Why Henry Winkler Rejected A Happy Days Spin-Off Focused On Fonzie

Henry Winkler has enjoyed an awesome career, especially for his work on the small screen. From “Arrested Development” to “Parks and Recreation” and “Barry,” he’s shown that he’s a natural when it comes to comedy, with his role in the latter having even won him an Emmy Award. However, for many fans, he’ll always be known as the lovable greaser Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli from the hit ABC sitcom “Happy Days” — a role Winkler has admittedly worked hard to move past since the show ended in 1984.

While the role of The Fonz turned the actor into a household name, “Happy Days” was arguably a curse for Winkler. The “Happy Days” star struggled to find work after the show ended because he was typecast. Nevertheless, he remained adamant about escaping the sitcom’s shadow. In fact, as he once explained during an interview with The Albuquerque Tribune, he rejected a Fonzie-centered spin-off series for this exact reason:

“They’ve offered me my own TV series as Fonzie, but I said, ‘No, I want to do films.’ I love the character of Fonzie, and I’m very proud of him, but if I do him too long, I will get boring and my audiences will get bored. My main responsibility to myself is to grow.”

These days, Winkler’s oeuvre boasts a wide range of projects that have helped him expand upon his legacy. At the same time, he’s by no means ashamed of being remembered as a leather-clad hunk known for jumping sharks and saying “Ayyy.”

Being part of one of the greatest sitcoms of all time is a cool legacy to have, and Henry Winkler deserves a lot of credit for the success of the Fonz character on “Happy Days.” Some actors might have been content to portray him as a basic cooler-than-thou tough guy, but Winkler wasn’t willing to accept the gig unless he got to inject some sensitive traits into the character. These factors all contributed to the Fonz’s popularity, and Winkler is proud of the greaser’s lasting impact on pop culture and his life.

“I loved The Fonz then and I love him now -– he gave me the world,” Winkler told Big Issue in 2024. “He gave me a roof over my head, he gave me food on the table, he gave me my children’s education, and he gave me opportunity.”

That said, many “Happy Days” fans will probably wonder what an Arthur Fonzarelli spin-off would have been like, especially since sitcoms have a long history of producing off-shots that are actually good. Then again, now that we are living in an age of endless revivals, who’s to say that Winkler won’t agree to participate in an “Old Man Fonz” series down the line?