Henry Fonda Last Will and Testament

Download this free copy of the Last Will and Testament of Henry Fonda (1905-1982).

Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor, best known for his roles as plain-speaking idealists. Fonda's subtle, naturalistic acting style preceded by many years the popularization of method acting.

Fonda made his Hollywood debut in 1935 and received his first Academy Award nomination for his performance as Tom Joad in 1940's The Grapes of Wrath. Throughout six decades in Hollywood, Fonda cultivated a strong, appealing screen image in such classics as The Ox-Bow Incident, Mister Roberts and 12 Angry Men. Later, Fonda moved toward both more challenging, darker epics as Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West and lighter roles in family comedies like Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball.

Fonda was the patriarch of a family of famous actors, including daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity; his family and close friends called him "Hank". His last movie role was in 1981's On Golden Pond, in which he played the father of real-life daughter Jane Fonda. Henry played an emotionally brittle and distant father who becomes more accessible at the end of his life. Jane Fonda has said that elements of the story mimicked their real-life relationship, and helped them resolve certain issues. She bought the film rights in the hope that her father would play the role, and later described it as "a gift to my father that was so unbelievably successful." The chemistry between them and Katharine Hepburn as the wife and mother made for an unforgettable film experience.

In 1999, Henry Fonda was named the sixth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.

Biographical material taken from Wikipedia.com.