the actor Henry Fonda was in total awe of: “One of the finest”
Undoubtedly one of the greatest talents of his era, there was nonetheless a sense of irony to Henry Fonda being awarded an honorary Academy Award for those very reasons.
Having been unsuccessfully nominated twice before for acting in The Grapes of Wrath and producing 12 Angry Men, the organisation felt it was necessary to reward the veteran for his career-long involvement in many enduring classics of cinema.
Fonda was described as “the consummate actor” in celebration of his honorary gong, which was bestowed upon him for his “enduring contribution to the art of motion pictures”. It was entirely deserved, but the Academy may have jumped the gun somewhat, seeing as he won ‘Best Actor’ the very next year.
1981’s On Golden Pond proved to be his final big-screen appearance, with the intimate family drama released in cinemas nine months before his death, but at least Fonda bowed out in fitting fashion by winning back-to-back Oscars to put the exclamation point on an exceptional legacy.
Not only that, but he’d already given rise to a dynasty by that point as children Jane and Peter set about conquering the industry in their own ways. The former even became a legend in her own right who accrued two Oscars, a pair of Baftas, a Primetime Emmy, and eight Golden Globes, with On Golden Pond marking a particularly poignant moment as the father/daughter duo shared the screen for the first and last time.
While there might be an element of bias, considering he was her old man, Fonda Sr’s comments on his daughter’s acting prowess remain 100% accurate. “Fact is, I’m in total awe of her,” he said in a PBS documentary. “She’s not only one of the finest actresses working today, on top of this, Jane is a political activist of the highest ideals and the courage of her convictions.”
Even though there was negative publicity aplenty during her ‘Hanoi Jane’ days and she was warned repeatedly that it could potentially do irreparable damage to her standing in the business, Fonda couldn’t have cared less when she was fighting for a cause she believed in so unequivocally. Of course, she was welcomed back in with open arms and ended up an icon, but for a while she was one of the most polarising figures in the United States.
Her father worked with countless legends of the silver screen as part of a storied filmography filled to the brim with classic films, but he was also a man of principle. If he didn’t think Jane was one of the best actors Hollywood had to offer, then he wouldn’t have felt compelled to say it because he didn’t seem to reserve the same type of adulation for poor Peter.
