Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 - August 12, 1982) was an American film and stage actor whose Hollywood career spanned nearly five decades. He became iconic for playing plain-spoken, morally upright Americans - most memorably Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and the lone holdout juror in 12 Angry Men (1957). His final film, On Golden Pond (1981), earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor; too ill to attend the ceremony, he died shortly after at 77. His children Jane and Peter Fonda both became major Hollywood stars.
At the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, the essayistic film Henry Fonda for President (184 min.) by Austrian director Alexander Horwath premiered, which connects Fonda's acting career with a panorama of American history; the magazine Sight & Sound included it among the best films of 2024.
The film Henry Fonda for President was awarded at several international film festivals and in the Sight and Sound poll was ranked among the best films of 2024.
