Editing Henry Fonda (section)

===Postwar career===

After the war, Fonda took a break from movies and attended Hollywood parties and enjoyed civilian life. Stewart and Fonda would listen to records and invite [[Johnny Mercer]], [[Hoagy Carmichael]], [[Dinah Shore]], and [[Nat King Cole]] over for music, with the latter giving the family piano lessons.{{sfn|Fonda|1981|page=165}} Fonda played [[Wyatt Earp]] in ''[[My Darling Clementine]]'' (1946), which was directed by John Ford. Fonda did seven postwar films until his contract with Fox expired, the last being [[Otto Preminger]]'s ''[[Daisy Kenyon]]'' (1947), opposite [[Joan Crawford]]. He starred in ''[[The Fugitive (1947 film)|The Fugitive]]'' (1947), which was the first film of Ford's new production company, [[Argosy Pictures]]. In 1948 he appeared in a subsequent Argosy/Ford production, ''[[Fort Apache (film)|Fort Apache]]'', as a rigid Army colonel, along with [[John Wayne]] and [[Shirley Temple]] in her first adult role.
[[File:Henry fonda Lt USN WWII receiving bronze star.jpg|thumb |upright|Wearing the bars of a full lieutnant, Fonda is awarded the Bronze Star.]]

[[File:Henry Fonda - USN.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Fonda in Navy uniform]]
[[File:Henry Fonda as Mr. Roberts 1948 (cropped).JPG|right|thumb|upright|Fonda in ''[[Mister Roberts (1955 film)|Mister Roberts]]'']]
Refusing another long-term studio contract, Fonda returned to Broadway, wearing his own officer's cap to originate the title role in ''[[Mister Roberts (play)|Mister Roberts]]'', a comedy about the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]], during [[World War II]] in the [[South Pacific Ocean]] where Fonda, a junior officer, Lt. Douglas A. Roberts wages a private war against a tyrannical captain. He won a 1948 [[Tony Award]] for the part. Fonda followed that by reprising his performance in the national tour and with successful stage runs in ''Point of No Return'' and ''The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial''. After an eight-year absence from films, he starred in the same role in the 1955 film version of ''Mister Roberts'' with [[James Cagney]], [[William Powell]], and [[Jack Lemmon]], continuing a pattern of bringing his acclaimed stage roles to life on the big screen. On the set of ''Mister Roberts'', Fonda came to blows with director [[John Ford]], who punched him during filming, and Fonda vowed never to work for the director again. While he kept that vow for years, Fonda spoke glowingly of Ford in [[Peter Bogdanovich]]'s documentary ''[[Directed by John Ford]]'' and in a documentary on Ford's career alongside Ford and James Stewart. Fonda refused to participate until he learned that Ford had insisted on casting Fonda as the lead in the film version of ''Mr. Roberts'', reviving Fonda's film career after concentrating on the stage for years.

After ''Mr. Roberts'', Fonda was next in [[Paramount Pictures]]'s production of [[Leo Tolstoy]]'s epic novel ''[[War and Peace (1956 film)|War and Peace]]'' (1956) about French Emperor [[Napoleon]]'s invasion of Russia in 1812, in which he played Pierre Bezukhov opposite [[Audrey Hepburn]]; it took two years to shoot. Fonda worked with [[Alfred Hitchcock]] in 1956, playing a man falsely accused of robbery in ''[[The Wrong Man]]''; the unusual semidocumentary work of Hitchcock was based on an actual incident and partly filmed on location.
[[File:Bacall, Bogart, Fonda crop.jpg|left|thumb|[[Lauren Bacall]], [[Humphrey Bogart]], and Fonda in a live 1955 color television version of ''[[The Petrified Forest]]'']]
In 1957, Fonda made his first foray into producing with ''[[12 Angry Men (1957 film)|12 Angry Men]]'', in which he also starred. The film was based on a teleplay and a script by [[Reginald Rose]], and directed by [[Sidney Lumet]]. The low-budget production was completed in 17 days of filming, mostly in one claustrophobic jury room. It had a strong cast, including also [[Jack Klugman]], [[Lee J. Cobb]], [[Martin Balsam]], and [[E. G. Marshall]]. The intense story about twelve jurors deciding the fate of a young man accused of murder was well received by critics worldwide. Fonda shared the [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] and [[Golden Globe]] nominations with co-producer Reginald Rose, and won the 1958 [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor]] for his performance as Juror 8. Early on, the film drew poorly, but after gaining recognition and awards, it proved a success. In spite of the outcome, Fonda vowed that he would never produce a movie again, fearing that failing as a producer might derail his acting career.{{sfn|Fonda|1981|page=250}} After acting in the [[Western movies]] ''[[The Tin Star]]'' (1957) and ''[[Warlock (1959 film)|Warlock]]'' (1959), Fonda returned to the production seat for the [[NBC]] Western television series ''[[The Deputy (TV series)|The Deputy]]'' (1959–1961), in which he starred as Marshal Simon Fry. His co-stars were [[Allen Case]] and [[Read Morgan]].

[[File:Westwon trailer Fonda.png|thumb|Fonda in ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]'']]
During the 1960s, Fonda performed in a number of war and Western epics, including 1962's ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]'' and the Cinerama production ''[[How the West Was Won (film)|How the West Was Won]]'', 1965's ''[[In Harm's Way]]'', and ''[[Battle of the Bulge (1965 film)|Battle of the Bulge]]''. In the [[Cold War]] suspense film ''[[Fail Safe (1964 film)|Fail-Safe]]'' (1964), Fonda played the President of the United States who tries to avert a [[nuclear holocaust]] through tense negotiations with the Soviets after American bombers are mistakenly ordered to attack the USSR. He also returned to more light-hearted cinema in ''[[Spencer's Mountain]]'' (1963), which was the inspiration for the 1970s TV series, ''[[The Waltons]]'', based on the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s memories of [[Earl Hamner Jr.]]

Fonda appeared against type as the villain 'Frank' in 1968's ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West]]''. After initially turning down the role, he was convinced to accept it by actor [[Eli Wallach]] and director [[Sergio Leone]] (who had previously tried to hire him to portray the [[Man with No Name]] in his [[Dollars Trilogy]], a role that was later taken on by [[Clint Eastwood]]), who flew from Italy to the United States to persuade him to take the part. Fonda had planned on wearing a pair of brown-colored [[contact lenses]], but Leone preferred the paradox of contrasting close-up shots of Fonda's innocent-looking blue eyes with the vicious personality of the character Fonda portrayed.

Fonda's relationship with Jimmy Stewart survived their disagreements over politics – Fonda was a liberal [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], and Stewart a conservative [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]. After a heated argument, they avoided talking politics with each other. The two men teamed up for 1968's ''[[Firecreek]]'', where Fonda again played the heavy. In 1970, Fonda and Stewart co-starred in the [[Western film|Western]] ''[[The Cheyenne Social Club]]'', in which they humorously argued politics. They had first appeared together on film in ''[[On Our Merry Way]]'' (1948), an episodic comedy which also starred [[William Demarest]] and [[Fred MacMurray]] and featured a grown-up [[Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer]], who had acted as a child in the ''[[Our Gang]]'' movie serials of the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 23, 2005 |title=On Our Merry Way |url=http://www.4alfalfa.com/Alfalfaddendum/merry.html |access-date=January 11, 2007 |website=4alfalfa.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023213149/http://www.4alfalfa.com/Alfalfaddendum/merry.html |archive-date=October 23, 2005 }}</ref>