We live in an age of mediocrity. Stars today are not the same stature as Bogie [Humphrey Bogart], James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart [James Stewart].
I knew Henry Fonda was my father, but I didn't know who I was. They all thought of me as Henry Fonda's son. Unfortunately for them, they never got to know me.
If I have enough ego to say I'm a writer, a director, a producer, and an actor, I should have the energy and the knowledge to write a scene for this great actor named Henry Fonda and direct him in it and have it work.
I must have had faith that day. When I went out, I was Henry Fonda again. An unemployed actor but a man.
I've worked with wonderful actors like Marlon Brando and Henry Fonda.
Getting out from under the shadow of Henry Fonda was difficult.
People ask me from time to time what it was like growing up with Henry Fonda as my father. I say, Ever see Fort Apache? He was like Colonel Thursday.
Henry Fonda gave me a spanking during a scene in Spencer's Mountain.
If Gary Cooper and Henry Fonda had a baby, it would be Matthew Modine.
I'm not like Henry Fonda. He lives to act. I've just had a dedication to do the best I could. When I don't have challenges, the days get long. But I do enjoy being on stage. If I do good work, I get a kick out of that.
Henry Fonda's son: That's how everybody identified me until Easy Rider came along. Good old Captain America.
Being Henry Fonda's daughter got me started. But it didn't keep me working.
The buried code of many American films has become: If I kill you, I have won and you have lost. The instinctive ethical code of traditional Hollywood, the code by which characters like James Stewart, John Wayne and Henry Fonda lived, has been lost.
Clarence Darrow was a unique and courageous man. Several of my favourite actors have played Darrow... Henry Fonda, Orson Welles and Spencer Tracy.
Well you're talking about a long career, a lot of movies, a lot of stars. I guess working with Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn was a great privilege.
I've worked with Bette Davis, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda. Here's the thing they all have in common: They all, even in their 70s, worked a little harder than everyone else.