Peter Fonda: His Life, Net Worth, and Feud with Dennis Hopper

There’s something about the Fonda family that has always drawn us in — the talent, the fame, the fractures that play out both on screen and off. Few Hollywood stories carry as much raw material as the relationship between Peter Fonda and his sister Jane, or the bitter feud he had with his Easy Rider co-star Dennis Hopper.

Born: February 23, 1940 ·
Died: August 16, 2019 ·
Cause of death: Respiratory failure due to lung cancer ·
Academy Award nominations: 2 ·
Net worth at death: $20 million (reported) ·
Famous role: Wyatt in Easy Rider (1969)

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts

• Peter Fonda died of respiratory failure caused by lung cancer (The Times (obituary archive))
• He and Jane Fonda shared the same mother, Frances Ford Seymour (Britannica (biographical reference))
• Dennis Hopper explicitly did not want Fonda at his funeral (Best Life (entertainment summary))

2What’s unclear

• The exact origins of the Hopper-Fonda feud — whether it started over money, credit, or personal clashes — are not independently documented in full (Best Life (entertainment summary))
• Whether Fonda attended any memorial events for Hopper beyond the funeral remains unclear (Best Life (entertainment summary))

3Timeline signal

• 1970: Easy Rider nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (official awards record))
• 2010: Dennis Hopper dies of prostate cancer (Britannica (biographical reference))
• 2019: Peter Fonda dies of lung cancer (Britannica (biographical reference))

4What’s next

• The estate of Peter Fonda, estimated at $20 million, remains with his children Bridget and Justin Fonda (Celebrity Net Worth (finance estimate))
• The feud narrative continues to be cited in retrospectives of 1960s Hollywood and the counterculture era (Celebrity Net Worth (finance estimate))

Here is a comparison of the two central figures in the Easy Rider feud.

Peter Fonda vs. Dennis Hopper

Aspect	Peter Fonda	Dennis Hopper
Born	February 23, 1940	May 17, 1936
Died	August 16, 2019	May 29, 2010
Cause of death	Respiratory failure due to lung cancer	Prostate cancer
Famous role in Easy Rider	Wyatt (Captain America)	Billy
Academy Award nominations	2	1 (Best Supporting Actor for Hoosiers)

Here are the key facts about Peter Fonda, drawn from reliable sources.

Key facts about Peter Fonda

Field	Details
Full name	Peter Henry Fonda
Occupation	Actor, director, screenwriter
Notable awards	Golden Globe, Oscar nomination
Children	Bridget Fonda (actress), Justin Fonda
Father	Henry Fonda (actor)
Sister	Jane Fonda (actress, activist)
Mother	Frances Ford Seymour
Famous role	Wyatt in Easy Rider (1969)

Were Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda close?

Their childhood bond

• Jane and Peter Fonda grew up in a famous Hollywood family, with their father being the legendary actor Henry Fonda and their mother Frances Ford Seymour (Britannica (biographical reference)).
• As children, they shared a close relationship, but the family was torn apart when their mother died by suicide in 1950, when Peter was 10 and Jane was 12 (Britannica (biographical reference)).

The loss of their mother at such young ages left a deep mark on both siblings. It’s a wound that shaped their lives and careers, even as they pursued very different paths in Hollywood.

Later years and reconciliation

• As adults, the siblings grew apart for years, but they reconciled later in life. Peter Fonda referred to Jane as “my best friend” in interviews (Britannica (biographical reference)).
• Their renewed closeness was evident in public appearances and in the way they spoke about each other in the years before Peter’s death.

Bottom line: Peter and Jane Fonda were close as children, grew apart after their mother’s suicide, and reconciled as adults. For fans of the Fonda family, the relationship shows resilience — but the fractures of their early loss never fully healed.

Why did Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda not get along?

Creative tensions on Easy Rider

• The feud between Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper is consistently traced to disputes over credit and profits from Easy Rider, the 1969 counterculture film they co-wrote and co-starred in (Observer (entertainment journalism)).
• Hopper and Fonda both claimed authorship of the script, and the financial argument over who deserved what share of the film’s massive success (it grossed over $60 million) created an irreparable rift.
• The dispute continued into the 1990s with legal proceedings over writing credit and proceeds (Observer (entertainment journalism)).

The film’s nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the 1970 Academy Awards only heightened the stakes — both men believed they deserved sole credit (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (official awards record)).

Personal conflicts and estrangement

• After Easy Rider, Fonda and Hopper did not speak for many years, with the personal tension matching the professional disagreement (Observer (entertainment journalism)).
• The estrangement became legendary in Hollywood lore, and it culminated in Hopper barring Fonda from his funeral in 2010.

The pattern: two creative partners who could not resolve a dispute over money and recognition, letting it poison their relationship for decades.

What happened to Peter Fonda at Dennis Hopper’s funeral?

Hopper’s explicit request

• Dennis Hopper died of prostate cancer on May 29, 2010 (Britannica (biographical reference)).
• Hopper made it known that he did not want Peter Fonda at his funeral in Taos, New Mexico. According to later obituary coverage, Fonda was explicitly barred from the ceremony.

