Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He was twice anAcademy Award nominee, both for acting and screenwriting, and a two-timeGolden Globe Award winner for his acting. He was a member of the Fonda acting family, as the son of actorHenry Fonda, the brother of actress and activistJane Fonda, and the father of actressBridget Fonda.
Fonda was born bycaesarean section (C-section) on February 23, 1940, atLeRoy Hospital in New York City, the only son of actorHenry Fonda and socialiteFrances Ford Seymour; his older sister is actressJane Fonda.[4][5] He and Jane had a half-sister, Frances de Villers Brokaw (1931–2008), from their mother's first marriage. Their mother committed suicide in a mental hospital when Peter, her youngest, was 10. He did not discover the circumstances or location of her death until he was 15.
One month prior to his 11th birthday, he accidentally shot himself in the abdomen and nearly died. He went to the hill station ofNainital,Uttarakhand,northern India, and stayed for a few months for recovery.[6] Years later, while takingLSD[7] withJohn Lennon andGeorge Harrison, he referred to this incident, saying, "I know what it's like to be dead." This inspiredthe Beatles' song "She Said She Said" from their seventh studio albumRevolver (1966).[8]
Fonda's first film came when producerRoss Hunter was looking for a new male actor to romanceSandra Dee inTammy and the Doctor (1963). He was cast in the role, in what was a minor hit.[11] He followed this with a support part inThe Victors (1963), a bleak look at American soldiers in World War II, directed byCarl Foreman.[12] Fonda's performance won him a Golden Globe Award for most promising newcomer.
By the mid-1960s, Fonda was not a conventional "leading man" in Hollywood. AsPlayboy magazine reported, Fonda had established a "solid reputation as a dropout". He had become outwardly nonconformist and grew his hair long and took LSD regularly, alienating the "establishment" film industry. Desirable acting work became scarce.[15] Through his friendships with members of the bandThe Byrds, Fonda visitedThe Beatles in their rented house inBenedict Canyon in Los Angeles in August 1965. WhileJohn Lennon,Ringo Starr,George Harrison, and Fonda were under the influence ofLSD, Lennon heard Fonda say, "I know what it's like to be dead." Lennon used the phrase in the lyrics for his song, "She Said She Said", which was included on their 1966 album,Revolver.[8]
In August 1966 Fonda was charged with possession of marijuana,[16] and was later acquitted in December of that year.[17] In November 1966 Fonda was arrested in theSunset Strip riot, which the police ended forcefully. The bandBuffalo Springfield protested the department's handling of the incident in their song "For What It's Worth". In 1967, Fonda recorded "November Night", a45-rpm single written byGram Parsons for the Chisa label, backed with "Catch the Wind" byDonovan, produced byHugh Masekela.[18]
Fonda's first counterculture-oriented film role was as a biker inRoger Corman'sB movieThe Wild Angels (1966). Fonda originally was to supportGeorge Chakiris, but graduated to the lead when Chakiris revealed he could not ride a motorcycle. In the film, Fonda delivered a "eulogy" at a fallen Angel's funeral service. The movie was a big hit at the box office, screened at theVenice Film Festival, launched the biker movie genre, and established Peter Fonda as a movie name. Fonda made a television pilot,High Noon: The Clock Strikes Noon Again, filmed in December 1965. It was based on the filmHigh Noon (1952), starringGary Cooper, with Fonda in the Cooper role. It did not become a series.[19]
Fonda produced, co-wrote and starred inEasy Rider (1969), directed byDennis Hopper.Easy Rider is about two long-haired bikers traveling through thesouthwestern and southern United States where they encounter intolerance and violence. Fonda played "Wyatt",[23] a charismatic, laconic man whose motorcycle jacket bore a largeAmerican flag across the back.Dennis Hopper played the garrulous "Billy".Jack Nicholson played George Hanson, an alcoholiccivil rights lawyer who rides along with them. Fonda co-wrote the screenplay withTerry Southern and Hopper.
