Person
Henry Fonda
Grand Island, Nebraska, USA
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 imag…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2025
Henry Fonda for President
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2023
The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty
Movie Self - Actor (archive footage)
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2020
Citizen Jane Fonda
Movie
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2020
Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth
Movie Self(archive footage)
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2020
'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2019
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
Movie Self - Actor (archive footage)
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2015
Spanish Western
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2013
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2013
John Ford & Monument Valley
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2008
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men'
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2006
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2006
Sacco and Vanzetti
Movie Prof. Tommy Turner (archive footage)
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2004
Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'The Wrong Man'
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2004
Parkinson
TV show Self - Guest (archive footage)
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2003
The Wages of Sin
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2003
An Opera of Violence
Movie Self - Actor (archive footage)
More credits
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2003
Something to Do with Death
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2001
The Making of Midway
Movie Self
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1999
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Movie (archive footage)
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1997
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1997
Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1993
La Classe américaine
Movie Hugues (archive footage)
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1992
Fonda on Fonda
Movie Self (archive footage)
- 1991
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1991
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1990
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
Movie (archive footage)
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1988
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Movie (archive footage)
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1982
Let Poland Be Poland
Movie Self
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1981
Summer Solstice
Movie Joshua
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1981
On Golden Pond
Movie Norman Thayer Jr.
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1981
The Greatest Man in the World
Movie Self - Series Host (uncredited)
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1980
Gideon's Trumpet
Movie Clarence Earl Gideon
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1980
The Oldest Living Graduate
Movie Col. J.C. Kincaid
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1980
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
Movie Self - Series Host (uncredited)
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1980
Barn Burning
Movie Self - Series Host (uncredited)
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1980
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
Movie Self - Series Host (uncredited)
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1980
Paul's Case
Movie Self - Series Host (uncredited)
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1980
The Golden Honeymoon
Movie Self - Series Host (uncredited)
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1980
The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
Movie Self (archive footage)
