- - Henry Winkler Recounts the Moment '3000 People in Poodle Skirts' Greeted Him at 4AM as “Happy Days” Became a Hit

Virginia ChamleeJanuary 14, 2026 at 3:20 AM

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Henry Winkler -

Henry Winkler is recounting the moment he realized he was famous — saying Happy Days changed his life

Winkler played breakout star Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the series from 1974 to 1984

Speaking on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Winkler remembered a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas, in which thousands of fans came to see him

Henry Winkler is recalling the moment he realized Happy Days had changed his life.

In an interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Monday, Jan. 12, Winkler, 80, was asked by host Jennifer Hudson if he remembered the moment he knew he was famous.

Winkler said indeed he did — and it came with the popularity of Happy Days, on which he played breakout star Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli.

"It changed my life," he said of the show.Winkler went on to recount the first personal appearance he made, which came at a mall in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was paid to go and sign autographs on a Saturday morning.

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Henry Winkler appears with Jennifer Hudson on "The Jennifer Hudson Show" airing January 12, 2026 in Burbank, California.

"So now I have to leave the set of Happy Days, get on a plane at about 11:00 at night, fly across the country, land in Little Rock, and as I got off the plane in the middle of the night, there was like a party going on,” he shared. “And I said to the stewardess, ‘You know, I think there’s a party, I’d rather not walk through somebody else’s party. Is there another way around?’"

"She said, ‘I think that’s for you,’” he added. "There were — oh my gosh, 3,000 people in poodle skirts and fifties clothing at like four in the morning, to say hello."

Winkler added that at the time, he didn't realize the show had become as popular as it was due to being immersed in work.

"All of a sudden, you don't know if anybody is watching," Winkler said.

He went on to detail another early cast appearance in Dallas, Texas, at which 25,000 people showed up to see him and the other Happy Days actors.

"You go from Henry Winkler just walking down the street to 25,000 people coming to say hello to all four boys on the show," the actor added.

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published in March 2025, the Emmy winner was asked how Ron Howard, who originally played Happy Days lead Richie Cunningham, felt about Winkler’s “Fonzie” Fonzarelli becoming the show’s breakout star.

“Ron understood two things. First of all, he is a very good friend of mine. Ron, his daughter, who is our goddaughter, and my daughter, we all did my daughter's podcast ‘What in the Winkler?!’ ” the actor recounted. “We were all in my living room doing the podcast together, and that was two weeks ago. Ron said to me, ‘I have to admit it, it hurts my feelings, and I have to admit you are doing nothing to make anybody feel bad. You're just being good and that's good for the show.’ That was the only time we discussed it.”

Winkler’s character first appeared in Happy Days’ 1974 premiere and was a recurring character throughout the first season. But Fonzie quickly grew in popularity, and Winkler was promoted to series regular in season 2, continuing to portray the character for the rest of the show’s 11-season run.

Howard left the show after season 7 to pursue a career in film-making, though he returned as a guest star in the final season.

on People

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