I read a new book called Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship
of Henry Fonda and James Stewart, by Scott Eyman. What
an interesting book!
I’d always heard about Henry
Fonda’s poor relationship with his daughter, Jane, but didn’t understand why it
was so. I still don’t. Jane describes him as a pent-up guy, but his friendship
with Jimmy Stewart was as intimate as he ever got with anyone. Together, they
relaxed and had fun, which they couldn’t do separately.
They were both tall and skinny,
laconic and shy, loners, with the same sense of humor―wry and goofy. They
shared an apartment in New York in the 30s with Myron McCormick and Josh Logan,
subsisting on rice. They attended art openings and gorged on hors d’oeuvres.
Together, they built model airplanes.
Much has been written about
Stewart’s war years as a B-24 pilot. Fonda served as an naval intelligence
officer aboard the USS Curtiss in the Pacific. When a kamikaze was shot down
and crashed twenty-five yards from the Curtiss, Fonda and two sailors dived on
the plane and recovered maps and flight plans. Fonda determined the kamikazes
launched from Pagan Island in the Marianas. An air strike stopped them.
Fonda had been aloof before the
war; afterwards, he was remote. The silence during car rides or at the dinner
table unnerved his children. He rediscovered his dad’s hobby of kites in the
Navy, and began flying them, as large as possible, after the war. He’d be quiet
and stressed until the kite was airborne, then become exuberant as a kid.
Both actors took a while to
re-establish their acting careers. Fonda preferred the stage in New York and
could go for years without making a movie. Stewart preferred making movies in
California. Years could pass without them seeing each other.
In his later years, Fonda stitched
complicated needlepoint patterns he designed himself. Most needlework on chairs
and pillows in his home were his work. He also made macramé baskets. Like
Stewart, he was an avid gardener and also kept bees.
Little is said about Fonda’s
relationship with his parents, who both died in the 1930s. Stewart’s father
never lightened up with his son, even when Jim was in his 50s. Many people
remembered Fonda as cold. Stewart was easy-going, but no one really got to know
him. Only when they acted did they show emotion.
Hank and Jim offers a fascinating look at two long-gone
screen icons.
Two of my favorite actors. Thanks for the referral - another book for the TBR pile.
ReplyDeleteFascinating information about two of my favorite actors. Thanks!
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