Fonda tried to secure financing from Roger Corman andAmerican International Pictures (AIP), with whom he had madeThe Wild Angels andThe Trip, but they were reluctant to finance a film directed by Hopper. They succeeded in getting money fromColumbia Pictures. Hopper filmed the cross-country road trip depicted almost entirely on location. Fonda had secured funding of around $360,000, largely based on the fact he knew that it was the budgetRoger Corman needed to makeThe Wild Angels.[24] The guitarist and composerRobbie Robertson, ofThe Band, was so moved by an advance screening that he approached Fonda and tried to convince him to let him write a complete score, even though the film was nearly due for wide release. Fonda declined the offer, instead usingSteppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild",Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" sung byThe Byrds'Roger McGuinn, and Robertson's own composition "The Weight", performed byThe Band, among many other tracks.
The film was released to international success. Jack Nicholson was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Fonda, Hopper and Southern were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film grossed over $40 million.[citation needed]
After the success ofEasy Rider, both Hopper and Fonda were sought for film projects. Hopper directed the filmThe Last Movie (1971), in which Fonda co-starred along with singerMichelle Phillips ofThe Mamas and the Papas.[25] Fonda directed and starred in theWestern filmThe Hired Hand (1971). He took the lead role in a cast that also featuredWarren Oates,Verna Bloom andBeat Generation poetMichael McClure. The film received mixed reviews and failed commercially upon its initial release, but many years later, in 2001, a fully restored version was shown at various film festivals and was re-released by theSundance Channel on DVD that same year in two separate editions. Fonda later directed the science fiction filmIdaho Transfer (1973). He did not appear in the film, and the film received mixed reviews upon its limited release. Around the same time, he co-starred withLindsay Wagner inTwo People (also 1973) for directorRobert Wise, in which he portrayed aVietnam War deserter.
Outlaw Blues (1977) was a drama, with Fonda playing a musician oppositeSusan Saint James. After some more action withHigh-Ballin' (1978), Fonda returned to directing, with the controversial dramaWanda Nevada (1979), wherein the 39-year-old Fonda starred as the "love" interest of the then 13-year-oldBrooke Shields. His father,Henry Fonda, made a brief appearance as well, and it is the only film in which they performed together.[29]
Fonda was top billed inThe Hostage Tower (1980), a television movie based on a story byAlistair MacLean. Fonda appeared in the hit filmThe Cannonball Run (1981) as the "chief biker", a tongue-in-cheek nod to his earlier motorcycle films. He also played a charismatic cult leader inSplit Image (1982), a film that also starredJames Woods,Karen Allen andBrian Dennehy. Despite the strong cast and positive reviews, the film failed to find an audience.
After years of films of varying success, Fonda received high-profile critical recognition and universal praise for his performance inUlee's Gold (1997). He portrayed a taciturn North Florida beekeeper and Vietnam veteran who tries to save his son and granddaughter from a life of drug abuse. For his performance, he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor. He had the lead inPainted Hero (1997). In 1998, Fonda starred in the TV movieThe Tempest, based in part onWilliam Shakespeare'splay of the same name. It was directed by Jack Bender and starred Fonda,John Glover,Harold Perrineau, andKatherine Heigl.[32]
In a 2007 interview, Fonda said that riding motorcycles helped him to focus, stating,
I ride anMV Agusta. This is an Italian racing motorcycle. It forces focus. You have to be focused and in my life, in this business, focus is hard to find sometimes. So I need to force focus and that's great. The bike takes you on a free road. There's no fences on the roads I ride and I don't ride freeways. That's as much as I can tell you, because there are more lands waiting for this little Christian boy. That's not true. I'm an atheist, but what the heck.[37]
Fonda made a return to the big screen as thebounty hunter Byron McElroy in3:10 to Yuma (2007), a remake of the1957 Western. He appeared withChristian Bale andRussell Crowe. The film received two Academy Award nominations and positive reviews from critics. He also appeared in the last scenes of the biker comedyWild Hogs as Damien Blade, founder of the biker gang Del Fuegos and father of Jack, played byRay Liotta. Fonda also portrayedMephistopheles, one of two main villains in the filmGhost Rider (also 2007). Although he wanted to play the character inthe sequel, he was replaced byCiarán Hinds.