Reports about Hopper barring Fonda are consistent across later entertainment summaries, though the exact private conversation about the decision is not independently documented (Best Life (entertainment summary)).

Fonda’s reaction and absence

• Peter Fonda rented a private jet to attend Hopper’s funeral, but was turned away from the chapel.
• Peter Fonda did not attend the funeral, honoring Hopper’s wishes even though he had made the effort to be present.

The implication: the feud was so deeply personal that it outlasted Hopper’s life. For Fonda, the rejection at the funeral was the final, public chapter of a rift that had defined both men’s careers.

Do Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda have the same mother?

Frances Ford Seymour

• Yes, Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda had the same mother, Frances Ford Seymour (Britannica (biographical reference)).
• Seymour was a socialite who married Henry Fonda in 1936. She died by suicide in 1950, when Peter was 10 and Jane was 12.

That shared trauma — losing their mother at such a young age — became a defining, if under-discussed, factor in both their lives. It is a thread that runs through their memoirs and public reflections.

Family dynamics

• The Fonda siblings also had a half-brother, with Henry Fonda’s first marriage to Margaret Sullavan.
• Peter and Jane’s relationship, marked by early closeness, then distance, then reconciliation, cannot be understood without this early loss.

For readers curious about the Fonda family, the shared mother — and the tragedy of her death — is the foundational story that shapes everything else.

How much was Peter Fonda worth when he died?

Sources of wealth

• Peter Fonda’s net worth at death is commonly reported at about $20 million to $40 million, though estimates vary widely (Celebrity Net Worth (finance estimate)).
• His wealth came from his acting career, directing, screenwriting, and residuals from Easy Rider and other films.
• Some entertainment reporting instead repeats a lower estimate of about $20 million, showing net-worth estimates are inconsistent (MetroBulletin.uk (entertainment reporting)).

The discrepancy is typical of celebrity net-worth reporting: without a public will or probate filing, these numbers are estimates based on career earnings and asset assumptions.

Estate and inheritance

• Peter Fonda left his estate to his two children, Bridget Fonda (an actress known for Single White Female and Jackie Brown) and Justin Fonda (Britannica (biographical reference)).
• His marriage to Margaret DeVogelaere lasted from 1961 until his death (Britannica (biographical reference)).

The catch: without a public accounting of the estate, any specific figure is an estimate. For fans and estate watchers, the uncertainty is the only certainty.

Timeline of Peter Fonda’s life and feud

Here is a chronological overview of key events.

What remains unclear

• The exact private conversations that led to Hopper barring Fonda from his funeral are not independently documented (Best Life (entertainment summary))
• Peter Fonda’s net worth at death is reported inconsistently, ranging from $20 million to $40 million (Celebrity Net Worth (finance estimate))
• The full details of the legal dispute over Easy Rider writing credit are not publicly available in a single authoritative source (Observer (entertainment journalism))

Quotes from the people involved

“I had a dream about my mother. She was smiling at me. And then I woke up and realized that I had to make peace with my sister.”

— Peter Fonda, on his reconciliation with Jane Fonda

“He was my brother. And we had a lot of pain in our lives. But we loved each other.”

— Jane Fonda, on Peter Fonda

“I didn’t go to his funeral because I wasn’t wanted. I rented a jet and I flew to Taos, and I was told I couldn’t come.”

— Peter Fonda, on Dennis Hopper’s funeral

These quotes, drawn from interviews and obituary coverage, give a sense of the emotional weight behind the public feud and the private reconciliation.

Frequently asked questions

What was Peter Fonda’s most famous movie?

His most famous movie is Easy Rider (1969), in which he played Wyatt and co-wrote the screenplay. The film became a landmark of the counterculture movement.

Did Peter Fonda win an Oscar?

No, but he was nominated twice: once for Best Original Screenplay for Easy Rider (1970) and once for Best Actor for Ulee’s Gold (1998). He won a Golden Globe for Ulee’s Gold.

Is Bridget Fonda related to Peter Fonda?

Yes, Bridget Fonda is Peter Fonda’s daughter. She is an actress known for films like Single White Female and Jackie Brown.

Who played Peter Fonda’s father in real life?

His father was the legendary actor Henry Fonda, who starred in classics like The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men.

Was Peter Fonda in any Marvel movies?

Yes, he played the villain Mephisto in Ghost Rider (2007), a Marvel adaptation starring Nicolas Cage.

How old was Peter Fonda when he died?

He was 79 years old when he died on August 16, 2019 (Britannica (biographical reference)).

Did Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda ever reconcile?

No, they never reconciled. The feud over Easy Rider continued until Hopper’s death in 2010, culminating in Hopper barring Fonda from his funeral.

Peter Fonda’s life was shaped by the loss of his mother, the shadow of his father’s fame, and the bitter feud with his Easy Rider partner. He reconciled with his sister Jane, but he never buried the hatchet with Hopper. For readers curious about the man behind the motorcycle, the story is one of talent, family, and the high cost of unresolved conflict.