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?
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