Last week, legendary actor Peter Fonda passed away from complications with lung cancer at 79. Working steadily in film and television since 1962, Fonda's breakthrough role was the 1969 film Easy Rider, which he produced, co-wrote and starred in.Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Easy Rider would symbolize 1960s counterculture and become a touchstone film celebrating nonconformity and rebellion. Immensely influential, Fonda would voice an aging hippie named The Truth in 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, who imparts his wisdom to the video game's characters as a callback to his iconic role. Now, Rockstar Games has paid tribute to Fonda and his performance in the bestselling franchise through Twitter.
Beyond Easy Rider and its influences, Fonda would have a prolific career on the big and small screen as an actor, producer and director. In addition to starring in Futureworld, the sequel to the original Westworld film, Fonda starred in numerous films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. After a notable role in Escape from L.A., Fonda starred in 1997's Ulee's Gold as a father desperately trying to save his daughter from drug addiction; the role would earn him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
In the latter part of his career, Fonda would appear as Mephisto in 2007's Ghost Rider opposite Nicolas Cage, as well as the acclaimed western 3:10 to Yuma with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Outside of his professional career, Fonda was a noted political activist for much of his life and would inspire John Lennon's Beatles song "She Said She Said."
The son of Hollywood icon Henry Fonda and his wife Frances Ford Seymour, Fonda leaves behind two daughters and his older sister Jane.