Henry Winkler is opening up about the emotional breaking point he reached when his close friend and “Happy Days” co-star Ron Howard decided to leave the hit sitcom — a moment he says left him feeling like his world had collapsed.
Winkler, 79, and Howard, 71, starred together on “Happy Days” from 1974 to 1980, with Winkler as the iconic Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli and Howard as Richie Cunningham. But after the show’s seventh season, Howard shocked everyone by announcing he was leaving to pursue his dream of becoming a director — a decision that hit Winkler hard.
“There was a phone booth right by the front door of Stage 19,” Winkler recalled to People. “They said, ‘Oh, the phone is for you, Henry.’ On the other line was Ron, who told me, ‘It’s going to come out in the press in about 10 minutes, but I wanted you to know first — I’m not coming back.’”
Winkler said he was devastated. “My first thought was, ‘I’m going to die now.’ My great acting partner, my good friend — he wasn’t going to be there anymore. My life was over.”
That raw reaction, Winkler admitted, came in the first two seconds after hearing the news. Then reality set in, and he remembered the conversations they’d had since the beginning. “I said, ‘Ron, we’ve talked about this since day one. All you’ve ever wanted is to be a director. Go. Be the best you can be. I can’t wait to see what you do.’”
Howard’s exit marked a major turning point for Winkler. Losing his closest on-screen partner left him feeling unmoored, and he credits their bond with helping him through the transition. “When we worked together, there was this unspoken shorthand,” Winkler said. “He went where I went, I went where he went — and it became something special.”
The two reunited just two years later for the 1982 comedy “Night Shift,” which Howard directed and Winkler starred in. Warner Brothers only agreed to greenlight the movie if Winkler signed on, and he didn’t hesitate. “It was a huge pivot point in my career,” Winkler said. “We got the movie made, and it became one of my favorite experiences ever.”
Even decades later, Winkler admits Howard’s departure from “Happy Days” was one of the hardest moments of his career — but it also marked the beginning of Howard’s legendary directing journey and strengthened a friendship that’s lasted more than 50 years.