Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda
(1905 – 1982)

Who was Hollywood's greatest actor of all time? There have been so many great stars over the years that the question will be debated for years. In the end, it comes down to personal preference but high on almost every list of Greatest Stars would be Henry Fonda. Fonda was more an actor than a Star, he certainly had all the tools to become a box office favorite. He was tall, slender, and incredibly good looking, but it was his talent and hard work that set him apart. Hank Fonda's job was to give audiences a memorable performance, and he did in more than one hundred pictures during a career that spanned more than five decades. "One Take Fonda" was the consummate professional on the set, and even if his politics did not fit the conservative norm, he was generally able to avoid scandal off-screen.

Henry Jaynes Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska, 1905. He was a bashful and surprisingly short boy, but a good skater, swimmer, and runner. He worked part-time in his father's printing business and had dreams of going into journalism. Fonda was active in Scouting and attained the rank of Eagle as a youth. At the age of 14, he was witness to the lynching of a young man of color accused of rape and was so outraged that it affected his views on race and politics for the rest of his life. He attended the University of Minnesota to study journalism but did not graduate.

Instead, he returned to Nebraska and began studying acting with Dodie Brando at the Omaha Community Playhouse. Dodie was a friend of his mother's and the mother of Marlon Brando (Fonda and the younger Brando did not know each other until they were both famous, and they did not get along very well. Brando had a maid in his Hollywood home who gave unauthorized tours of his home, so he fired her. A few days later, Fonda called him to check her references when she applied to work in his house. Brando gave the recommendation but failed to mention the tours). He went on to join the University Players, a summer stock company on Cape Cod. After Fonda joined the players, another young actor came along named James Stewart.

Fonda moved to New York City after the 1932 season, and Stewart soon followed. They fared little better than any other small-town boys in the big city during the Depression but honed their skills on Broadway while learning to have fun with very little money. They separately moved to Hollywood to try their luck in pictures. They were roommates (living next door to Greta Garbo) and developed a life-long friendship (as long as they never discussed politics). Fonda got his break into films in The Farmer Takes a Wife (1934) and later won critical acclaim for Jezebel (1938) and in the title role of Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), his first collaboration with director John Ford.

Ford actively recruited Fonda to star as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), but studio boss Darryl Zanuck would not give him the role unless he signed a seven-year contract with Twentieth Century Fox. Fonda was nominated for Best Actor in what many consider his finest role. Before Pearl Harbor, Stewart and Fonda worked to raise money for British War relief. Stewart joined the Army Air Force while Fonda enlisted in the Navy, first as a Quartermaster 3rd Class on the USS Satterlee and eventually accepting a commission as a Lieutenant, Junior Grade, in Air Combat Intelligence for the Central Pacific Command.  After the War, he maintained, at least, a fictional relationship with the Navy, appearing in Mr. Roberts (1955) and portraying Chester Nimitz in In Harm's Way (1965) and Midway (1976).

Henry Fonda had a great deal of success as a member of John Ford's "stock company", but again he was careful not to discuss politics with conservative members like John Wayne and Ward Bond. His relationship with Ford ended on the set of Mr. Roberts when they were arguing about Fonda's acting the director took a punch at his star and was replaced (Ford soon went in for emergency gallbladder surgery).

During the height of the McCarthy "Witch Hunt", Fonda got into a heated argument with his friend James Stewart over blacklisting and the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. The argument went unresolved when both parties agreed to table the issue rather than give up their friendship. Fonda was a liberal Democrat but never a communist, however, his politics were liberal enough that he was "greylisted" for several years and appeared on Broadway rather than working in Hollywood.

Fonda's last picture was On Golden Pond (1981) with Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane Fonda. At age 76, Fonda became the oldest ever recipient of an Academy Award (for Best Actor, Hepburn, who was 74, won Best Actress), and also holds the record for longest stretch between nominations. His last acting nomination was for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and his production of 12 Angry Men (1957) was nominated for Best Picture.

Henry Fonda died of heart disease at his Los Angeles home on August 12, 1982. On what would have been his 100th birthday, Turner Classic Movies aired a marathon of Henry Fonda's movies, and the same month the US Postal Service released a 37 cent postage stamp adorned with Fonda's image as part of the "Hollywood Legends" stamp series.

A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1607 Vine Street honors Henry Fonda's contributions to Motion Pictures.