On Golden Pond

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On Golden Pond is a play by Ernest Thompson.

It focuses on aging couple Ethel and Norman Thayer, who spend each summer at their home on Golden Pond. This year they are visited by daughter Chelsea with her fiancé and his son in tow. The play explores the often turbulent relationship the young woman shared with her father growing up, and the difficulties faced by a couple in the twilight years of a long marriage.

After five previews, the first Broadway production, directed by Craig Anderson, opened on February 28 1979 at the New Apollo Theatre, where it ran for 126 performances. The cast was headed by Tom Aldredge and Frances Sternhagen. After a summer break, it reopened with the same cast on September 12 at the Century Theatre, a small playhouse in the basement of the Paramount Hotel, where it ran an additional 256 performances.

After nineteen previews, a Broadway revival with an African American cast directed by Leonard Foglia opened on April 7 2005 at the Cort Theatre, where it ran for 93 performances. James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams headed the cast. Jones, who often was ill during the run, eventually was diagnosed with pneumonia, forcing the production to a sudden close.

Michael Learned and Tom Bosley starred in a 2006-07 US national tour.

Nominations

1979 production

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Sternhagen)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play (Aldredge)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (Sternhagen)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design

2005 production

• Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
• Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (Jones)

Film adaptation

On Golden Pond
Image:On golden pond.jpg Original film poster
Directed by	Mark Rydell
Produced by	Bruce Gilbert
Written by	Ernest Thompson
Starring	Katharine Hepburn Henry Fonda Jane Fonda
Music by	Dave Grusin
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	December 4, 1981 (USA)
Running time	109 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Jane Fonda purchased the rights to the play. It was filmed in 1981 by the British production company ITC Entertainment. Thompson wrote the screenplay, and Mark Rydell directed the cast that included Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, and Dabney Coleman. The father-daughter rift depicted on screen closely parallelled the real-life relationship between the Fondas.

The film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Henry Fonda), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Katharine Hepburn), and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. It was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jane Fonda), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Score, Best Picture and Best Sound.

It was a record-setting fourth win for Hepburn, and a first Best Actor Oscar for Henry Fonda, who had received an Honorary Oscar the year before. He was too ill to attend the ceremonies, so Jane accepted the award on his behalf. He died just five months later.

The movie was one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Despite their many common acquaintances and long careers in show business, Henry Fonda and Hepburn had not only never worked together, but had never even met each other until working on the film. On the first day of shooting, Hepburn presented Henry Fonda with her longtime companion Spencer Tracy's "lucky" hat, which Fonda wore in the film.

Thompson spent his summers along the shores of Great Pond, located in Belgrade, Maine, but the film was made on Squam Lake, in central New Hampshire. The house used in the film was leased from a New Hampshire physician and was modified significantly for the shoot. The production company was contractually obligated to return the house to its original state after the film wrapped. An entire second floor was added as a balcony over the main living area was requested by the production designer. After the shoot the owner liked the renovations so much that he elected to keep the house that way and asked the crew not to dismantle the second story. A gazebo and a small boathouse were also relocated during the shoot.

Hepburn performed all her own stunts, including the swimming, for the duration of the shoot. The scene in which Norman and grand-stepson Billy run their boat, the Thayer IV, into the rocks was filmed repeatedly. The vintage wooden Chris-Craft boats were so sturdy that they kept bouncing off the rocks without any damage. The crew had to modify the boats so they would break away in the wreck. The water level in Squam Lake was so low during the summer of production that Fonda and McKeon could have stood during the scene in which they were supposedly clinging to the rocks for fear of drowning. The September water was barely knee deep, but it was cold enough that the pair had to wear wetsuits under their clothes. Katharine, on the other hand, dove into the water without the aid of the wetsuit. She wanted the scene to keep its authenticity. Scenes in which Billy takes the boat out on his own were filmed on nearby Lake Winnipesaukee.

When visiting Holderness, NH, one can take a boat tour of Squam Lake and view the filming sites from the movie. There is also a restaurant called "Walter's Basin", which is named after the trout called "Walter" that Billy catches with Norman. For filming, "Walter" was brought in from a nearby trout pond called "Castle in the Clouds". He was released after his capture back into Squam Lake.

In 2001, CBS aired a live television adaptation of On Golden Pond, which was heavily publicized in the press, mainly due to the reunion of former Sound of Music stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. It also starred Glenne Headly.

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