![\"Ron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ron-Howard-Henry-Winkler-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still \/ Raph_PH)<\/p>\n
Sat 6 September 2025 16:15, UK <\/p>\n
In acting, as in life, most people have a reticence to walk away from something when they have a good thing going. Unfortunately for Henry Winkler\u2019s blood pressure, though, his best pal Ron Howard<\/a> once did just that, and his decision was so jarring that \u2018The Fonz\u2019 thought his life was over.<\/p>\n From 1974 to 1980, Howard and Winkler were the crown princes of half-hour comedy, thanks to their roles as Richie Cunningham and Arthur Fonzarelli on ABC\u2019s beloved sitcom, Happy Days. <\/p>\n Audiences loved watching the boyish, likeable Howard as the quintessential All-American teenager, whose goofy red hair and freckles made his constant scheming about new ways to meet girls seem wholesome. Winkler, of course, played \u2018Fonzie\u2019, the ultra-cool \u2018greaser\u2019 who was the polar opposite of Cunningham, which made them the perfect TV double act.<\/p>\n While working on the show, Howard and Winkler became close friends, and their comedic chemistry on-screen was undeniable. Few scenes wound up playing out exactly as scripted, because the two stars knew their characters so well and were comfortable with riffing when the opportunity arose. \u201cWhen we worked together, there was something that happened out of the blue,\u201d Winkler gushed to People magazine in 2025. \u201cWe had a shorthand with the script. He went where I went, I went where he went, and it became something else.\u201d<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t to say there weren\u2019t bumps in the road, though. In the first season, Fonzarelli was a supporting character, but by season two, audiences had embraced him so thoroughly that the network suggested changing the show\u2019s title to Fonzie\u2019s Happy Days. Naturally, Howard felt insulted and threatened by that idea, and even threatened to quit if the network went through with its plan.<\/a> Thankfully, Winkler stepped in and, with remarkable selflessness, told the suits that the show\u2019s title shouldn\u2019t be changed. \u201cIf you do that,\u201d he pleaded, \u201cit is an insult to everybody I\u2019m working with. Why fix something that isn\u2019t broken?\u201d<\/p>\n