When you think of The Fonz, you think of Henry Winkler. In fact, it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the role. But there was someone else who was up for the iconic Happy Days part.
Micky Dolenz was talking about his career to People, and he told the story about how the TV heartthrobs were both the finalists for Arthur Fonzarelli. “I almost got it,” he told then. “Supposedly it was between me and Henry [Winkler]. He remembers it too. The story I heard is that he was in the waiting room, saw me come in, and thought, ‘Oh s—, I’ll never get this — Micky Dolenz is here!’ So we laugh about it now. He’s a good friend and a brilliant talent.”
Does the last surviving member of The Monkees think they made the right choice? “Oh my God, he’s just so good. I was definitely not as good as he was. Come on — he was The Fonz! He had that New York, New Jersey thing down. I’m from Southern California. It wasn’t gonna happen!”
Everything happened as it was supposed to happen. Because of that, Dolenz gets to hit the road this Summer with the Songs & Stories tour. Who knows if he would still be playing music if he played sitcom’s coolest guy?
Henry Winkler is one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, so we need more than one of him. And there is more than one of him. It is just that the other one is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it is a bronze statue of him as The Fonz.
Recently, the Happy Days actor visited Milwaukee, and he had a happy day with himself—well, his bronze self.
Look at how happy he is! But then again, he is always happy. And that is just another reason to love him.
Henry Winkler has a soft-spoken voice in his everyday life. However, The Fonz’s voice is much more forceful. So, who was the inspiration behind his character’s accent?
Yesterday, when the beloved actor was on The Jennifer Hudson Show, he revealed the man behind his infamous voice. And it is someone we all know.
Winkler said that Happy Days was looking for a tall Italian man to play the role, but instead, “they got a short Jew.”
Right before the audition, the short Jew had worked with the Italian Stallion Sylvester Stallone on The Lords of Flatbush. So Winkler went in thinking, “What would Sly do?” when he introduced himself. And he kept that going when he landed the part that changed his life forever.
And now that you know that, all you will hear is Stallone when you see Arthur Fonzarelli talk. At least, I know that is what I will be doing!
