Acting
Henry Fonda
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
Henry Fonda for President
Film · 2025
The Fondas: A Cinematic Dynasty
Film · 2023
'Fail-Safe' and the Cold War
Film · 2020
Citizen Jane Fonda
Film · 2020
Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth
Film · 2020
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
Film · 2019
Spanish Western
Film · 2015
John Ford & Monument Valley
Film · 2013
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Film · 2013
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men'
Film · 2008
Jezebel: Legend of the South
Film · 2006
Sacco and Vanzetti
Film · 2006
Guilt Trip: Hitchcock and 'The Wrong Man'
Film · 2004
Parkinson
Series · 2004
The Wages of Sin
Film · 2003
Something to Do with Death
Film · 2003
An Opera of Violence
Film · 2003
The Making of Midway
Film · 2001
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Film · 1999
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Film · 1997
Henry Fonda: Hollywood's Quiet Hero
Film · 1997
La Classe américaine
Film · 1993
Fonda on Fonda
Film · 1992
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Film · 1991
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Film · 1991
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
Film · 1990
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Film · 1988
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Film · 1984
Let Poland Be Poland
Film · 1982
On Golden Pond
Film · 1981
The Greatest Man in the World
Film · 1981
Summer Solstice
Film · 1981
The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
Film · 1980
Gideon's Trumpet
Film · 1980
Rappaccini's Daughter
Film · 1980
The Sky Is Gray
Film · 1980
The Golden Honeymoon
Film · 1980
Paul's Case
Film · 1980
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
Film · 1980
Barn Burning
Film · 1980
The Oldest Living Graduate
Film · 1980
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
Film · 1980
Meteor
Film · 1979
Wanda Nevada
Film · 1979
The Man Who Loved Bears
Film · 1979
City on Fire
Film · 1979
Roots: The Next Generations
Series · 1979
The Great Smokey Roadblock
Film · 1978
The Swarm
Film · 1978
The Biggest Battle
Film · 1978
Fedora
Film · 1978
Inside 'the Swarm'
Film · 1978
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
Film · 1978
Home to Stay
Film · 1978
The Kennedy Center Honors
Series · 1978
Rollercoaster
Film · 1977
Tentacles
Film · 1977
The Displaced Person
Film · 1977
The Blue Hotel
Film · 1977
Soldier's Home
Film · 1977
I'm a Fool
Film · 1977
Underground Doctors
Film · 1977
Laugh-In
Series · 1977
Laugh-In
Series · 1977
Midway
Film · 1976
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
Film · 1976
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Film · 1976
Captains and the Kings
Series · 1976
Family
Series · 1976
Parkinson: Meet Henry Fonda
Film · 1975
Henry James' The Jolly Corner
Film · 1975
People's Choice Awards
Series · 1975
Clarence Darrow
Film · 1974
The Last Four Days
Film · 1974
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Film · 1974
The Music School
Film · 1974
Parker Adderson, Philosopher
Film · 1974
Dinah!
Series · 1974
Spécial cinéma
Series · 1974
My Name Is Nobody
Film · 1973
The Serpent
Film · 1973
The Alpha Caper
Film · 1973
The Red Pony
Film · 1973
Ash Wednesday
Film · 1973
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Series · 1973
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Series · 1973
Sometimes a Great Notion
Film · 1971
Directed by John Ford
Film · 1971
The American West of John Ford
Film · 1971
All in the Family
Series · 1971
The Smith Family
Series · 1971
V.I.P. Schaukel
Series · 1971
Cadet Rousselle
Series · 1971
Film '72
Series · 1971
There Was a Crooked Man...
