Richie Cunningham and The Fonz often leaned on each other in some of the more meaningful episodes of Happy Days in its time. And off-screen, that dynamic was no different.
Stars Ron Howard and Henry Winkler’s friendship has been long documented, from their time on the series to their many reunions through the years, the latest coming this weekend at Steel City Con in Pittsburgh alongside costars Don Most (Ralph) and Anson Williams (Potsie).
And it was Winkler who was among the first people Howard turned to when he was considering a career shift in the 1970s.
“I’ll tell you a great thing,” Winkler, 79, shared with the Steel City Con crowd during the Happy Days panel on Saturday, April 5. “We’re standing at Arnold’s, we’re standing at the door to make our entrance, and Ron turned to me and he said, ‘Let me ask you a question. What do you think: I want to be a director, what do you think? Do you think I could do that?’ ”
He continued, “And I said, ‘Ron, knowing you’ — now he is 18, I am 27 — I’m the oldest teenager in captivity, and I said, ‘Ron, knowing you, if you were a brain surgeon, even if I didn’t need to, I would be a patient.’ And he went on.”
Then, Winkler quipped to his Oscar-winning friend, “I don’t know, how is your directing career?”
Henry Winkler, Ron Howard, Don Most and Anson Williams on ‘Happy Days’ in 1977 and at Steel City Con 2025
As he’s opined in the past, Winkler said of former child star Howard, “you would never know that Ron was a star. He was another member of this wonderful unit.”
Williams, 75, echoed that sentiment, while reflecting on how series creator Garry Marshall welcomed feedback from the cast.
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“Garry treated Paramount like a college. He really inspired us to … come to writing sessions, go to editing sessions, learn more. And Ron, too, was a huge help. He was already the star, but your work ethic, and professionalism and so much we followed, too.”
Elsewhere in the panel, Winkler, Howard, Williams and Most, 71, shared memories of playing on the cast softball team and the jovial vibe on set.
“I say that was a huge key,” Howard, 71, said. “The show evolved as really an ensemble. So that idea of we were like a family, well okay maybe not a family, but we were a unit. We were a community.”
He continued, “And also I think for us it was kind of like our coming of age story. We were just growing up through this process. We had great mentors. Jerry Paris our director. Garry Marshall, our boss, some of the key writers. Tom Bosley was like a mentor to all of us. It was a life experience that’s unlike anything else that I’ve ever known. And we had great chemistry. We had fun working together from the beginning and it never failed us.”
