By John H. Foote
Captain America took his final ride yesterday morning, perhaps off to join Dennis Hopper, who died a few years ago.
The star of the counter culture classic Easy Rider died Friday morning at his home in California after a battle with lung cancer.
Fonda and Hopper became stars with the film Easy Rider (1969) which celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Fonda, son to Henry, brother to Jane, and father of Bridget, was considered a symbol of sixties rebellion for the film, which he co-wrote with Hopper, Though much was improvised on set. He counted Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern among his best friends.
He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor his gentle performance in Ulee’s Gold (1997) and earned the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor.
John H. Foote is a well-recognized Canadian film critic/historian who has been an active critic for 30 years. His deep love for the movies began at a very young age. He began his career as co-host of the popular TV show Reel to Real where he remained for nine years. While on TV he began dabbling in education, eventually ascending to Director of the Toronto Film School, where he also taught film history. After leaving the college to care for his wife, he returned to teaching at Humber College where he taught both Film History and Method Acting Theory. John has written two books: “Clint Eastwood – Evolution of a Filmmaker” and the upcoming “Spielberg – American Film Visionary”. He is currently working on two books, one about the films of the seventies and another on the films of Martin Scorsese. Through his career he has worked in TV, radio, print and the web. John has interviewed everyone in the industry (more than 300 interviews) except Jack Nicholson, he says sadly. Highlights include Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Francis Ford Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow.
