Son of William Brace Fonda (of Dutch American and Scottish ancestry) and wife Herberta Jaynes.
Studied acting with Dorothy Brando, mother of Marlon Brando.
The birth of his daughter Jane Fonda was the cause of some interruptions during his filming of Jezebel (1938) with Bette Davis.
The Fonda family was acquainted with Marlon Brando's family, as they both lived in Omaha, Nebraska and Henry appeared with Marlon's mother Dorothy in community theater. In fact, the Brando family, on a trip to Southern California in the late 1930s, visited Henry on a movie set. The two very different actors never knew each other socially because Fonda was much older. In fact, when the teen-aged Brando started out as an actor, he did so in the shadow of Fonda, who was the most famous person from Omaha at that point. Brando did tell a story about how he had to fire a housekeeper after he found out that she was allowing tourists to come into his home to look around the digs of a star, for a fee. Soon after, Henry called him to check up on the credentials of a woman applying for the job of housekeeper at his home. It was the same woman that Brando had fired. He enthusiastically recommended her to his mother's former acting protégé, without telling him of her unauthorized tours.
Though a Democrat for most of his life, Fonda was once a registered Republican, according to his son Peter Fonda in his autobiography Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir (1999). Peter believes that Henry's liberalism caused him to be gray-listed during the early 1950s, when he experienced a six-year layoff from films.
Three films of his are on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are: On Golden Pond (1981) at #45, 12 Angry Men (1957) at #42, and The Grapes of Wrath (1940) at #7.
Was a first-hand witness to the Omaha race riots of 1919 and lynching of Will Brown.
Was good friends with John Wayne from the time they were part of the director John Ford's stock company. Henry's son, Peter Fonda, in his autobiography, said that Henry had some trouble with the Duke and fellow Ford film co-star Ward Bond over politics, as the two were definitely to his father's right. Peter said that the Duke and Bond were wonderful with him and very warm, in contrast to his father, who was rather cold. Henry would drift away from the Ford stock company, and his relationship with the great director would end on the set of Mister Roberts (1955) when he objected to Ford's direction of the film. Ford punched Fonda and had to be replaced.
Was known as a ladies' man in Hollywood, having been involved in affairs with many actresses.
Was twice a roommate and a very close friend of James Stewart. They met and shared a room when the two were both struggling young actors in the early 1930s. Stewart went to Hollywood shortly before Fonda. When Fonda arrived he shared Stewart's home, where they both gained reputations as ladies' men. After both married and had kids, the more mellow buddies still hung out, usually spending time building model airplanes.
With the exception of a $200,000 bequest to daughter Amy, he left his entire estate to his 5th wife Shirlee Adams.
Won a 1979 Special Tony Award (New York City).
Won Broadway's 1948 Tony Award as best dramatic actor for the title role in "Mister Roberts" and award shared with Paul Kelly for "Command Decision: and Basil Rathbone for "The Heiress." He also won a second special Tony in 1979, and was additionally nominated for Broadway's 1975 Tony Award as best dramatic actor for "Clarence Darrow".