3 Generations of the Fonda Dynasty

During his long heyday and for many years thereafter, Henry Fonda was the quiet hero personified-not especially handsome, not charismatic or swashbuckling, just a gentle, noble sort. Signature roles include the title part in "Young Mr. Lincoln" and Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath."

Thankfully for us, though, he also played against type, portraying a glory-seeking U.S. Cavalry officer in John Ford's "Fort Apache," a nasty outlaw in "Once Upon a Time in the West," and flamboyant World War II general Douglas A. MacArthur in the TV movie "Collision Course."

In real life, he was an emotionally distant, often angry man who had many extramarital affairs, and he admitted he wasn't a good father. But you've heard of two of his children, Jane and Peter, who did all right for themselves in the movies (his third, adopted child, Amy, didn't go into acting).

Born Lady Jayne Seymour Fonda to Henry Fonda and a socialite (who later committed suicide), Jane resisted going into acting but then took the plunge and, after a string of mostly forgettable movies in the 1960s, showed her stuff in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and "Klute" (and showed her stuff in "Barbarella," too, though it wasn't her acting talent that was on display).

She was a major star through the 1970s and 1980s, then retired from acting late in the latter decade before returning to the screen in 2005 in the bomb "Monster-in-Law." She is, of course, well known for being an antiwar activist and Communist sympathizer during the Vietnam War, for her string of unsuccessful marriages, and for her ground-breaking exercise videos.

Peter Fonda's career was much more modest: After a few obscure movies and some TV work, he costarred in "Easy Rider," but little else he did was of much note, though he did earn critical late-career praise for "Ulee's Gold." His daughter Bridget had a string of roles in the 1980s and 1990s, most notably in "Jackie Brown" and "A Simple Plan," but she hasn't acted since 2002.

Other Fonda descendants include Troy Garity, Jane's son with politician and activist Tom Hayden, plus Vanessa Vadim, her daughter with French filmmaker Roger Vadim, and Justin Fonda, Peter's son, who both had brief behind-the-camera careers.