Herb Edelman as an announcer for Armed Forces Radio, he enrolled in Brooklyn College as a theater student, but eventually dropped out. He later worked as a hotel manager and as a taxicab driver. One of his fares was director Mike Nichols, who in 1963 cast Edelman in his breakthrough Broadway role, as the bewildered telephone repairman in Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park". Edelman reprised his role in the 1967 film version (starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda). He appeared in the movie versions of Simon's "The Odd Couple" (1968) and "California Suite" (1978). He also appeared in an installment of
Henry Fonda a strong, appealing screen image in such classics as "The Ox-Bow Incident", "Mister Roberts", and "12 Angry Men". Later, Fonda moved toward darker epics such as Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" and lighter roles in family comedies such as "Yours, Mine and Ours" with Lucille Ball, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 54th Academy Awards for the movie "On Golden Pond", his final film role. Fonda was the patriarch of a family of famous actors, including daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity. His family and close