Film · 1970
The Cheyenne Social Club
Film · 1970
Too Late the Hero
Film · 1970
An Impression of John Steinbeck: Writer
Film · 1969
The Bill Cosby Show
Series · 1969
Madigan
Film · 1968
Firecreek
Film · 1968
The Boston Strangler
Film · 1968
Yours, Mine and Ours
Film · 1968
Pat Paulsen for President
Film · 1968
A Space to Grow
Film · 1968
Once Upon a Time in the West
Film · 1968
The Dick Cavett Show
Series · 1968
The Doris Day Show
Series · 1968
Stranger on the Run
Film · 1967
Welcome to Hard Times
Film · 1967
The World About Us
Series · 1967
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Film · 1966
Born to Buck
Film · 1966
The Really Big Family
Film · 1966
To Save a Soldier
Film · 1966
The Rounders
Film · 1965
Battle of the Bulge
Film · 1965
In Harm's Way
Film · 1965
The Dirty Game
Film · 1965
Fail Safe
Film · 1964
Sex and the Single Girl
Film · 1964
The Best Man
Film · 1964
Spencer's Mountain
Film · 1963
Hollywood: The Great Stars
Film · 1963
How the West Was Won
Film · 1962
The Longest Day
Film · 1962
Advise & Consent
Film · 1962
Hollywood: The Fabulous Era
Film · 1962
President Kennedy's Birthday Salute
Film · 1962
The Merv Griffin Show
Series · 1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Series · 1962
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Film · 1961
The Mike Douglas Show
Series · 1961
The Fabulous Fifties
Film · 1960
Warlock
Film · 1959
The Man Who Understood Women
Film · 1959
The Deputy
Series · 1959
The Bell Telephone Hour
Series · 1959
Stage Struck
Film · 1958
The Tin Star
Film · 1957
12 Angry Men
Film · 1957
War and Peace
Film · 1956
The Wrong Man
Film · 1956
The Steve Allen Show
Series · 1956
Tony Awards
Series · 1956
Tony Awards
Series · 1956
Tony Awards
Series · 1956
Tony Awards
Series · 1956
Tony Awards
Series · 1956
Tony Awards
Series · 1956
Mister Roberts
Film · 1955
The Petrified Forest
Film · 1955
The Star and the Story
Series · 1955
General Electric Theater
Series · 1953
The Real Miss America
Film · 1952
Benjy
Film · 1951
Pictura
Film · 1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Series · 1951
What's My Line?
Series · 1950
Jigsaw
Film · 1949
Fort Apache
Film · 1948
On Our Merry Way
Film · 1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
Series · 1948
Daisy Kenyon
Film · 1947
The Fugitive
Film · 1947
The Long Night
Film · 1947
My Darling Clementine
Film · 1946
Golden Globe Awards
Series · 1944
Golden Globe Awards
Series · 1944
The Ox-Bow Incident
Film · 1943
Immortal Sergeant
Film · 1943
Tales of Manhattan
Film · 1942
The Male Animal
Film · 1942
The Battle of Midway
Film · 1942
Rings on Her Fingers
Film · 1942
The Big Street
Film · 1942
The Magnificent Dope
Film · 1942
It's Everybody's War
Film · 1942
The Lady Eve
Film · 1941
You Belong to Me
Film · 1941
Wild Geese Calling
Film · 1941
The Grapes of Wrath
Film · 1940
The Return of Frank James
Film · 1940
Chad Hanna
Film · 1940
Lillian Russell
Film · 1940
Jesse James
Film · 1939
Young Mr. Lincoln
Film · 1939
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Film · 1939
Let Us Live
Film · 1939
Drums Along the Mohawk
Film · 1939
Jezebel
Film · 1938
The Mad Miss Manton
Film · 1938
Breakdowns of 1938
Film · 1938
Spawn of the North
Film · 1938
Blockade
Film · 1938
I Met My Love Again
Film · 1938
You Only Live Once
Film · 1937
That Certain Woman
Film · 1937
Wings of the Morning
Film · 1937
Slim
Film · 1937
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Film · 1936
The Moon's Our Home
Film · 1936
Spendthrift
Film · 1936
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Film · 1935
I Dream Too Much
Film · 1935
Way Down East
Film · 1935
Loving Against Time: the Making of On Golden Pond
Film