Henry Winkler names the one Happy Days actor who had an ego on set
Life on the set of Happy Days wasn’t always as cheerful as it appeared on screen, according to Henry Winkler.
The Emmy-winning actor — who played Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on the beloved Seventies sitcom — revealed during an interview at a Tennessee fan expo last month that there was one costar who let his fame get to his head.
“The truth of the matter is really on our set, there was no stardom,” Winkler, 80, said at the July 11 panel alongside former co-stars Anson Williams and Don Most, according to Entertainment Weekly. “We were an ensemble. We worked hard at making it funny every week.”
However, he went on to recall: “One guy came on as a guest star, and then he was brought back a few times. And he would mention his fan mail. And I said, ‘You don’t wanna talk to me about fan mail. I got 50,000 letters a week.’”
“And I said, ‘We don’t talk about that on the set. We are all here as one,’” the Arrested Development actor added. “And he kept doing it, and he was an assback.”
While not naming the actor, Winkler then revealed: “He played Eugene.”
Eugene Belvin appeared as a recurring character in 10 episodes across seasons 8 and 9 of the show from 1980 to 1982.
The character was played by actor Denis Mandel, who went on to act in shows including Knots Landing and Homefront before stepping away from acting entirely. His last appearance onscreen was in 2006, according to IMDb.
While Winkler did not gel with Mandel, the Barry star spoke about his harmonious relationship with co-star Ron Howard, who went on to become an Oscar-winning director after his time on Happy Days.
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Winkler said that, after one particularly frustrating moment on set, Howard offered him a crucial piece of advice: learn to control his temper.
“I was having trouble with a scene. I started punching my script,” the actor said, adding that Howard “put his arm around me, he walked me to the back of the soundstage, and he said, ‘You know, the writers are working as hard as they can. Let’s not hit our script.’”
“I said, ‘Ron, I will never hit my script as long as I live,’” Winkler said. “And he is, and was, even at that tender age, so wise. He just is easy, he just kind of goes through life and he’s an amazing fellow.”
