Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 â€" August 12, 1982) was an American
film and stage 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
fiancée 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 (1940), 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 1956, at the age of
fifty-one, he played the title role as the thirty-eight-year-old Manny
Balestrero in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Wrong Man. In 1957 he
starred as Juror No.8, the hold-out juror, in 12 Angry Men. Fonda, who
was also the co-producer of this film, won the BAFTA award for Best
Foreign Actor.
film and stage 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
fiancée 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 (1940), 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 1956, at the age of
fifty-one, he played the title role as the thirty-eight-year-old Manny
Balestrero in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Wrong Man. In 1957 he
starred as Juror No.8, the hold-out juror, in 12 Angry Men. Fonda, who
was also the co-producer of this film, won the BAFTA award for Best
Foreign Actor.
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