Peter Fonda

Peter Fonda (born February 23, 1940, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 16, 2019, Los Angeles, California) was an American actor, writer, and director who was a counterculture icon, best known for the cult classic film Easy Rider (1969). He was also a member of a legendary acting family that included his father, sister, and daughter—Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, and Bridget Fonda, respectively.

Early life and family difficulties

He was born in 1940, the only son of Henry Fonda, a noted actor of stage and screen, and Frances Seymour, a former debutante who would spend much of the rest of her life in institutions. When Peter Fonda was seven weeks old, his father brought him, Jane Fonda, and their half-sister, Frances (“Pan”) de Villers Brokaw (from their mother’s previous marriage), to live in California. They grew up in a semirural area in the Santa Monica Mountains, and Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda attended the Brentwood Town and Country School, a somewhat progressive private school. In 1948 the family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, so that Henry Fonda, who was starring on Broadway, could be closer to his family. In Greenwich, Peter Fonda attended the Brunswick School and the Fay School. At the latter, he began to write short plays and performed in school-sponsored productions.

In 1949 Frances Fonda died by suicide while in an institution. Although his sister and father knew the details surrounding her death, Peter Fonda was told that his mother had died of a heart attack. He did not learn the truth until someone showed him a newspaper clipping in 1955. The deception was to haunt him for most of his adolescent and adult life. Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda remained close throughout their lives, but Henry Fonda became increasingly estranged from his children with each subsequent divorce and remarriage (the senior Fonda married five times).

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Peter Fonda finished high school at Westminster, a prestigious prep school, where he continued to perform in school plays. After graduation, he moved in with relatives in his father’s native Omaha, Nebraska, and attended what is now the University of Nebraska Omaha for a year before moving to New York to pursue an acting career.

First films and TV shows

Unlike his sister, Fonda elected not to study at the Actors Studio but applied his sensitivity and free spirit to create the characters he played. In 1961 he made his Broadway debut in the play Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole. Fonda continued to hone his craft, and in 1962 he moved back to Los Angeles. That year he began landing guest roles on various TV series, including Naked City and Wagon Train.

Fonda made his feature film debut in 1963, cast as the romantic lead opposite Sandra Dee in Tammy and the Doctor. Later that year he had a supporting role in The Victors, a World War II drama. His film credits from 1964 include Lilith, which starred Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg.

Counterculture and Easy Rider

The rebelliousness of rock music attracted Fonda, and he spent much time between 1962 and 1965 with rock musicians. His hip, young social circle included Bob Dylan, the Byrds, and members of the Beatles. He also became acquainted with another young Hollywood rebel named Dennis Hopper, who was married to Fonda’s childhood friend Brooke Hayward.

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During this time, Fonda began to seek out films that challenged mainstream conventions. In 1966 he had a leading role in Roger Corman’s The Wild Angels, an action thriller in which Fonda played an antiheroic member of a motorcycle gang. He reteamed with Corman on The Trip (1967), about a struggling director of TV commercials who experiences surreal visions after experimenting with LSD. The drama also featured Hopper, and it was written by Jack Nicholson.

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By 1967 Fonda and Hopper began developing the concept for a film about two motorcycle riders who travel across the United States. The result was Easy Rider. The film featured a driving rock music score with a memorable title tune composed by Dylan and Roger McGuinn and noteworthy performances by Fonda and Hopper. In addition, Nicholson earned acclaim in a featured role. Although controversial because of its antiauthoritarian point of view and focus on drugs, the film was shown at the Cannes film festival, where it won the prize for best first film by a director (Hopper).

Opening during the summer of 1969 to record-breaking audiences, Easy Rider had a significant influence on youth around the world. The characters played by Fonda and Hopper—Wyatt and Billy, respectively—were seen as representative of the rebellion and unrest of the time, a period marked by worldwide student protests against “the Establishment” and paralleled by the rise of the counterculture and the Woodstock generation. The film received a number of awards, and Fonda, Terry Southern, and Hopper received an Academy Award nomination for their screenplay.

Later films

Fonda continued to act, though he largely eschewed conventional leading-man roles for offbeat and outsider characters. While Easy Rider was arguably the high point of his career, Fonda later appeared in such popular films as Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974), about three friends who rob a grocery store, sparking a massive police chase; The Cannonball Run (1981), a comedy starring Burt Reynolds; and John Carpenter’s action thriller Escape from L.A. (1996). Fonda found himself again in the spotlight following the 1997 release of the film Ulee’s Gold. Fonda’s understated performance as a Florida beekeeper struggling to keep his family together was particularly reminiscent of his father at the same age, and it drew praise from critics and moviegoers. Ulee’s Gold earned Fonda the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best actor, a Golden Globe Award for best actor, and an Oscar nomination.

Later movies include the 1999 action drama The Limey, in which Fonda played a record producer being hunted by a father (Terence Stamp) who is seeking revenge for his daughter’s death. He also had supporting roles in the thriller Ghost Rider (2007); 3:10 to Yuma (2007), a western starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale; and the war drama The Last Full Measure (2019), which was Fonda’s final film. His notable television credits include guest appearances on ER, Californication, and The Blacklist, and he acted in the TV movies The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999) and The Laramie Project (2002), among others.

In addition, Fonda helmed several feature films. In 1971 he made his directorial debut with the western Hired Hand, in which he also starred. He subsequently directed the apocalyptic Idaho Transfer (1973) and the romantic comedy Wanda Nevada (1979). Fonda also appeared in the latter film, which featured his father in a small role.

Personal life

In 1961 Fonda married Susan Brewer, with whom he had two children, Bridget and Justin; Bridget Fonda later became a notable actress, appearing in such movies as Single White Female (1992) and A Simple Plan (1998). Fonda and Brewer divorced in 1974, and he was later married (1975–2011) to Portia Rebecca Crockett. In 2011 he wed Margaret DeVogelaere, and they were together until he died in 2019 from complications of lung cancer. Fonda’s autobiography, Don’t Tell Dad, was published in 1998.