Peter Fonda looks back on father’s iconic performance in Sidney Lumet’s ‘12 Angry Men’
Peter Fonda racked up nearly seven decades of movie making until his death from lung cancer at age 79 on August 16, 2019, coincidentally the 42nd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s demise. Besides the counterculture depicted tragically in the career-making Easy Rider, he emblazoned the action-packed, horrific thrill of Race with the Devil alongside real life comrade Warren Oates, then-journeyman director Jonathan Demme’s coal-mining revenge tale Fighting Mad, and 3:10 to Yuma, the 21st century pistol-packin’ remake starring Russell Crowe. In a patriarchal role mirroring the leading gentleman who also happened to be his father, Henry Fonda’s only son received his sole Best Actor Oscar nomination for 1997’s Ulee’s Gold.
Peter was an avid Twitter inhabitant who regularly interacted with fans @IAmFonda. After some cajoling, The Hired Hand filmmaker exclusively reflected upon the death of esteemed director Sidney Lumet. Amazingly, Lumet’s debut was the iconic 1957 courtroom thriller 12 Angry Men, analyzed in high school social studies classrooms to this day, with the elder Fonda supplying the sole voice of dissent. Lumet would helm another fine black and white nail biter with Henry — Fail-Safe — and was guilty as charged for future classics like Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and The Verdict. Lumet was…