# Frances Ford Seymour
Born in Canada on 4 April 1908 and later an American socialite, **Frances Ford Seymour** became the second spouse of actor [Henry Fonda](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-fonda) and gave birth to two actors, [Jane Fonda](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-fonda) and [Peter Fonda](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-fonda); she died on 14 April 1950.[1](https://whipplephoto.com/Genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I115727&tree=tree1) She was born in Brockville, Ontario, the daughter of Eugene Ford Seymour and Sophie Mildred Bower, and died by suicide at a sanatorium in Beacon, New York, at the age of 42.[2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 April 1908, Brockville, Ontario, Canada; daughter of Eugene Ford Seymour and Sophie Mildred Bower[2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm) |
| First marriage | George Tuttle Brokaw, 10 January 1931, New York City; one daughter, Frances de Villers Brokaw ("Pan"); Brokaw died 28 May 1935[2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11863230/bio/) |
| Second marriage | Henry Fonda, 16 September 1936, Christ Church, New York City; children Jane (born 21 December 1937) and Peter (born 1940)[2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm) • [4](https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family%3AHenry_Fonda_and_Frances_Seymour_%281%29) |
| Education | Fairhaven High School, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, class of 1925; the family lived in Fairhaven from 1922 to 1936[5](https://www.discoverfairhaven.org/frances-ford-seymour) |
| Death | 14 April 1950, Craig House sanatorium, Beacon, New York, by suicide at age 42[6](https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-willems-hoogeloon-best/I276012.php) |
| Aftermath | Cremated the day she died; her mother Sophie M. Seymour received custody of Jane, 12, and Peter, 10[7](https://www.fonda.org/files/Fonda_Jan26.pdf) |
## Early life
Seymour was born in Brockville, Ontario, into a family with connections on both sides of the border. Her father, Eugene Ford Seymour, was born in New Jersey, and her mother, Sophie Mildred Bower, in Ontario.[8](https://familypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Frances_Ford_Seymour_%281908-1950%29) In the early 1920s the family moved to Fairhaven, Massachusetts, possibly through connections with the family of Henry H. Rogers; Seymour's father was the uncle of Mary Benjamin, who married Henry H. Rogers Jr. Seymour lived on Green Street in Fairhaven and graduated from Fairhaven High School in 1925.[5](https://www.discoverfairhaven.org/frances-ford-seymour)
Some published accounts describe her childhood as difficult. A biography by Patricia Bosworth reports that Seymour remembered her childhood as miserable, that her father, once a successful lawyer, could no longer hold a job and was later diagnosed as a "paranoid schizophrenic," and that her mother became the family's sole financial provider.[9](https://www.everand.com/book/861540581/Jane-Fonda-The-Private-Life-of-a-Public-Woman) Decades after Seymour's death, her daughter Jane Fonda located her mother's medical records and learned that Seymour had been sexually abused as a child.[6](https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-willems-hoogeloon-best/I276012.php)
## Marriages
On 10 January 1931, Seymour married George Tuttle Brokaw, a wealthy American lawyer and sportsman, in New York City.[2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm) • [10](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/frances-ford-seymour-12966.php) Their daughter Frances de Villers, known as "Pan," was born later that year.[9](https://www.everand.com/book/861540581/Jane-Fonda-The-Private-Life-of-a-Public-Woman) Brokaw died on 28 May 1935.[2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm)
Seymour met Henry Fonda while he was filming in England, and the two married on 16 September 1936 at Christ Church in New York City.[10](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/frances-ford-seymour-12966.php) • [2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm) Their daughter Jane was born in New York City on 21 December 1937, and their son Peter was born in 1940; both became actors.[4](https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family%3AHenry_Fonda_and_Frances_Seymour_%281%29) The family later lived in California and in [Greenwich, Connecticut](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenwich-connecticut).[11](https://sites.google.com/site/countyhistorian/henry-fonda)
