Henry Winkler has revealed he personally stopped Happy Days being renamed Fonzie’s Happy Days at the height of his fame because he feared it would be a “slap in the face” to the rest of the cast.
Henry Winkler has revealed he personally stopped Happy Days being renamed Fonzie’s Happy Days at the height of his fame because he feared it would be a ‘slap in the face’ to the rest of the cast
The 80-year-old actor played Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli throughout the ABC sitcom’s 11-season run from 1974 to 1984, turning what began as a supporting character into a television phenomenon.
Speaking on In Depth With Graham Bensinger, Henry recalled how former ABC president Leonard Goldenson approached him with plans to capitalise on The Fonz’s extraordinary popularity by putting the character’s name in the title.
Henry said: “Before Happy Days, ABC was in the basement. It was the last of the three networks.”
He recalled Leonard approaching him in his dressing room and said: “He came to my office, my dressing room, and he said, ‘First of all, I would like to call the show Fonzie’s Happy Days. We’re thinking of changing the title’. And I said, ‘Sir, I’m really asking you not to do that. First of all, it’s not broken’.”
The enormous popularity of The Fonz had transformed Henry into one of American television’s biggest stars, with the actor recalling that he received about 50,000 fan letters a week and at one stage found leaving his apartment “scary”.
But Henry said he was conscious Happy Days remained an ensemble production rather than a vehicle built entirely around him.
The sitcom also starred Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham, Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham, Don Most as Ralph Malph and Anson Williams as Potsie Weber.
Scott Baio joined as Chachi Arcola, while the cast also included Erin Moran, who died aged 56 in 2017, Tom Bosley, who died aged 83 in 2010, Al Molinaro, who passed away aged 96 in 2015, and Linda Purl.
Henry said: “Gary Marshall and Marion Ross and Anson and Donny and Erin, bless her soul, I mean, there was an entire cast.
“We were really soaring in the ratings. It wasn’t broken. This would be a slap in the face. Why change the title if it is working so magnificently?”
Henry also recalled a candid conversation with Ron about the way The Fonz’s popularity had begun to overshadow Richie, who had originally been at the centre of Happy Days.
Henry said Ron told him: “Look, it hurt my feelings. You’re not doing anything to hurt my feelings. You’re really good and you’re good for the show. It’s helping the show. So I put all of that together and that’s the way it is.”
Henry added: “And we never talked about it again.”
He said he remained acutely aware of the unusual position he occupied within the programme.
Henry went on: “(I knew that) underneath all of these actors was the fact that I came with six lines and I was just soaring.”
He also said: “The character was taking off, and I said, ‘Oh my god, do not change the name. It’s hard enough to just maintain and keep everybody as the ensemble because we can’t do it if we are resentful or angry of each other’. And he said, ‘Okay’.”
Henry said Leonard subsequently offered him a separate television series built around The Fonz – an opportunity he also rejected.
He added: “I said, ‘Look, I live and I am successful in this extraordinary group of people. If I do my own show, now all of a sudden I’m going, “Hey, look at that” for about a half an hour. I’m with new people. I have no idea if I have chemistry with these new people. I don’t think I can do my own show. I think I’m very happy right where I am with this extraordinary family’.”
Henry also said turning down the opportunity was straightforward.
He continued: “It was so easy. It was so easy to turn it down. I never looked back. I never thought about it. I was flattered. What an amazing gift, but it was a gift I didn’t want to open.”
The Fonz nevertheless became one of television’s most recognisable characters, famous for his leather jacket, motorcycle, thumbs-up gesture and “Ayyy” catchphrase.
Henry appeared in all 255 episodes of Happy Days.
After the sitcom ended, Henry initially struggled with being typecast but subsequently rebuilt his career as an actor, director and producer, including helping to develop the hit television series MacGyver.
His later acting roles included incompetent lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development, principal Gene Cousineau in HBO’s Barry and film appearances in Scream, The Waterboy and Click.
His performance in Barry earned him the Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series in 2018.
