Peter Fonda's Real Name: Peter Henry Fonda

Quick answer: The actor was known professionally as Peter Fonda. Britannica and a Guardian obituary both record the name Peter Henry Fonda and the birth date February 23, 1940. Both place the birth in New York. Reuters independently says he was born in 1940 in New York City. Britannica and Reuters record his death on August 16, 2019, in Los Angeles, at age 79. The Guardian gives the same death date and age.

Real name and early life

Britannica lists him in full as Peter Henry Fonda, born February 23, 1940, in New York, New York. The Guardian independently identifies him as Peter Henry Fonda, born 23 February 1940, and says he was born in New York. Britannica says that after high school he attended what is now the University of Nebraska Omaha for a year. The Guardian independently says he studied at the University of Nebraska in Omaha and began performing in local theatre.

Career highlights

Britannica and the Guardian both say he made his Broadway debut in 1961 in Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (Britannica punctuates the title with a comma after Sweat). Both name an early film debut in Tammy and the Doctor (1963), later work in Lilith (1964) and The Wild Angels (1966), and the 1969 film Easy Rider, which Fonda produced and starred in, and for which he, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay. Both also discuss Ulee's Gold (1997); Britannica records a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for that performance, and the Guardian also notes the Oscar nomination. Reuters also names later roles in 3:10 to Yuma and Ghost Rider (2007). Britannica names The Last Full Measure (2019) as his final film. Britannica and the Guardian both record a 1998 autobiography, Don't Tell Dad.

Death

A Reuters report dated August 16, 2019, said a family statement reported that he died at his home in Los Angeles that Friday morning, at age 79, of respiratory failure from lung cancer. Britannica places the death on August 16, 2019, in Los Angeles, at age 79, and later says he died from complications of lung cancer. The Guardian says he died aged 79 of lung cancer, and its closing line gives the date 16 August 2019.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Peter Fonda or Peter Henry Fonda are looking for the same actor.