## Death
By the late 1940s the Fonda marriage was in difficulty. Seymour was admitted to Craig House, a sanatorium in [Beacon, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/beacon-new-york), and Henry Fonda asked her for a divorce; her suicide came about three and a half months afterward.[6](https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-willems-hoogeloon-best/I276012.php) On 14 April 1950, ten days after her 42nd birthday, she cut her throat with a razor.[6](https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-willems-hoogeloon-best/I276012.php) • [2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm)
She was cremated the day she died. Fonda hurried from New York to attend a brief service and returned that night to his role in the Broadway hit *Mister Roberts*.[7](https://www.fonda.org/files/Fonda_Jan26.pdf) In her will, Seymour named her mother, Sophie M. Seymour of Los Angeles, as the major beneficiary; she received custody of the two minor children, Jane, 12, and Peter, 10, along with the Los Angeles house, $1,000 in cash, personal effects, and 60 percent of the residual estate, with each child receiving 20 percent. Pan, Seymour's daughter from her first marriage, was bequeathed a house in [Newark, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/newark-new-jersey).[7](https://www.fonda.org/files/Fonda_Jan26.pdf)
Jane Fonda, then 12, was told that her mother had died of a heart attack and learned the truth about the suicide about a year later.[12](https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/fonda-jane-seymour) In interviews decades afterward, Fonda has spoken openly about her mother's death, describing her as bipolar and correcting interviewers who describe her mother as having "died."[13](https://elpais.com/opinion/2026-06-09/de-que-diran-que-has-muerto.html)
## Conflicting records
Genealogical and press sources disagree on some basic dates. Most references, including the Peerage and IMDb, give Seymour's birth date as 4 April 1908,[2](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11863230/bio/) while a [Le Monde](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-monde) profile and the Prabook encyclopedia give 14 April 1908.[14](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/summer-reads/article/2022/08/22/jane-fonda-portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire_5994396_183.html) • [15](https://prabook.com/web/frances.seymour/2437930) Peter Fonda's birth date is likewise reported as 23 February 1939 in one Fonda family genealogy[7](https://www.fonda.org/files/Fonda_Jan26.pdf) and as 23 February 1940 in other family records and biographical accounts.[4](https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family%3AHenry_Fonda_and_Frances_Seymour_%281%29)
## References
1. [Frances Ford Seymour (1908–1950), Our Family History](https://whipplephoto.com/Genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I115727&tree=tree1)
2. [Frances Ford Seymour, The Peerage](https://www.thepeerage.com/p24948.htm)
3. [Frances Seymour Fonda – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11863230/bio/)
4. [Family: Henry Fonda and Frances Seymour, WeRelate](https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family%3AHenry_Fonda_and_Frances_Seymour_%281%29)
5. [Frances Ford Seymour, Discover Fairhaven](https://www.discoverfairhaven.org/frances-ford-seymour)
6. [Frances Ford Seymour (1908–1950), Genealogie Online](https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-willems-hoogeloon-best/I276012.php)
7. [Descendants of Jellis Douw Fonda (1615–1659), Fonda family genealogy](https://www.fonda.org/files/Fonda_Jan26.pdf)
8. [Frances Ford Seymour (1908–1950), Familypedia](https://familypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Frances_Ford_Seymour_%281908-1950%29)
9. [Patricia Bosworth, Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman](https://www.everand.com/book/861540581/Jane-Fonda-The-Private-Life-of-a-Public-Woman)
10. [Frances Ford Seymour Biography, The Famous People](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/frances-ford-seymour-12966.php)
11. [Henry Fonda, countyhistorian](https://sites.google.com/site/countyhistorian/henry-fonda)
12. [Fonda, Jane Seymour, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/fonda-jane-seymour)
13. [De qué dirán que has muerto, El País](https://elpais.com/opinion/2026-06-09/de-que-diran-que-has-muerto.html)
14. [Jane Fonda, portrait of a lady on fire, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/summer-reads/article/2022/08/22/jane-fonda-portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire_5994396_183.html)
15. [Frances Seymour, Prabook](https://prabook.com/web/frances.seymour/2437930)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Film stardom, star system, and actor dynasties*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license