Henry Fonda
The Fonda family are now a famous acting dynasty,
with Henry Fonda's children, Jane and Peter also having successful
Hollywood film careers before Henry Fonda's granddaughter,
Bridget, emerged as a major Hollywood star.
It all began with Henry Fonda though, and an
interesting fact is that early on in Henry Fonda's and James
Stewart's careers is that they roomed together in New York.
It was Henry Fonda who first got the Hollywood break and made
a Hollywood film. It was in 1935 when he played his first
Hollywood leadhe in the screen adaptation of The Farmer Takes
a Wife made by 20th Century Fox where Fonda reprised his role
from the Broadway production of the same name which gained
him critical recognition.
From them on, Henry Fonda's film career ascended
vertically and rapidly as next he co-starred with Sylvia Sidney
and Fred MacMurray in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, made
in 1936, the first Technicolor movie shot outdoors. Then Fonda
starred with his ex-wife Margaret Sullavan in The Moon's Our
Home, and a short re-kindling of their relationship led their
briefly considering re-marriage. Sullavan at this time was
married to Henry Fonda's agent, Leland Hayward, and Fonda
eventually married socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw and Fonda's
first child, Jane Fonda, was born on December 21, 1937. After
critical success opposite Bette Davis, who had picked Fonda
for the film Jezebel, made in 1938, there followed Henry Fonda
playing the title role in Young Mr. Lincoln, which was his
first collaboration with director John Ford. Fonda's successes
led Ford to recruit him to play "Tom Joad" in the
film version of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath,
made in 1940, but a reluctant Darryl Zanuck, who preferred
Tyrone Power, insisted on Fonda's signing a seven-year contract
with the studio, Twentieth Century-Fox. Fonda agreed and was
nominated for an Academy Award for his role in The Grapes
Of Wrath film and many consider it to be his finest work,
but it was his friend James Stewart who won the Best Actor
award for Stewart's role in The Philadelphia Story.
I could go on and on here listing the Henry
Fonda classics, because there are very, very many, but the
stand out films for me are: Mister Roberts, where Henry Fonda
famously came to blows with John Ford, 12 Angry Men, where
Fonda also debuted as a producer and the film is a classic
of classics. A phenomenon of pure brilliance - and you don't
often see those. Henry Fonda was nominated for the Oscar for
best actor for his performance. I have to mention The Longest
Day, made in 1962 about the D-Day landings, How The West Was
Won, also made in 1962, Once Upon A Time In The West, a spaghetti
western directed by Sergio Leone where, against type, Henry
Fonda played the villian and I will stop short of mentioning
more Henry Ford classics and leave you with On Golden Pond
where Henry Fonda co-starred with Katharine Hepburn. The film
is a simply wonderful and swept up all the awards and Henry
Fonda won the Oscar for best actor... Obviously, I could go
on and on... Henry Fonda is one of Hollywood's greatest...
Tim Rees
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