Comprehensive information and links about Peter Fonda

Peter Fonda born February 23, 1940 in New York, New York, is an American actor. More than any other actor, Peter Fonda is associated with Western counterculture of the 1960s. He is the son of actor Henry Fonda, the brother of actress Jane Fonda, the father of actress Bridget Fonda, and a cousin of NBC evening news anchor Tom Brokaw. His mother, Frances Ford Seymour, took her own life in 1950. Fonda tried to take his own life at age ten, shooting himself in the stomach with a .22-caliber pistol.

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Biography

Fonda studied acting in Omaha, Nebraska, which was his father, home town. He began attending the University of Omaha and joined the Omaha Community Playhouse, where many actors (including his father and Marlon Brando) founded their careers. Fonda found work on Broadway where he achieved notice in , before going to Hollywood to make films.

He got his start in film playing romantic leads, his first film being the romance (1963), which he called "Tammy and the Schmuckface." But Fonda's intensity impressed Robert Rossen, the director of (1964). Rossen envisioned a Jewish actor in the role of Stephen Evshevsky, a mental patient. Fonda earned the role after removing his boss' glasses from his face and putting them on so as to look more "Jewish." He also played the male lead in (1964), an "anti-war war movie."

Peter Fonda was not a conventional "leading man" for Hollywood. While it has never been uncommon for actors and musicians to mix socially, in the mid '60s Fonda chose to align himself with rock counterculture rather than the shallower world of Hollywood actors. When he became a devoted fan of the Byrds, the rock counterculture had barely begun. Fonda formed a strong and enduring friendship with Gram Parsons and was so inspired by him that he decided to switch careers and become a musician, recording a number of Parsons songs despite his limited singing ability. In 1965, when the Beatles invited the Byrds to stay with them in England, Fonda went along with the group. It is said that the Byrds' song "So You Wanna Be a Rock Star?" was penned during this time, about Fonda. Increasingly influenced by Gram Parsons, Fonda became outwardly nonconformist and grew his hair long, alienating the "establishment" film industry and rejecting lead roles in Hollywood films, such as because he had "uneasy feelings" about Roman Polanski. In 1966, Fonda was arrested in a Sunset Strip protest which the Los Angeles Police Department ended forcefully.

Fonda's nonconformism attitude publicly angered his father. "I dig my father. I wish he could open his eyes and dig me," he commented. His first counterculture-oriented film role was the lead character Heavenly Blues, a Hells Angel, in the Roger Corman-directed film (1966). This film is still remembered for Fonda's "eulogy" delivered at the fiasco of a fallen Angel's funeral service, which was sampled in the Primal Scream recording "Loaded" (1991), and in other rock songs. Then Fonda played the male lead character in Corman's film (1967), a television commercial director experiencing the ambivalence and turmoil of divorce. (Fonda credits Jack Nicholson for the original screenplay of , which was modified in favor of the story actually filmed.). He used footage from various The Byrds concerts throughout the film.

In 1968 Fonda produced is about a laid-back, long-haired biker traveling through the southwest and southern United States in a world of intolerance and violence. Fonda begged Parsons to appear as the lead, but the lowkey musician admitted he'd feel undercomfortable on camera. Fonda famously replied, "then give me your jacket and I'll be you." The Gram ParsonsWyatt whose motorcycle jacket bore a large American flag across the back. Dennis Hopper played the garrulous, "Billy" and Jack Nicholson was nominated for an Academy Award (TM) for Best Supporting Actor for his turn as George Hanson, an alcoholic civil rights lawyer who comes along. Fonda co-wrote with Terry Southern and Hopper, who directed.

They filmed the cross-country road trip depicted in almost entirely on location, spending US $375,000.00, and released the film in 1969 to massive success. Robbie Robertson and Bob Dylan were so moved by an advanced screening that they approached Fonda and tried to convince him to let them write a complete score, even though the film was due for wide release in two days. Fonda refused, using the Byrds' song "Ballad of An Easy Rider," Dylan's "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding" and "I Wasn't Born to Follow." Fonda, Hopper and Southern were nominated for the Academy Award (TM) for Best Original Screenplay.

Fonda received critical recognition for his part in (1997). Fonda portrayed a stoic north Florida beekeeper who, in spite of his tumultuous family life, imparts a sense of integrity to his wayward son, and protectiveness of his drug-abusing daughter-in-law. His performance resulted in an Academy Award nomination (TM) for Best Actor.

Fonda's choices of film roles are notable for their extreme contrast in type: from the introverted (albeit amoral and drug-dealing) rebel biker in . In his autobiography, he writes of composing a song in 1980 for Gram Parsons, entitled "My Brother," and refers to the accomplishment of writing a song as the one thing he's wanted to do his whole life.

Selected filmography

Cobrador (2005) (filming) .... X

Ghost Rider (2006) (post-production) .... Mephisto

Japan (2006) (post-production) .... Alfred

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) .... Grandfather ... aka Livre de Jérémie, Le (France)

The Laramie Project (2002) .... Doctor Cantway

Wooly Boys (2001) .... Stoney

Second Skin (2000I) .... Merv Gutman

Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000) .... Grandpa Burnett Stone

South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000) .... Shoshonee Bill

The Limey (1999) .... Terry Valentine

The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999) .... Frank

Painted Hero (1997) .... Ray the Cook ... aka Shadow of the Past

Ulee's Gold (1997) .... Ulysses 'Ulee' Jackson

Grace of My Heart (1996) .... Guru Dave

Escape from L.A. (1996) .... Pipeline ... aka John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. (USA: complete title)

Nadja (1994) .... Dracula Motion (1993) .... Motorcycle Rider

Deadfall (1993) .... Pete

Family Express (1992) .... Nick

South Beach (1992) .... Jake... aka Night Caller (UK: video title)

Fatal Mission (1990) .... Ken Andrews

The Rose Garden (1989) .... Herbert Schluter... aka Rosengarten, Der

Mercenary Fighters (1988) .... Virelli... aka Freedom Fighters

Hawken's Breed (1987)

Certain Fury (1985) .... Rodney

Spasms (1983) .... Dr. Tom Brasilian...aka Death Bite

Daijôbu, mai furendo (1983) .... Gonzy Traumerai... aka All Right, My Friend

Dance of the Dwarfs (1983) .... Harry Bediker... aka Dance of the Dwarves (USA: cable TV title) ... aka Jungle Heat

Peppermint-Frieden (1983) .... Mr. Freedom

Split Image (1982) .... Kirklander... aka Captured (Canada: English title)... aka Envoûtement, L' (Canada: French title)

The Cannonball Run (1981) .... Chief Biker

Wanda Nevada (1979) .... Beaudray Demerille

High-Ballin' (1978) .... Rane

Outlaw Blues (1977) .... Bobby Ogden

Fighting Mad (1976) .... Tom Hunter

Futureworld (1976) .... Chuck Browning

Killer Force (1976) .... Bradley... aka The Diamond Mercenaries (UK)

92 in the Shade (1975) .... Skelton

Race with the Devil (1975) .... Roger March

Open Season (1974) .... Ken... aka Cazadores, Los (Spain)... aka The Recon Game

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) .... Larry Rayder

Two People (1973) .... Evan Bonner

The Last Movie (1971) .... Young sheriff... aka Chinchero

The Hired Hand (1971) .... Harry Collings

Easy Rider (1969) .... Wyatt

Histoires extraordinaires (1968) .... Baron Wilhelm (segment "Metzengerstein")... aka Spirits of the Dead (USA) ... aka Tales of Mystery... aka Tales of Mystery and Imagination (UK) ... aka Tre passi nel delirio (Italy)... aka Trois histoires extraordinaires d'Edgar Poe

The Trip (1967II) .... Paul Groves

The Wild Angels (1966) .... Heavenly Blues

The Young Lovers (1964) .... Eddie Slocum

Lilith (1964) .... Stephen Evshevsky

The Victors (1963) .... Weaver

Tammy and the Doctor (1963) .... Dr. Mark Cheswick