Henry Winkler says 'there's a string between' him and his “Happy Days” costar Ron Howard
Henry Winkler says 'there's a string between' him and his “Happy Days” costar Ron Howard
Raechal ShewfeltMon, June 29, 2026 at 10:41 PM UTC
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Ron Howard and Henry Winkler at the 76th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 2024Credit: Frank Micelotta/Disney via GettyKey Points -
Henry Winkler says that, decades after working with Ron Howard on Happy Days, Howard feels like a relative.
The two have a special connection as costars and in life, the Barry actor said.
Winkler also noted that the two worked together in the 2000s on Arrested Development.
If you thought Henry Winkler and Ron Howard, the actors who played Fonzie and Richie on Happy Days, had remained close over the years, you'd be, as the Fonz would say, "Correctamundo."
Howard is like a "relative," Winkler said during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.
Winkler portrayed his iconic character for all 11 seasons of the ABC sitcom, which originally aired from 1974 to 1984. Howard starred in the first seven seasons of the show and returned for several episodes in the final one. Life on the hit series, set in Milwaukee was a memorable for both of them.
“Ron comes from a family that left the farm in Oklahoma. They went to New York. This was before Ron and his brother Clinton were born. I met him when he was 18, and I was 27," Winkler said. "We were touched by the universe. There was a string between us. I didn't have to tell him what I was going to do. He didn't tell me what he was going to do. We just were in the same space at the same moment, it's rare."
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When the host asked him if he meant on their show, Winkler clarified that he thought it had been "on Happy Days and in life."
The men costarred alongside Marion Ross and the late Tom Bosley and Erin Moran in the Emmy winner created by the late Garry Marshall.
Winkler's relationship with Howard had come up when he was talking about his work on another funny series, Arrested Development, on which he again worked with Howard. That show aired for three seasons, from 2003 to 2006, before being revived in 2013 and again in 2018 for two more single seasons.
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That time, Winkler played Barry Zuckerkorn, the attorney to the ridiculous (and ridiculously funny) Bluth family at the show's center, while Howard narrated the action with plenty of sarcasm.
Winkler cited the stellar cast, which also included Jason Bateman, Jessica Walter, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, and Alia Shawkat, as a reason he did it. He also appreciated the impressive writing, for which it won Emmys.
"I was hired for, like, two episodes, and I stayed for five years," Winkler said.
Henry Winkler and Ron Howard on 'Happy Days'Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Howard himself explained at a Wall Street Journal event in May 2025, per PEOPLE, that he and Winkler had just "clicked" upon meeting and that he "looked up to him."
"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,” Howard said. "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.”
The Apollo 13 director even named Winkler, who appeared in Night Shift, one of the first movies he directed, the godfather of his daughter, actress Bryce Dallas Howard.
Watch Winkler's full conversation with Eisen above.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
