Biography for
Peter Fonda (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

23 February 1940, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Peter Henry Fonda

Height

6' 2½" (1.89 m)

Spouse

Portia Rebecca Crockett	(11 November 1975 - present)
Susan Brewer	(8 October 1961 - 16 April 1972) (divorced) 2 children

Trivia

Accidently shot himself in the stomach when he was 10

Son of Henry Fonda

Father of Bridget Fonda and Justin Fonda

Uncle of Troy Garity

Born at 12:09pm-EST

Brother of actress Jane Fonda

Educated at the University of Omaha.

He joined the Omaha Playhouse and appeared in their production of "Harvey". Then, he went to New York and became an apprentice at the Cecilwood Theatre. A year later, he was on Broadway in "Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole". Next, he went to Hollywood to test for the role of John Kennedy in PT 109 (1963).

John Lennon wrote "She Said, She Said" about an acid trip he'd been on during which Fonda kept telling him, "I know what it's like to be dead, man".

Uncle of Vanessa Vadim.

Broke his back twice in motorcycle accidents.

Was arrested once for defacing a sign at a Denver airport that said, "Feed Jane Fonda to the Whales".

Ex-brother-in-law of Tom Hayden and Roger Vadim.

Known to be extremely talkative and gregarious in reality, he based his performance in Ulee's Gold (1997) extensively on his father, Henry Fonda, as his character Ulysses is a laconic, tough, and very reserved man who has troubles communicating with his children and grandchildren. Even stranger, one of Henry's real-life hobbies was beekeeping.

Smoked marijuana on-camera in the film Easy Rider (1969).

At age 6, broke his back while attending boarding school.

Brother of Frances (Pan) Brokaw and Amy Fonda

His father-in-law was Noah Dietrich, Howard Hughes's confidant for over thirty years.

Turned down the role of Oliver in Love Story (1970), despite being offered 10% of the gross.

Former brother-in-law of Ted Turner

Stepson of Shirlee Fonda

He was a mentor at the 2nd annual HatcH audiovisual festival in Bozeman, MT. HatcH is a film and arts festival that focuses on mentoring and inspiring student, independent, and up-and-coming filmmakers and artists. He also attended to present the Spirit of Montana HatcH award to Johnny Depp, who was unable to attend. Fonda was the 2004 recipient of the award, which celebrates actors and filmmakers who have mentored and inspired young and aspiring artists and actors.

Father-in-law of composer Danny Elfman.

Godfather of his daughter Bridget Fonda is Larry Hagman.

2000: Inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall Of Fame.

According to a story in the book version of "The Beatles Anthology", John Lennon wrote the song "She Said, She Said" after meeting Peter at a party and listening to him go on and on about his near death experience in which he accidentally shot himself in the chest. The song lyric "I know what it's like to be dead" is supposedly what Peter kept telling everyone. John says he altered the song title and lyrics from "He Said" to "She Said" in order to hide the fact that he'd based the song on Peter.

Personal Quotes

I dig my father. I wish he could open his eyes and dig me.

[on why he prefers to be addressed as "Peter"] Whenever I hear "Mr. Fonda", I look over at the door, figuring he's come back.

[about sister Jane Fonda retiring from acting] I think it's great. Now she can just be Jane.

Civilization has always been a bust.

Salary

The Wild Angels (1966)

$10,000

Where Are They Now

(2007) Co-host, with Sheri Sanders, of an infomercial for TimeLife's "Flower Power" music collection.

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