April 4, 2019
Volume 49 - No. 14
By R.L. “Pete” Peterson
On the surface they had little in common: Henry James Fonda was an agnostic; James Maitland Stewart was a churchgoing Presbyterian. Hank was a New Deal Democrat; Jim a conservative Republican. Hank had five wives and often difficult relationships with his children, while Jim was married once and was adored by his off-spring. The Paper - 760.747.7119
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Despite their differences, these angular actors of Hollywood's Golden Age maintained a 50-plus year friendship that lasted through war, marriage, children, careers and everything in between, writes Scott Eyman, in his book, Hank and Jim. So, what was the glue that held this friendship together? Shared Experience
The first thing an outsider would
notice about Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart’s relationship is they were small-town boys in a big city. Fonda was born in Grand Island, Nebraska – Stewart was born and raised in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Secondly, at the time when fewer than 3% of the American population went to college, both of them had that distinction - Fonda attended University of Minnesota
Friendship - See Page 2
for two years; Stewart graduated from Princeton.
A third shared experience was both volunteered to service in World War II, with Fonda enlisting in the Navy as an ordinary seaman, third class. (A one striper, old salts would call him.) He went on to win a Bronze Star for his contributions in the Air Combat Intelligence Office.