Henry Winkler was one of the biggest stars of the 1970s due to his iconic role on Happy Days. The actor played Arthur ”Fonzie” Fonzarelli for all 11 seasons of the ABCsitcom, from 1974 to 1984, and the leather-jacketed auto mechanic’s tough guy ‘tude became an essential part of the show.
But early on, Happy Days struggled in the ratings—to the point that showrunner Garry Marshall sent Winkler and his co-stars on the road to promote the sitcom.
During a recent appearance on Ted Danson’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Winkler shared, “In the beginning, the show was not doing very well. Happy Days was not doing very well. There were 100 shows. We were 48th. And in that calculus, we were not doing well. So, they sent us out into the world. They sent us to different cities to make personal appearances.”
Winkler recalled a fan event at the Neiman Marcus store in Dallas, Texas, where an unbelievable 25,000 fans showed up to meet the Happy Days cast, which included Ron Howard,Anson Williams, and Donny Most. The actor shared that the massive crowd blocked the path for him and his co-stars to get into their limousine. When Most (Ralph Malph on the show) expressed fears that the group would “die” getting out of there, Winkler stepped into Fonzie mode, complete with his signature tough guy voice.
“And I have never used the Fonzie’s character offscreen. I turned to Donny, and I saw his panic,” Winkler said as he segued into his signature Fonzie voice. “I said, ‘I will take care of this.’ And I just looked at the crowd, and I said, ‘All right, listen up. A lot of you. Four of us. You are now going to part like the Red Sea.’ I swear to God.”
But the money didn’t stop there. While the fans obeyed Winkler’s command, one heckler decided to make a comment about Winkler’s height. The actor is 5-foot-5.
“We started walking. Now somebody said, ‘He’s so short,’” Winkler recalled. “I turned to where I thought I heard it and I said, ‘F— you. I’m not short!’ Then somebody else yelled, ‘He’s so cool.’ And then we got in the car and left.”
RELATED: Henry Winkler Addresses Rumors That ‘Laverne & Shirley’ Stars Were a ‘Nightmare’
Winkler may not have been the tallest of the Happy Days guys, but his commanding voice and naturally cool style made him the perfect choice for the role.
The actor was 27 years old and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama when he auditioned for Happy Days. But Winkler initially wasn’t sure he was right for the Fonzie role as he read lines with a man named Pascal.
“I only have six lines. And I don’t know where it came from… I changed my voice,” Winkler shared on the IMO With Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson podcast earlier this year. “I’m looking at him. I’m a scared short Jew. I’m playing a tall Italian. I threw the script up in the air. I walked out of the room.”
During an appearance on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, Winkler shared that while Happy Days producers originally envisioned Fonzie as “a taller Italian kid,” he ultimately wowed them during his audition.
He was offered the part on his 28thbirthday.
“They got you know, this short Jew from New York, but all I did was change my voice,” Winkler recalled. “I introduce myself as Henry, and then as I started to do it, something overtook me … And I changed my voice like this, and it unleashed me.”
Related: ‘Happy Days’ Star Thought His Career Was ‘Over’ After Hit Sitcom Ended
This story was originally published by Parade on Jun 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
