Peter Fonda

In these troubled times, who better to lead the 70th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade than Captain America? On Sunday, Peter Fonda will sport his "Easy Rider' persona, wearing a black leather jacket decorated with the stars and stripes to cruise down Hollywood Boulevard--albeit on four wheels--as the grand marshal of the 2001 parade. Fonda, 62, will be joined in this Tinseltown holiday celebration by dozens of celebrities, ranging from Pat Boone and Florence Henderson to Antonio Sabato Jr.

"The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll" — the title refers to the so-called 27 Club of musicians — arrives with eerie timing, so soon after the death of troubled vocalist Amy Winehouse. But that's not to say it's resonant or believable. With drugs, sex and betrayal, the road-trip drama — essentially the story of a superstar and the hometown bandmate he left behind — gathers up every rock-saga requisite, and throws in Route 66 for good mythologizing measure. Some grace notes and riffs ring true, but mainly it plays like a familiar tune on a broken record.

NEARLY four decades after riding his Captain America chopper to fame, Peter Fonda is still bucking trends. Two-wheeling through Coldwater Canyon during a recent late-morning ride, Hollywood's iconic biker wasn't showboating on the Harley-Davidson cruiser one would expect but zipping around on an MV Agusta F4-1000 sportbike that could smoke pretty much anything else on the road.

'Trips, Journeys and the Return Home: An In-Person Tribute to Peter Fonda' When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica Admission: $11 Information: http://www.americancinematheque.com

"When '60s Icons Collide": That could be the pitch for "The Limey." Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda star in the new thriller, which cleverly cashes in on their screen personas by incorporating old film footage and oblique references to both stars' cinematic pasts--Stamp a '60s British cult fave ("Billy Budd") and Fonda, a '60s American counterculture hero ("Easy Rider"). In "The Limey," Stamp plays a character named Wilson, a tough British ex-con who comes to L.A. on a mission of revenge.

For the past several hours, Peter Fonda has been trying to explain why he's never cared what anyone thought of him. "I've always lived with being prejudged," he says, working his way through a second carafe of chardonnay. "When I was a kid, I'd go to a party and have no idea who was there--but everyone thought they knew me. I was Henry Fonda's son." He shrugs. "They didn't know he was Col. Thursday."

"The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll" — the title refers to the so-called 27 Club of musicians — arrives with eerie timing, so soon after the death of troubled vocalist Amy Winehouse. But that's not to say it's resonant or believable. With drugs, sex and betrayal, the road-trip drama — essentially the story of a superstar and the hometown bandmate he left behind — gathers up every rock-saga requisite, and throws in Route 66 for good mythologizing measure. Some grace notes and riffs ring true, but mainly it plays like a familiar tune on a broken record.

On a shimmering spring day, Peter Fonda is jumping between phone calls and an interview in his West Hollywood hotel suite and barely pausing for breath. He seems to enjoy the rush, just as he seems blissfully unaware that he is a bundle of contradictions. He enthuses about the simple life on the spread outside of Livingston, Mont., that he shares with his wife, Becky (whom he proudly identifies as "the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Davy Crockett"), and his Labrador retrievers.

There's one in every family, the one with the camera. Lisa Law has been that one--though her friends were Bob Dylan, Peter Fonda, Janis Joplin, and her moments were the '60s.

Fond of Fonda: Peter Fonda is returning to Hollywood--via stage, not screen--as director of Joseph G. Tidwell III's drama "Southern Rapture," opening April 2 at the Met Theatre. Fonda has cast actress Sally Kirkland and country star Dwight Yoakam, who is also producing.

'Easy Rider' Fonda produced, co-wrote and co-stars as hippie biker Captain America in this seminal 1969 drama that changed the course of American filmmaking. 'Ulee's Gold' Fonda won the Golden Globe and earned an Oscar nomination for this 1997 indie drama about a reclusive beekeeper who tries to heal his dysfunctional family. 'The Trip' Jack Nicholson wrote this 1967 Roger Corman cult classic that finds Fonda playing a TV commercial director with a two-timing wife who goes on an LSD trip.

Peter Fonda is justifiably proud that he and Dennis Hopper turned the world of cinema on its ear with their iconic 1969 counterculture movie "Easy Rider. " But Fonda believes that before they did "Easy Rider," they changed the fortunes of an old film that helped turn it into a cult favorite. The 71-year-old Fonda recalled that Hopper called him one day and said, "Pick me up. We are going to a museum in Pasadena. " The museum, Fonda related, was part of the Pasadena Playhouse and showed old movies.

NEARLY four decades after riding his Captain America chopper to fame, Peter Fonda is still bucking trends. Two-wheeling through Coldwater Canyon during a recent late-morning ride, Hollywood's iconic biker wasn't showboating on the Harley-Davidson cruiser one would expect but zipping around on an MV Agusta F4-1000 sportbike that could smoke pretty much anything else on the road.

In 1971, Peter Fonda was still riding high on the success of "Easy Rider" when he made his feature directing debut with an unconventional western called "The Hired Hand." Fonda co-starred alongside Verna Bloom and Warren Oates, playing a man returning to his homestead seven years after abandoning his family. Although the film was a success in Europe, its U.S. release lasted a scant two weeks and "The Hired Hand" was largely forgotten.

In these troubled times, who better to lead the 70th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade than Captain America? On Sunday, Peter Fonda will sport his "Easy Rider' persona, wearing a black leather jacket decorated with the stars and stripes to cruise down Hollywood Boulevard--albeit on four wheels--as the grand marshal of the 2001 parade. Fonda, 62, will be joined in this Tinseltown holiday celebration by dozens of celebrities, ranging from Pat Boone and Florence Henderson to Antonio Sabato Jr.

"When '60s Icons Collide": That could be the pitch for "The Limey." Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda star in the new thriller, which cleverly cashes in on their screen personas by incorporating old film footage and oblique references to both stars' cinematic pasts--Stamp a '60s British cult fave ("Billy Budd") and Fonda, a '60s American counterculture hero ("Easy Rider"). In "The Limey," Stamp plays a character named Wilson, a tough British ex-con who comes to L.A. on a mission of revenge.

With prosperity just around the corner--that one, there, the one we passed five miles back--festiveness is in the air, no more so than in and around the Industry. Warner Bros. is 75! "Titanic" may actually make a profit! Peter Fonda is nominated for an Oscar! Again!

An unadorned and unexpectedly moving look at personal redemption and the resilience of family, this outstanding 1997 film stands out for its sureness, its quiet emotional force and writer-director Victor Nunez's ability to find and nurture the mystery and power in the events of an ordinary life.

At the Columbia TriStar party, the press tables were turned on actress Fernanda Montenegro, who enthusiastically dialed up Brazilian journalists at 4 a.m.--their time--to share the good news here--at 10 p.m. in Beverly Hills. Standing alone (except for a security guard nearby), Montenegro, star of the best foreign language film, "Central Station," braved the drizzly weather behind the elegantly tented Hilton rooftop as she spoke with reporters via cell phone.

It was his Oscar-nominated portrayal of a humble, understated beekeeper in "Ulee's Gold" that opened the door for Peter Fonda to play a larger-than-life magician who conjures up a world of trouble in the NBC adaptation of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest," which premieres Sunday. But it was the boy in Fonda that ultimately made him jump at the role of Prospero. "I said, 'Far out, I get to be a wizard in a tree house,' " Fonda said. "The 8-year-old said, 'A tree house! Goody, goody, goody.'