This two hour CBS broadcast from Mar. 15, 1978 celebrates 53 years of acting for Henry Fonda, joined by daughter Jane, son Peter, and several colleagues seated in the audience. You can believe him when he proclaims his love for Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, and Barbara Stanwyck, and his 46 year relationship with 'friendly rival' and political opposite James Stewart, a lifelong Republican. Of all the critical notices he received over the decades, the one that meant the most came from his once skeptical father, who offered a four word response to seeing his son for the first time on stage: "shut up, he's perfect!" (John Carradine, his fabled costar in John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath," can be spotted in the audience during this remembrance). Finally, a few words about 'F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre,' who apparently took his own life in 2010 after composing hundreds of fake reviews on lost features (often silent) that haven't been seen in many decades, he even displayed the temerity to steal Conrad Veidt's name from "The Man Who Laughs." Nuff said!
AFI Life Achievement Award: AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda
(1978)
53 years of acting for Henry Fonda
Season 1, Episode 6
20 July 2020