Hank & Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart

Per the publisher; Henry Fonda and James Stewart were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood for forty years. They became friends and then roommates as stage actors in New York, and when they began making films in Hollywood, they roomed together again. They got along famously, with a shared interest in elaborate practical jokes and model airplanes, among other things. Fonda was a liberal Democrat, Stewart a conservative Republican, but after one memorable blow-up over politics, they agreed never to discuss that subject again. Fonda was a ladies’ man who was married five times; Stewart remained married to the same woman for forty-five years. Both men volunteered during World War II and were decorated for their service. When Stewart returned home, still unmarried, he once again moved in with Fonda, his wife, and his two children, Jane and Peter, who knew him as Uncle Jimmy.

I am going to start off by thanking Netgalley, Simon & Shuster and the author for allowing me to review this book because I LOVED IT. I am a serious fan of both James Stewart and Henry Fonda - "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Mr. Roberts" are two of my all-time favourite films. The fact that they were such good friends often made me scratch my head but this book explains why opposites attract. Their hijinks in the early days in New York made me laugh out loud at time.

I have always heard that Fonda and his daughter Jane had a horrible relationship (Jane found him very repressed and was baffled at all his marriages -(not that she did much better in the marriage game either in the end...) so I hoped to learn more about that but the subject was never broached. I loved reading about Jimmy's love of family and his marriage to his one true love, Gloria.

I always remember when he was late in life and had an accident and they were coming home from the hospital (this was the pre-TMZ/paparazzi days) and he got out of the car and waved hello at the photographers who were on his front lawn and thanked them for their well wishes --- a gentleman to the end!!! I also loved that he was Johnny Carson's "Poet Laureate" --- his poem about his dog, Beau, must be watched with a with a box of tissues in hand!!! (I digress ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwGnCIdHQH0)

Scott Eyman has written some of the best Hollywood/film/entertainment books out there and this does not disappoint. He is thorough, entertaining and insightful from page one to the end and his writing style is very easy to enjoy. If you are a fan of this genre, you will not be disappointed --- if you are NOT a fan, this book may turn you into one.!