Frances Ford Seymour Fonda (4 April 1908 – 14 April 1950) was a Canadian-American socialite. She was the second wife of actor

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

, and the mother of actors Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda.

Biography

Born in Brockville, Ontario, Canada, Seymour was the daughter of Sophie Mildred (née Bower) and Eugene Ford Seymour. According to her daughter, Jane, medical records revealed that Seymour was a victim of recurrent

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

in her childhood. On 10 January 1931, she married George Tuttle Brokaw, a millionaire lawyer and sportsman. They had one child, Frances de Villers "Pan" Brokaw (10 October 1931 – 10 March 2008). A year after Brokaw died, Seymour married actor

on 16 September 1936, at Christ Church, New York City. She had met Fonda at

Denham Studios Denham Film Studios was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and David Lean's ''Great Expectations''. From the 1950s to the 1970s th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on the set of the film '' Wings of the Morning''. The couple had two children, actress Jane (born 21 December 1937) and actor

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

(23 February 1940 – 16 August 2019), but their marriage was troubled. According to Peter Fonda, these difficulties later gave him empathy for the marital problems of actor Dennis Hopper, his co-star in the 1969 film ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

''. Seymour died by suicide while she was a patient at Craig House, a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

in Beacon, New York. Her suicide came three and a half months after Fonda asked her for a divorce. She is buried in Ogdensburg Cemetery,

Ogdensburg, New York Ogdensburg ( moh, Kaniatarahòn:tsi) is a city in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 10,436 at the 2019 census. In the late 18th century, European-American settlers named the community after American land owner and de ...

References

External links

*
"Mothers, Lost and Found"
''The Washington Post'', Abigail Trafford, May 3, 2005
Excerpt: 'My Life So Far'
ABC News, April 5, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Frances Ford 1908 births 1950 suicides Canadian emigrants to the United States Fonda family Canadian socialites Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in New York (state) People from Brockville