Counterculture figure and Roger Corman Fonda in a 1962 promo photoīy the mid-1960s, Fonda was not a conventional 'leading man' in Hollywood. Fonda graduated to a starring role in The Young Lovers (1964), about out-of-wedlock pregnancy, the sole directorial effort of Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Shortly before dying, Rossen signed him to a seven-film contract which was to start with an adaptation of Bang the Drum Slowly. Fonda impressed Robert Rossen who cast him in what would be Rossen's last movie, Lilith (1964), alongside Warren Beatty, Jean Seberg and Gene Hackman. Fonda's performance won him a Golden Globe Award for most promising newcomer.įonda continued to work in television, guest starring in Channing, Arrest and Trial, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and 12 O'Clock High. He followed this with a support part in The Victors (1963), a bleak look at American soldiers in World War II, directed by Carl Foreman. He was cast in the role, in what was a minor hit. Fonda began guest starring on television shows like Naked City, The New Breed, Wagon Train, and The Defenders.įonda's first film came when producer Ross Hunter was looking for a new male actor to romance Sandra Dee in Tammy and the Doctor (1963). Afterwards, he found work on Broadway and gained notice in Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole, written by James and William Goldman, which ran for 84 performances in 1961. Upon his return to New York, Fonda joined the Cecilwood Theatre in 1960. While attending the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Fonda joined the Omaha Community Playhouse.Ĭareer Early years and film work Fonda guest starring with Patty McCormack in The New Breed television series, 1962 Once he graduated, Fonda studied acting in Omaha, Nebraska, his father's home town. He then matriculated in Westminster School, a Connecticut boarding school in Simsbury, where he graduated in 1958. Peter attended the Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts, and was a member of the Class of 1954. He said, 'I know what it's like to be dead.' This inspired The Beatles' song ' She Said She Said'. Years later, he referred to this incident while with John Lennon and George Harrison while taking LSD. He went to the Indian hill station of Nainital and stayed for a few months for recovery. On his eleventh birthday, he accidentally shot himself in the abdomen and nearly died. He did not discover the circumstances or location of her death until he was fifteen. Their mother committed suicide in a mental hospital when Peter, her youngest, was ten. He and Jane had a half-sister, Frances de Villers Brokaw (1931–2008), from their mother's first marriage.

Early life Jane, Henry and Peter Fonda in July 1955įonda was born on February 23, 1940, in New York City, the only son of actor Henry Fonda and socialite Frances Ford Seymour his older sister is actress Jane Fonda.

Wild hogs actor dies