Biography
A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, American actor Henry Winkler first appeared on Broadway and in films (Crazy Joe,
The Lords of Flatbush [both 1974]) before making the guest-star rounds on TV sitcoms. He worked several times for MTM productions, appearing in such roles as
Valerie Harper's date on
Rhoda and a charming thief undergoing psychoanalysis on
The Bob Newhart Show. In 1973, Winkler was selected among hundreds of candidates (including ex-Monkee Micky Dolenz) to play the small recurring role of Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, a leather-jacketed auto mechanic, on the new TV sitcom
Happy Days. Though the series' stars were ostensibly
Ron Howard,
Anson Williams, and Donny Most, the bulk of the fan mail sent to
Happy Days during its first season was addressed to "the Fonz." By the time the second season rolled around, Winkler was afforded second billing and a larger slice of screen time on each week's episode. Soon the more impressionable TV fans of America were parroting such Fonzie catchphrases as "Aaaaay" and "Sit on it!," while the nonplussed Winkler, who always regarded himself as a Dustin Hoffman-esque character actor, climbed to teen-idol status, complete with fan magazine interviews, posters, and Fonzie dolls. He also enjoyed a substantial salary boost, from 750 dollars per episode to (eventually) 80,000 dollars. At first, the off-stage Winkler could be as testy and sarcastic as his on-stage persona, but as Fonzie assumed "role model" proportions, the actor began comporting himself in as polite and agreeable a manner as possible. Accordingly, Fonzie became less of a
Marlon Brando-type hoodlum and more of a basically goodhearted, moralistic young fellow who happened to be a motorcycle-racing dropout. By the time
Happy Days ended in 1983 (by which time Winkler was elevated to top billing), Fonzie was a "drop-in," with a good job as a high school shop teacher and the possibility of a solid marriage. During his
Happy Days heyday, Winkler was determined to prove he was capable of playing parts above and beyond Fonzie by taking film roles as far removed from his TV character: the troubled Vietnam vet in
Heroes (1977), the vainglorious actor-turned-wrestler in
The One and Only (1981), a '30s-style Scrooge in
An American Christmas Carol (1982), and the timorous morgue attendant in
Night Shift (1983). Following the example of his
Happy Days co-star
Ron Howard, Winkler also began working his way into the production and direction end of the business. In addition, Winkler used his name value for the benefit of others, remaining active in charitable and political causes. After several years away from the camera, Winkler returned to acting in the 1991 TV-movie
Absolute Strangers, playing the husband of a woman caught in the middle of a volatile pro-life/pro-choice argument. And in 1993, Henry Winkler starred in the brief TV sitcom
Monty, portraying a bombastic Limbaugh-type conservative TV personality. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide