Henry Fonda (11 August SUTS)

This post is written in conjunction with the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon hosted by Sittin’ on a Backyard Fence and Scribe Hard on Film. Full listings for SUTS programming on Turner Classic Movies can be found HERE.

Did you know...?

Henry Fonda knew Marlon Brando's family from Omaha - he had studied acting with Brando's mother.

Fonda and James Stewart had been roommates in the early 1930s when they were first starting out in acting. The two remained pals for the rest of their lives and enjoyed building model airplanes together.

Fonda was an amateur bee-keeper.

Along with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and other Hollywood liberals, Fonda vocally opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee. He took a six-year hiatus from film making in the 1950s to distance himself from the hostile political climate in California at the time.


He was a huge fan of "All in the Family."

Quotes

"I hope you won't be disappointed. You see I am not a very interesting person. I haven't ever done anything except be other people. I ain't really Henry Fonda! Nobody could be. Nobody could have that much integrity."

"I'm not that pristine pure, I guess I've broken as many rules as the next feller. But I reckon my face looks honest enough and if people buy it, Hallelujah."

"I've been close to Bette Davis for thirty-eight years - and I have the cigarette burns to prove it."

On Religion

"My whole damn family was nice. I don't think I've imagined it. It's true. Maybe it has to do with being brought up as Christian Scientists. Half of my relatives were Readers or Practitioners in the church."
(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryfonda314165.html)

"I found myself facing a Christian Science Reading Room. My God! It had been eight years. There had never been any renunciation of religion on my part, but like so many people, it was a gradual fading away."
(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henryfonda314172.html)

Katharine Hepburn on Fonda

"He was an oddie. I never felt that I knew him at all. He wasn't given to talking and neither was I." From Me:Stories of My Life:

Henry Fonda Must-See: ON GOLDEN POND (1981)

Fonda and Katharine Hepburn play Norman and Ethel Thayer enjoying a summer at their cabin on Golden Pond. When their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) skips off to Europe with her boyfriend, she leaves her 13-year-old step-son with her parents. This film touches on themes of old-age, marriage, and father-daughter relationships. 

"'Ethel Thayer.' It sounds like I'm lisping, doesn't it?"

"Wanna dance or would you rather just suck face?"

"That son of a bitch happens to be my husband." (Hepburn)

"You know, Norman, you really are the sweetest man in the world, but I'm the only one who knows it." (Hepburn)

Norman: You want to know why I came back so fast? I got to the end of our lane. I couldn't remember where the old town road was. I went a little ways in the woods. There was nothing familar. Not one damn tree. Scared me half to death. That's why I came running back here to you. So I could see your pretty face and I could feel safe and that I was still me.

Ethel: You're safe, you old poop and you're definitely still you picking on poor old Charlie. After lunch, after we've gobbled up all those silly strawberries we'll take ourselves to the old town road. We've been there a thousand times. A thousand. And you'll remember it all. Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armour. Don't you forget it. You're gonna get back up on that horse and I'm gonna be right behind you holding on tight and away we're gonna go, go, go.

Norman: I don't like horses. You are a pretty old dame aren't you? What are you doing with a dotty old son of a bitch like me?

Ethel: Well, I haven't the vaguest idea.