Henry Fonda may get all the credit for starting a family of successful actors, but there's at least one more person who deserves some of that credit, and that's Dodie Brando, the mother of acting legend Marlon Brando. According to the Omaha Community Playhouse, Dodie was closely associated with the Nebraska-based theater company, and even starred in their inaugural 1925 play, "The Enchanted Cottage." The Playhouse was in need of a young man to play the lead in the opening play of their first season, "You and I," and so Dodie reached out to her friend Herberta Fonda and asked if her son Henry would be interested in the role, which he accepted.
Henry must've really enjoyed his time as an actor, as it was only within a matter of days that he decided to switch his career focus to acting, eventually moving to New England to hone his thespian craft (per the Guardian). The world would've been robbed of a serious acting talent had Dodie not asked her friend Herberta that fateful question.
