Peter Fonda

Actors

Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He was the son of actor Henry Fonda, younger brother of actress Jane Fonda, and father of actress Bridget Fonda. He was a part of the counterculture of the 1960s.

He made his film debut in Tammy and the Doctor (1963), with Sandra Dee. His other films during that time include The Victors (1963), with Vincent Edwards, Albert Finney, George Hamilton, Melina Mercouri, Jeanne Moreau, George Peppard, Maurice Ronet, Rosanna Schiaffino, Romy Schneider, Elke Sommer, Eli Wallach, and Michael Callan; Robert Rossen’s Lilith (1964), with Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg; The Young Lovers (1964), with Sharon Hugueny; and Roger Corman‘s The Wild Angels (1966), with Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, and Diane Ladd.

Fonda’s breakout role came in the counterculture classic, Easy Rider (1969), which he produced and co-wrote with Dennis Hopper (who also directed and co-started), and was also the breakout role of Jack Nicholson. The film was the fourth highest grossing film of the year, and received two Academy Award nominations (Best Original Screenplay for Fonda, Hopper, and Terry Southern and Best Supporting Actor for Nicholasan).

Fonda made his directorial debut with The Hired Hand (1971), with Warren Oates and Verna Bloom. His other directorial efforts include Idaho Transfer (1973), with Keith Carradine; and Wanda Nevada (1979), with Brook Shields. He also appeared in Hopper’s second directorial effort The Last Movie (1971), with Stella Garcia, Don Gordon, Julie Adams, Sylvia Miles, Samuel Fuller, Dean Stockwell, Russ Tamblyn, Tomas Milian, Toni Basil, Severn Darden, Henry Jaglom, Rod Cameron, Kris Kristofferson, and Michelle Phillips.

Other films in the 1970s include Robert Wise’s Two People (1973), with Lindsay Wagner and Estelle Parsons; Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), with Susan George, Adam Roarke, and Vic Morrow; Peter Collinson’s Open Season (1974), with John Phillip Law, William Holden, and Cornelia Sharpe; Race with the Devil (1975), with Oates, Loretta Swit, and Lara Parker; 92 in the Shade (1975), with Oates, Elizabeth Ashley, Margot Kidder, Harry Dean Stanton, and Joe Spinell; Val Guest’s Killer Force (1976), with Telly Savalas and Christopher Lee; Jonathan Demme’s Fighting Mad (1976), with Lynn Lowry, Philip Carey, John Doucette, Harry Northup; Futureworld (1976), with Blythe Danner, Arthur Hill, Stuart Margolin, John Ryan, and Yul Brynner; Outlaw Blues (1977), with Susan Saint James; and High-Ballin’ (1978), with Jerry Reed, Helen Shaver, and Chris Wiggins.

Films in the 1980s include a cameo in Hal Needham’s The Cannonball Run (1981), with Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Adrienne Barbeau, Tara Buckman, Jamie Farr, Terry Bradshaw, Mel Tillis, Jackie Chan, and Michael Hui; Ted Kotcheff’s Split Image (1982), with Michael O’Keefe, Karen Allen, James Woods, Elizabeth Ashley, Brian Dennehy, and Ronnie Scribner; Spasms (1983), with Oliver Reed and Kerrie Keane; Stephen Gyllenhaal’s Certain Fury (1985), with Tatum O’Neal and Irene Cara; Hawken’s Breed (1988), with Jack Elam; and The Rose Garden (1989), with Liv Ullmann, Maximilian Schell, Jan Niklas, Hanns Zischler and Kurt Hübner.

Films in the early 1990s include Enemy (1990), with Tia Carrere, Mako, and James Mitchum; a cameo in Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993), with Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, and Alicia Witt; Christopher Coppola’s Deadfall (1993), with Michael Biehn, Nicolas Cage, Sarah Trigger, Charlie Sheen, James Coburn, and Talia Shire; Molly & Gina (1994), with Frances Fisher and Natasha Gregson Wagner; Love and a .45 (1994), with Gil Bellows, Renée Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, and Jack Nance; and Michael Almereyda’s Nadja (1995), with Elina Löwensohn, Martin Donovan, Jared Harris, and a cameo from David Lynch.

Fonda won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Drams and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Ulee’s Gold (1997), with Patricia Richardson, Christine Dunford, Tom Wood, Jessica Biel, J. Kenneth Campbell, and Vanessa Zima. Other films in the late 1990s include John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. (1996), with Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, Bruce Campbell, Pam Grier, and Cliff Robertson; a voice cameo in Allison Anders’s Grace of My Heart (1996), with Illeana Douglas, Matt Dillon, Stoltz, Bruce Davison, Patsy Kensit, and John Turturro; and Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey (1999), with Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, and Barry Newman.

