, Mine and Ours
1968

Battle of the Bulge
1965

Sometimes a Great Notion
1971

Meteor
1979

The Cheyenne Social Club
1970

The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
1980

The Great Smokey Roadblock
1978

A Big Hand for the Little Lady
1966

The Best Man
1964

Fort Apache
1948

The Fugitive
1947

Warlock
1959

The Return of Frank James
1940

Jesse James
1939

Young Mr. Lincoln
1939

The Mad Miss Manton
1938

The Serpent
1973

The Long Night
1947

Mister Roberts
1955

Gideon's Trumpet
1980

Spencer's Mountain
1963

In Harm's Way
1965

La Classe américaine
1993

Jigsaw
1949

Directed by John Ford
1971

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991

Stiletto
1969

Breakdowns of 1938
1938

Wanda Nevada
1979

Advise & Consent
1962

Sacco and Vanzetti
2006

The Swarm
1978

Hollywood: The Fabulous Era
1962

Hollywood: The Great Stars
1963

Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961

Tentacles
1977

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939

Let Us Live
1939

The Biggest Battle
1978

The Greatest Man in the World
1981

You Only Live Once
1937

Drums Along the Mohawk
1939

On Our Merry Way
1948

The Male Animal
1942

Fedora
1978

The Battle of Midway
1942

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
1936

Immortal Sergeant
1943

Spawn of the North
1938

That Certain Woman
1937

Rings on Her Fingers
1942

You Belong to Me
1941

The Big Street
1942

The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty
2023

Stranger on the Run
1967

City on Fire
1979

The Moon's Our Home
1936

An Opera of Violence
2003

Inside 'the Swarm'
1978

Revisiting 'Fail-Safe'
2000

Stage Struck
1958

Chad Hanna
1940

Blockade
1938

Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
1976

Welcome to Hard Times
1967

Wings of the Morning
1937

Lillian Russell
1940

Slim
1937

The Dirty Game
1965

The Farmer Takes a Wife
1935

I Met My Love Again
1938

I Dream Too Much
1935
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Angry Men | 1957 | Producer |