Henry Winkler, who became one of television\u2019s most beloved characters as Arthur \u201cFonzie\u201d Fonzarelli, has revealed that one of his former co-stars apparently let fame go to his head \u2014 something Winkler wasn\u2019t afraid to call out.<\/p>\n
The beloved ABC sitcom was a television phenomenon during the 1970s, at one point attracting an estimated 50 million viewers a week. Yet Winkler says the cast largely avoided the egos that could come with that kind of success.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth of the matter is really on our set, there was no stardom,\u201d Winkler, 80, said during a July 11 panel at Fanboy Expo Knoxville alongside former castmates Anson Williams and Don Most.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/readupdatednews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/henry-winkler-3-241x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were an ensemble. We worked hard at making it funny every week.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there was apparently one exception.<\/p>\n
Winkler recalled a guest actor who appeared on the sitcom several times and repeatedly talked about the amount of fan mail he was receiving.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne 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, \u2018You don\u2019t wanna talk to me about fan mail. I got 50,000 letters a week.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Winkler apparently made it clear that he didn\u2019t want celebrity status becoming a competition on set.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I said, \u2018We don\u2019t talk about that on the set. We are all here as one,\u2019\u201d the actor added.<\/p>\n
But according to Winkler, the message didn\u2019t get through.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he kept doing it, and he was an assback.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/readupdatednews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/henry-winkler-3-1-241x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Winkler initially refused to reveal the actor\u2019s name, but he did offer one major clue.<\/p>\n
\u201dHe played Eugene.\u201d<\/p>\n
For longtime Happy Days fans, that clue points toward Denis Mandel, who played Eugene Belvin in 10 episodes during the show\u2019s eighth and ninth seasons between 1980 and 1982.<\/p>\n
Mandel later appeared in shows including Knots Landing and Homefront, before eventually stepping away from acting. Some media outlets have attempted to reach Denis Mandel for comment, but he has not responded so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was having trouble with a scene..\u201d
\nDespite that uncomfortable experience, Winkler has often spoken warmly about the people he worked with during the show\u2019s legendary run.<\/p>\n
He has particularly praised former co-star Ron Howard, who played Richie Cunningham before going on to become an acclaimed director.<\/p>\n
Winkler recalled one moment when he became frustrated while working on a scene and began hitting his script.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/readupdatednews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-156534672-768x608-1-300x238.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Howard noticed and quietly pulled him aside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was having trouble with a scene. I started punching my script,\u201d Winkler said, adding that Howard \u201cput his arm around me, he walked me to the back of the soundstage, and he said, \u2018You know, the writers are working as hard as they can. Let\u2019s not hit our script.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The advice stayed with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Ron, I will never hit my script as long as I live,\u2019\u201d Winkler said. \u201cAnd he is, and was, even at that tender age, so wise. He just is easy, he just kind of goes through life and he\u2019s an amazing fellow.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than five decades after Happy Days first became a television sensation, Winkler is still working \u2014 and has repeatedly said retirement isn\u2019t something he has seriously considered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt never occurred to me [to retire] because I am so happy in my house with [my wife] Stacey and our children and our grandchildren, and I am so happy when I am working,\u201d he previously told PEOPLE.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m doing what I dreamed of doing, and I still get to do it. I still get to be at the table. That is an amazement to me. I am not kidding. I don\u2019t take it for granted,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For millions of fans, Happy Days was the feel-good sitcom that defined a generation. But behind the laughter, the jukebox and Fonzie\u2019s famous leather jacket, things weren\u2019t always quite so … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-3127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trending","tag-breaking-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3128,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127\/revisions\/3128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}