May 5, 2005. Copyright 2005, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Henry Fonda: Centenary of AmericaÕs everyman
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, May 5, Graphic News:  Henry Fonda, who would have been 100 on May 16, was among the most versatile of all the Hollywood greats. Film fans still argue about which performance was best: the actor as noble Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, for example, or as evil hired hitman Frank Morton in his darkest ever role.

In a career spanning half a century and more than 100 films, Fonda was inextricably tied to the evolution of American society -- whether portraying the young Abe Lincoln or Wyatt Earp, he portrayed the American everyman struggling with change.

Born in Nebraska in 1905, FondaÕs father was a printer and his first career choice was journalism. After studying amateur dramatics, however, he turned to the stage and then to movies, appearing in A Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) and Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936). Such films established him as a leading male of the day, invariably cast as a clean-cut hero.

But it was his collaboration with director John Ford in Young Mr Lincoln (1939) that propelled him onto the studiosÕ must-have list. His role as long-suffering Tom Joad in FordÕs 1940 adaptation of John SteinbeckÕs The Grapes of Wrath won him an Oscar nomination, but tied him into a long, often fruitless, deal with Fox.

Having scored hits with The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and FordÕs My Darling Clementine (1946), Fonda abandoned Hollywood for the theatre rather than sign another studio contract. On his return, he made up for lost time with performances in films including Alfred HitchcockÕs The Wrong Man (1956) and Sidney LumetÕs Twelve Angry Men (1957).

His casting as Frank Morton in Sergio LeoneÕs dark Western, Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) shocked filmgoers used to seeing the blue-eyed actor in benevolent, fatherly roles. Though Leone is credited with tapping into a hitherto unseen dark side of Fonda -- early on he is shown mercilessly gunning down an entire family whose farm blocked a future railroad track -- the actor himself despised the role.

As his star became eclipsed by younger actors, Fonda was cast in fewer leading roles and became a regular face in television mini-series, such as the police drama Smith, and Roots -- The Next Generation. However, he won critical acclaim for his role in Billy WilderÕs Fedora in 1978 and a year later starred with son Peter in Wanda Nevada.

His daughter Jane Fonda said recently that her father was a difficult, aloof man -- quite different from the warm, paternal character he portrayed on screen. Yet it was she who initiated the project that brought him a long-awaited Best Actor Oscar in one of the most memorable family film collaborations.

According to Jane, initially it was hard to finance On Golden Pond (1981) because no one wanted to see Òa film about two old guys and a young kidÓ. But the actorÕs last performance, with Katharine Hepburn and Jane, as an ageing professor struggling with his demons on a family vacation certainly ranks as one of FondaÕs best. He died just months after the Oscar ceremony on August 12, 1982.
/ENDS