Afdera Franchetti: Meet Henry Fonda’s Fourth Wife

Italian baroness Afdera Franchetti became Fonda’s fourth wife two years after his divorce from Blanchard. Audrey Hepburn introduced the two while she and Fonda were in Italy filming War and Peace. Franchetti and Fonda married in 1957 and divorced four years later in 1961.

Meet Henry Fonda’s Fourth Wife

In 1957 Fonda married the Italian baroness Afdera Franchetti. They divorced in 1961. Soon after, in 1965, Fonda married Shirlee Mae Adams (born in 1932) and remained with her until his death in 1982.

At age 20, Fonda started his acting career at the Omaha Community Playhouse when his mother’s friend Dodie Brando (mother of Marlon Brando) recommended that he try out for a juvenile part in You and I, in which he was cast as Ricky. He was fascinated by the stage, learning everything from set construction to stage production, and embarrassed by his acting ability.

Fonda got his first break in films when he was hired in 1935 as Janet Gaynor’s leading man in 20th Century Fox’s screen adaptation of The Farmer Takes a Wife; he reprised his role from the Broadway production of the same name, which had gained him recognition.