Films in the 2000s include Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000), with Alec Baldwin, Mara Wilson, Didi Conn, Russell Means, Cody McMains, Michael E. Rodgers, and the voices of Eddie Glen and Neil Crone; South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000), with Dwight Yoakam (who also directed), Billy Bob Thornton, Vince Vaughn, Paul Reubens, Bud Cort, Michael Jeter, Bo Hopkins, Luke Askew, and Joe Ely; Wooly Boys (2001), with Kristofferson and Joseph Mazzello; Ghost Rider (2007), with Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Donal Logue, and Matt Long; Wild Hogs (2007), with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy, Ray Liotta, Marisa Tomei, and M.C. Gainey; James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma (2007), with Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Vinessa Shaw, and Logan Lerman; and The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009), with Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Clifton Collins Jr., Julie Benz, Judd Nelson, Bob Marley, David Ferry, David Della Rocco, and Billy Connolly.

Films in the 2010s include The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll (2011), with Kevin Zegers, Jason Ritter, Taryn Manning, Lauren Holly, and Lukas Haas; The Trouble with Bliss (2012), with Michael C. Hall, Chris Messina, Brie Larson, and Lucy Liu; Smitty (2012), with Mira Sorvino and Louis Gossett Jr.; As Cool as I Am (2013), with Claire Danes, Sarah Bolger, and James Marsden; Copperhead (2013), with Billy Campbell, Angus Macfadyen, Augustus Prew, and and Lucy Boynton; House of Bodies (2013), with Terrence Howard, Peter Fonda, George Katt, Alexz Johnson and Queen Latifah; John McNaughton’s The Harvest (2015), with Samantha Morton, Michael Shannon, and Natasha Calis; and The Runner (2015), with Cage, Connie Nielsen, and Sarah Paulson.

The last films released in his lifetime were The Most Hated Woman in America (2017), with Melissa Leo, Sally Kirkland, Cochrane, Josh Lucas, Adam Scott, Juno Temple, and Vincent Kartheiser; The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017), with Bill Pullman, Kathy Baker, Jim Caviezel, Tommy Flanagan, and Michael Spears; You Can’t Say No (2018), with Marguerite Moreau, Hamish Linklater, Hus Miller, Julie Carmen; Boundaries (2018), with Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer, Lewis MacDougall, Bobby Cannavale, Kristen Schaal, and Christopher Lloyd; while Last Full Measure (2020), with Sebastian Stan, Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irvine, LisaGay Hamilton, Ladd, Amy Madigan, Linus Roache, John Savage, Alison Sudol, and Bradley Whitford; was released posthumously.

