'Fonzie' elevated 'Happy Days' series into hit

As a spoof of a 1950s cool cat with a pompadour, black leather jacket and motorcycle, Arthur “ Fonzie” Fonzarelli — as portrayed by Henry Winkler on Happy Days from 1974 to ’84 — reigns as one of the most memorable characters in sitcom history.

His goofy catchphrases, even three decades after the show went off the air, continue to resonate with die-hard fans: “Whoa!” “Sit on it!” and, above all, the signature “Aaaeeeyyy!”

Wednesday will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the premiere of the popular series, a nostalgic, even romanticized take on teenage life that pivoted on adolescent humor about driving, dating and “getting to first base.”

Happy Days, the No. 1 show by its fourth season, was ranked in the top 20 for eight years of its 10-year run. At its peak, its set drew a virtual who’s who of visiting fans — from singer John Lennon to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Created by Garry Marshall and based on reminiscences of his childhood in the New York borough of the Bronx, the ABC series spawned a cluster of spinoffs — including Laverne & Shirley (1976-83) and Mork & Mindy (1978-82), which launched the career of Robin Williams.

Initially intended as a fringe character and scheduled for only seven first-season episodes of Happy Days, Winkler’s Fonzie quickly emerged as the show’s breakout star, eclipsing nominal lead Ron Howard, who before playing Richie Cunningham already had been a fan favorite after eight years as Opie on The Andy Griffith Show.

Winkler’s popularity changed the focus of Happy Days from a white-bread family in suburban Milwaukee to the street-smart Fonzie, a good-natured greaser and girl magnet who served as a mentor of sorts to Richie and his sister, Joanie (Erin Moran), protecting the clean-cut Cunninghams and their friends.

“I wasn’t like Fonzie then,” said Winkler, 68. “And I’m not like him now. He was sure of himself, and I wasn’t. He was everything I wanted to be.”

Winkler was 28 when he made his debut as the teenage Fonzie. He has gone on to an active film and TV career, including the series Arrested Development and a new BBC series — Hank Zipzer, based on his children’s books about a learning-disabled boy — due in February.

Marshall — who followed the show with a prolific career directing films (Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries) — said the Fonz was created at ABC’s request.

Write a teenage gang into Happy Days, the network insisted. The budget didn’t allow for a whole gang, Marshall said, so he came up with Fonzie to represent one.

When Winkler first auditioned for the role, Marshall wasn’t impressed.

“I thought, ‘This isn’t Fonzie,’” he said. “But when he came back and auditioned in costume, lo and behold. He certainly wasn’t Fonzie, but he could act Fonzie. I was looking for a tall Italian guy from the street. Instead I got a short Jewish guy from Long Island.”

The ABC series was not the original Happy Days. Two years earlier, Marshall had created a pilot, also starring Howard but with no Fonzie, but ABC didn’t pick it up.

After the success of American Graffiti (1973) starring Howard, ABC decided that a TV show about ’50s teens would work. By then, Howard was having second thoughts because he was going to film school. But he decided that a lead role on a sitcom was too good to pass up.

Off-screen, Winkler and Howard became buddies. At the start of the third season, Winkler asked the younger actor how he felt about Fonzie becoming, increasingly, the show’s focus.

“He said to me: ‘Look, you’re not doing anything to make this happen except being a good actor. We’re friends, and it’s good for the show.’”

One myth about Happy Days is that the show’s end was near when an episode had Fonzie take to water skis and jump over a caged shark. The implication is that the show had lost its direction and was on the way down. Later, the expression “jumping the shark” would become a synonym for a show passing its prime.

Although Marshall called the episode “far from our best,” he pointed out that it aired in 1977, when Happy Days was No. 2 in the ratings, and that it ran for seven more years.