His final portrayal was in theVietnam War movieThe Last Full Measure, whose directorTodd Robinson, has recounted that Peter Fonda was able to view that film in its entirety before his death, and got emotional upon viewing it.[39]
Fonda was married three times, he married his first wife Susan Brewer in 1961; together they had three children,Bridget, Justin, and Thomas McGuane (stepson). They divorced in 1974 after 13 years of marriage. Fonda married his second wife Portia Rebecca Crockett, in 1975. The marriage lasted for 36 years until they divorced in 2011. Fonda married his third wife Margaret DeVogelaere, in 2011. The marriage lasted for eight years until Fonda's death in 2019.[40]
In 2011, Fonda andTim Robbins producedThe Big Fix, a documentary that examined the role ofBP in theDeepwater Horizon oil spill and its effects on theGulf of Mexico. At a press conference at theCannes Film Festival, Fonda stated that he had written to PresidentBarack Obama about the spill and criticized him as a "fucking traitor" for allowing "foreign boots on our soil telling our military—in this case theCoast Guard—what they can and could not do, and telling us, the citizens of the United States, what we could or could not do.'"[41]
In June 2018, Fonda went onTwitter to criticize PresidentDonald Trump's administration's enforcement of U.S. immigration policy byJeff Sessions for separating children from their parents at the Mexican border, writing that "We should ripBarron Trump from the arms of First LadyMelania Trump and put him in a cage withpedophiles."[42] He also suggested that Americans should seek out names ofImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in order to protest outside of their homes and the schools of their children.[43] TheSecret Service opened an investigation based on a report from theTrump family.[42] White House Press SecretarySarah Huckabee Sanders (daughter of prominent Republican politicianMike Huckabee), was also the object of Fonda'stweets, in which he suggested that "Maybe we should take her (Sanders') children away..."[44]
Fonda stated that he deleted his tweet regarding Barron Trump, saying that he "immediately regretted it and sincerely apologize to the family for what I said and any hurt my words have caused."[42][45] Backlash to Fonda's tweets resulted in a call for a boycott of his newest film,Boundaries, and other Sony projects.[46] Sony Pictures releasedBoundaries as planned on June 22, 2018,[47] but released a statement stating that Fonda's comments "are abhorrent, reckless and dangerous, and we condemn them completely."[48]
Fonda died from respiratory failure caused bylung cancer at his home inLos Angeles on August 16, 2019, at the age of 79.[49][50]
Following Fonda's death, his older sisterJane Fonda made the following statement: "I am very sad. He was my sweet-hearted baby younger brother, the talker of the family. I have had beautiful alone time with him these last days. He went out laughing."[51][52]
^Zolotow, Sam (August 10, 1960). "Biltmore is Sold; Plays to Return: $850,000 Paid for Theatre Used for TV — Director of Fetti Drama Quits".The New York Times. p. 26.
^Hopper, Hedda (June 26, 1962). "Looking at Hollywood: Ross Hunter Gives New Actors Chance".Chicago Daily Tribune. p. A1.
^Watts, Stephen (October 14, 1962). "Foreman View Of War: Writer-Producer Turns To Directing In European-Made 'The Victors' In Retrospect Appraisal".The New York Times. p. 131.
^Waugh, John C. (January 9, 1963). "Cliff Robertson Gropes for JFK Image: Hollywood Letter Paving the Way Research Made".The Christian Science Monitor. p. 14.
^"Filmland Events: Peter Fonda Signs for 7 Films".Los Angeles Times. August 17, 1963. p. B6.
^Constantine, Peggy (September 19, 1967). "Peter Fonda Not Really a Hippie".Los Angeles Times. p. D13.
^Rosenfeld, Megan (June 15, 1985). "Peter Fonda's Cycles of Discontent: Working Through Scars and Struggles".The Washington Post. p. G1.
^Shelley, Jim (March 21, 1998). "Easy does it Peter Fonda has known trouble from the day he was born, and it wasn't all to do with having a Hollywood legend for a father".The Guardian. p. T014.
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