Fonda also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999), with Helen Mirren, Eric Stoltz, and Julie Delpy. Other TV movie and miniseries include The Hostage Tower (1980), with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Maud Adams, Billy Dee Williams, Keir Dullea, Britt Eckland, Rachel Roberts, and Celia Johnson; The Tempest (1998), with John Glover, Harold Perrineau, and Katherine Heigl; The Laramie Project (2002), with Nestor Carbonell, Christina Ricci, Dylan Baker, Terry Kinney, Mark Webber, Laura Linney, Jeremy Davies, Margo Martindale, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Foster, Clancy Brown, and Lois Smith; Salma Hayek’s The Maldanoda Miracle (2003), with Mare Winningham and Rubén Blades; A Thief of Time (2004), with Adam Beach, Wes Studi, Gary Farmer, Graham Greene, and Sheila Tousey; and Back When We Were Grownups (2004), with Danner, Jack Palance, Faye Dunaway, Peter Riegert, Ione Skye, and Anjul Nigam.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Tammy and the Doctor (1963) – directed by Harry Keller
  • The Victors (1963) – directed by Carl Foreman
  • Lilith (1964) – directed by Robert Rossen
  • The Young Lovers (1964) – directed by Samuel Goldwyn Jr.
  • The Rounders (1965) – directed by Burt Kennedy
  • The Wild Angels (1966) – directed by Roger Corman
  • The Trip (1967) – directed by Roger Corman
  • Spirits of the Dead (1968) – directed by Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, & Federico Fellini
  • Certain Honorable Men (1968) – directed by Alex Segal
  • Easy Rider (1969) – directed by Dennis Hopper – also co-writer, producer
  • The Hired Hand (1971) – also director
  • The Last Movie (1971) – directed by Dennis Hopper
  • Two People (1973) – directed by Robert Wise
  • Idaho Transfer (1973) – director only
  • Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974) – directed by John Hough
  • Open Season (1974) – directed by Peter Collinson
  • Race with the Devil (1975) – directed by Jack Starrett
  • 92 in the Shade (1975) – directed by Thomas McGuane
  • Killer Force (1976) – directed by Val Guest
  • Fighting Mad (1976) – directed by Jonathan Demme
  • Futureworld (1976) – directed by Richard T. Heffron
  • Outlaw Blues (1977) – directed by Richard T. Heffron
  • High-Ballin (1978) – directed by Peter Carter
  • Wanda Nevada (1979) – also director
  • The Hostage Tower (1980) – directed by Claudio Guzmán
  • The Cannonball Run (1981) – directed by Hal Needham
  • Split Image (1982) – directed by Ted Kotcheff
  • It’s All Right, My Friend (1983) – directed by Ryu Murakami
  • Dance of the Dwarfs (1983) – directed by Gus Trikonis
  • Peppermint-Friedan (1983) – directed by Marianne Rosenbaum
  • Spasms (1983) – directed by William Fruet
  • A Reason to Love (1985) – directed by Peter Levin
  • Certain Fury (1985) – directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal
  • Mercenary Fighters (1988) – directed by Riki Shelach Nissimoff
  • Hawken’s Breed (1988) – directed by Charles B. Pierce
  • A Time of Indifference (1988) – directed by Mauro Bolognini – TV movie
  • Sound (1988) – directed by Biagio Proietti – TV movie
  • The Rose Garden (1989) – directed by Fons Rademakers
  • Montana (1990) – directed by directed by William A. Graham – TV movie – uncredited cameo as himself
  • Enemy (1990) – directed by George Rowe – also co-writer
  • Family Express (1991 – George Nicholas Hayek
  • Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993) – directed by Michael Steinberg
  • South Beach (1993) – directed by Fred Williamson & Alain Zaloum
  • Deadfall (1993) – directed by Christopher Coppola
  • Molly & Gina (1994) – directed by Paul Leder
  • Love and a .45 (1994) directed by C.M. Talkington
  • Nadja (1995) – directed by Michael Almereyda
  • Don’t Look Back (1996) – directed by Geoff Murphy – TV movie
  • Escape from L.A. (1996) – directed by John Carpenter
  • Grace of my Heart (1996) – directed by Allison Anders – voice cameo
  • Ulee’s Gold (1997) – directed by Victor Nuñez
  • Painted Hero (1997) – directed by Terry Benedict
  • Welcome to Hollywood (1998) – directed by Adam Rifkin – cameo as himself
  • The Tempest (1998) – directed by Jack Bender
  • The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999) – directed by Christopher Menaul
  • The Limey (1999) – directed by Steven Soderbergh
  • South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000) – directed by Dwight Yoakam
  • Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000) – directed by Britt Allcroft
  • Second Skin (2000) – directed by Gerardo Vera
  • Wooly Boys (2001) – directed by Leszek Burzynski
  • The Laramie Project (2002) – directed by Moisés Kaufman – TV movie
  • The Maldanoda Miracle (2003) – directed by Salma Hayek – TV movie
  • Capital City (2004) – directed by Spenser Hill – TV movie
  • The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) – directed by Asia Argento
  • A Thief of Time (2004) – directed by Chris Eyre – TV movie
  • Back When We Were Grownups (2004) – directed by Ron Underwood – TV movie
  • Supernova (2005) – directed by John Harrison – TV movie
  • El cobrador: In God We Trust (2006) – directed by Paul Leduc
  • Ghost Rider (2007) – directed by Mark Steven Johnson
  • Wild Hogs (2007) – directed by Walt Becker
  • 3:10 to Yuma (2007)* – directed by James Mangold
  • The Gathering (2007) – directed by Bill Eagles – miniseries
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) – directed by T.J. Scott – TV movie
  • Japan (2008) – directed by Fabien Pruvot
  • The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)* – directed by Troy Duffy
  • Revolution (2009) – directed by Michael Rymer – TV movie
  • American Bandits: Frank and Jesse (2010) – directed by Fred Olen Ray
  • The Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll (2011) – directed by Scott Rosenbaum
  • The Trouble with Bliss (2012) – directed by Michael Knowles
  • Smitty (2012) – directed by David Mickey Evans
  • Harodim (2012) – directed by Paul Finelli
  • As Cool as I Am (2013) – directed by Max Mayer
  • Copperhead (2013) – directed by Ronald F. Maxwell
  • The Ultimate Life (2013) – directed by Michael Landon Jr.
  • House of Bodies (2013) – directed by Alex Merkin
  • HR (2014) – directed by Darren Star – TV movie
  • The Harvest (2015) – directed by John McNaughton
  • Jesse James: Lawman (2015) – directed by Brett Kelly
  • The Runner (2015) – directed by Austin Stark
  • Max (2016) – directed by Lena Dunham – TV movie
  • The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017) – directed by Jared Moshe
  • The Most Hated Woman in America (2017) – directed by Tommy O’Haver
  • Borderland (2017) – directed by Paul Street
  • You Can’t Say No (2018) – directed by Paul Kramer
  • Boundaries (2018) – directed by Shana Feste
  • The Magic Hours (2019) – directed by David Connelly – posthumous release
  • The Last Full Measure (2020) – directed by Todd Robinson – posthumous release