The Hidden Controversies of Henry Fonda’s Life

In a pretty self-centered move, Fonda got married to his 21-year-old girlfriend, Susan Blanchard, not long after his wife’s sad suicide. By 1953, they even adopted a little girl named Amy Fishman, joining Jane and Peter. But their family life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

As Susan approached Fonda, she told some troubling stories about him. She described him as someone who wanted a “geisha” wife, always looking perfect, doing whatever he said, and always trying to make him happy. Sound familiar? Jane Fonda called this the “disease to please.” By 1956, their rocky marriage fell apart, and Fonda’s once-great career was starting to fall apart, too.