Henry Winkler, 80, sets the record straight about relationship with Happy Days cast

Henry Winkler just set the record straight about how his Happy Days co-stars meshed.

The 80-year-old actor became a household name when he starred as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on Happy Days from 1974 to 1984. And while he got along with most of his co-stars, there were several guest stars who didn’t mesh as well as others.

While speaking at a recent fan expo in Tennessee with co-stars Anson WIlliams and Don Most, Henry told the crowd: “The truth of the matter is really on our set there was no stardom.”

“One guy came on as a guest star, and then he was brought back a few times, and he would mention his fan mail, and I said, ‘You don’t want to talk to me about fan mail, I get 50,000 letters a week,'” he added.

“And I said, ‘We don’t talk about that on the set. We are all here as one.’ And he kept doing it, and he was an [expletive],” Henry said, adding that the guest star “played Eugene” on the show.

While Henry never named the guest star, Parade noted that the actor who played Eugene Belvin on seasons eight and nine was Denis Mandel, who later stepped away from the acting industry.

Although the cast didn’t vibe perfectly with every guest star, they generally got along, especially Henry and Ron Howard, who played Richie on Happy Days from 1974 to 1980.

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“We clicked. We – Henry Winkler and I – clicked immediately, on a kind of professional level, but I also looked up to him,” Ron told People in May 2025, adding: “Henry’s a few years older than I am. Yale educated, and he looked at acting in a way that was – it wasn’t Hollywood. It was a little more intellectual. It was theater based, and that was new to me. But more than anything, we just got along beautifully and worked well together.”

Henry Winkler’s life after Happy Days

After Happy Days ended in 1984, Henry struggled to pave a path for himself in Hollywood. He faced typecasting, with directors only wanting him to play a version of The Fonz.

“After Happy Days finished. I’m sitting in my office. All I’m getting are Fonzi-like [offers],” Henry told fellow actor Ted Danson on his podcast  Where Everybody Knows Your Name in June 2026. “I have no idea, ‘Am I ever going to do anything that is as powerful?’ And I went dark. I went dark.”

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Though the star admitted his career came to a halt for “eight or nine years” following, Ted, 78, was quick to highlight Henry’s new found success as a producer, writer and director in the industry.

“The greatest thing you learn is to pivot,” Henry said. “You’re going on a way and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to stay. I can’t do anything else. I don’t want to do anything else.’ You have to learn to pivot. And when you pivot, the universe opens up and all of this generous stardust falls on you.”

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Henry eventually made a major comeback on-screen. He first broke through when he starred as Barry Zuckerkorn on Arrested Development and later won his first Primetime Emmy Award for portraying acting teacher Gene Cousineau in the HBO dark comedy series Barry.