Henry Winkler, 80, used a recent fan expo appearance to remind audiences that the "Happy Days" cast kept egos in check, and to single out one unnamed guest star who refused to get the message.
Speaking at a fan convention in Tennessee, Winkler described the culture on the set of the long-running sitcom as fiercely egalitarian. The show ran for 11 seasons, from 1974 to 1984, and turned Winkler's Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli into one of the most recognizable characters in television history. Two Golden Globe Awards came with the role. But Winkler told the crowd that none of that mattered once the cameras were rolling.
"On our set, there was no stardom," Winkler said. "We were an ensemble. We worked hard at making it funny every week."
That ethos, Winkler explained, applied to everyone, regulars and visitors alike. One guest star, however, did not take the hint. The actor, who played a recurring character named Eugene, appeared on the show multiple times and, each time, found a way to steer conversation toward his fan mail.
Winkler told the Tennessee crowd he finally confronted the guest star directly. After repeated rounds of boasting, Winkler laid down the numbers.
"You don't want to talk to me about fan mail, I got 50,000 letters a week."
He followed that with a blunt reminder of how the set operated: "We don't talk about that on the set," he told the actor. "We are all here as one."
Winkler did not name the guest star at the expo. He identified the actor only by the character name Eugene and later called him an offensive name, a sign that the memory still carried some edge decades later. The guest star has not publicly responded to Winkler's account.
Winkler's career after "Happy Days" stretched across film and television. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for the series "Heroes" and appeared in films including "The Waterboy," "Holes," and "Click." But the role that finally brought him an Emmy came in 2018, when he won for playing acting coach Gene Cousineau on HBO's "Barry," opposite Bill Hader's wanted assassin. Winkler stayed on the show for all four of its seasons.
Backstage after that Emmy win, Winkler offered advice that sounded like a distillation of the same ensemble-first philosophy he enforced on the "Happy Days" set. Variety captured his remarks.
"Be yourself, be honest about your ability, prepare so that you are not a flash in the pan."
He also reflected on his long arc in Hollywood.
"When I first started here in Hollywood... I thought of myself as a tree or sapling. I planted. I wanted to grow and be strong until I couldn't do this anymore. And what a great tree it is."
Winkler also used the fan expo to talk about his latest project: a guest appearance in the first episode of Season 3 of "Loot," the Apple TV+ comedy starring Maya Rudolph. He did not hesitate when Rudolph asked him to join the cast.
"Maya Rudolph is one of my favorites. She is a brilliant person and a lovely person. So, when she asked me to be on the first episode of the third season of 'Loot,' I didn't even ask to read the script."
What the script asked turned out to be considerable. Winkler arrived on set and was handed, as he described it, "a silk robe that went to there", pointing to his upper thigh. "There was nothing else."
The scene was shot in January, outdoors, on a beach. Winkler described the conditions with characteristic bluntness.
"And then we did it in January on the beach. And I want to say the wind came from every direction. Parts of my body, large and small.... It was so cold. I was in shock. But then I was with Maya and her wonderful cast."
Even at 80, Winkler treated the job the way he said he always had, show up, do the work, serve the group. No complaints about the cold. No bragging about the billing. Just the assignment and the people around him.
Some lessons from the "Happy Days" set apparently stuck with the right person.
