Editing Peter Fonda (section)

=== 1980s and 1990s===
Fonda was top billed in ''[[The Hostage Tower]]'' (1980), a television movie based on a story by [[Alistair MacLean]]. Fonda appeared in the hit film ''[[The Cannonball Run]]'' (1981) as the "chief biker", a tongue-in-cheek nod to his earlier motorcycle films. He also played a charismatic cult leader in ''[[Split Image (film)|Split Image]]'' (1982), a film that also starred [[James Woods]], [[Karen Allen]] and [[Brian Dennehy]]. Despite the strong cast and positive reviews, the film failed to find an audience.

Fonda later appeared in a series of films in the 1980s of varying genres&nbsp;— ''[[Daijōbu, My Friend]]'' (1983), shot in Japan; ''[[Dance of the Dwarfs]]'' (1983); ''Peppermint Peace'' (1983), shot in Germany; '' [[Spasms (film)|Spasms]]'' (1983), a Canadian horror film with [[Oliver Reed]]; ''[[A Reason to Live (1985 film)|A Reason to Live]]'' (1985), a TV movie; ''[[Certain Fury]]'' (1985), with [[Tatum O'Neal]]; ''Mercenary Fighters'' (1988); ''Hawken's Breed'' (1988), a Western; ''Sound'' (1988); ''Gli indifferenti'' (1989) with [[Liv Ullmann]]; and ''[[The Rose Garden (film)|The Rose Garden]]'' (1989).<ref>{{cite news |title=Peter Fonda's Cycles of Discontent: Working Through Scars and Struggles |first=Megan |last=Rosenfeld |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 15, 1985 |page=G1}}</ref>

In the early 1990s Fonda also contributed to the script of ''[[Enemy (1990 film)|Enemy]]'' (1990), in which he starred. He had the lead in ''Family Express'' (1991) and ''South Beach'' (1993), but then drifted into supporting roles in many independent films: ''[[Deadfall (1993 film)|Deadfall]]'' (1993), directed by [[Christopher Coppola]]; ''[[Bodies, Rest & Motion]]'' (1993), starring his daughter Bridget; ''[[Molly & Gina]]'' (1994) with [[Frances Fisher]] and [[Natasha Gregson]]; ''[[Love and a .45]]'' (1994) with [[Renée Zellweger]]; ''[[Nadja (film)|Nadja]]'' (1994), produced by [[David Lynch]]. He had a good supporting role in ''[[Escape from L.A.]]'' (1996) from [[John Carpenter]] and was in ''[[Don't Look Back (1996 film)|Don't Look Back]]'' (1996). He also guest starred on ''[[In the Heat of the Night (TV series)|In the Heat of the Night]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Easy does it Peter Fonda has known trouble from the day he was born, and it wasn't all to do with having a Hollywood legend for a father |last=Shelley |first=Jim |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=March 21, 1998 |page=T014}}</ref>

After years of films of varying success, Fonda received high-profile critical recognition and universal praise for his performance in ''[[Ulee's Gold]]'' (1997). He portrayed a taciturn North Florida beekeeper and Vietnam veteran who tries to save his son and granddaughter from a life of drug abuse. For his performance, he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]. He had the lead in ''Painted Hero'' (1997). In 1998, Fonda starred in the TV movie ''[[The Tempest (1998 film)|The Tempest]]'', based in part on [[William Shakespeare]]'s [[The Tempest|play of the same name]]. It was directed by Jack Bender and starred Fonda, [[John Glover (actor)|John Glover]], [[Harold Perrineau]], and [[Katherine Heigl]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.reelz.com/movie/222710/shakespeares-the-tempest|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102140043/http://www.reelz.com/movie/222710/shakespeares-the-tempest/|url-status=dead|title=''Shakespeare's The Tempest''|archive-date=January 2, 2014|publisher=[[Reelz]]}}</ref>

He played [[Frank O'Connor (actor, born 1897)|Frank O'Connor]] in ''[[The Passion of Ayn Rand (film)|The Passion of Ayn Rand]]'' (1998), a performance for which he received [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film|a Golden Globe Award]] in 2000,<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2018 |title=Fonda, Peter 1939(?)– |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/fonda-peter-1939 |access-date=March 11, 2024 |website=Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television |publisher=Cengage}}</ref> then appeared in the crime film ''[[The Limey]]'' (1999) as Terry Valentine, an aging rock music producer who accidentally kills his younger girlfriend. The film was directed by [[Steven Soderbergh]].

Fonda wrote an autobiography, ''Don't Tell Dad'' (1998).<ref>{{Cite book|first=Peter|last=Fonda|title=Don't tell Dad: a memoir|year=1998|publisher=[[Hachette Books|Hyperion Books]]|location=New York City|isbn=0-7868-6111-8|url=https://archive.org/details/donttelldadmemoi00fond}}</ref>

In the 1990s, Fonda appeared in an advertisement for [[American Express]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Raftery|first=Brian|title=Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen|year=2020|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|location=New York|isbn=9781501175398|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Best-Movie-Year-Ever/Brian-Raftery/9781501175398|quote=Chapter 14: "During filming in Los Angeles, Soderbergh spotted Fonda on a billboard..."|edition=1st}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1=Leigh|first1=Danny| date=2019-08-17| work=[[The Guardian]]| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/17/peter-fonda-elegant-rebel-set-the-counterculture-in-motion | title= Peter Fonda: the elegant rebel who set the counterculture in motion | access-date=2021-10-31}}</ref>