Winkler starred as Arthur Fonzarelli alongside Howard as Richie Cunningham in the hit sitcom from 1974 to 1980
Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Ron Howard/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Henry Winkler exclusively reveals to PEOPLE whether he would ever want to work with his Happy Days costar Ron Howard again
- The actors costarred in the iconic sitcom from 1974 to 1980, then Howard left the show to pursue his dream of becoming a film director
- Winkler, who played Arthur Fonzarelli, and Howard, who played Richie Cunningham, have remained close friends
Henry Winkler is looking forward to the happy day that he and Ron Howard get to work together again.
While catching up with PEOPLE at the TV Academy’s 2026 Televerse Festival on Saturday, Aug. 15, the 80-year-old actor revealed that he would jump at the opportunity to work with his former Happy Days costar again.
Despite often finding himself thinking about something they could do together, Winkler admits, “I have no idea if he does.”
Credit: Katie Flores/Variety via Getty
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Winkler jokes that after they collaborated on the 1982 comedy Night Shift, he and Howard, 72, “can’t do anything better.”
“It is so touching,” he adds of the love the film continues to receive, decades after it was released. “It is a great compliment.”
Howard and Winkler starred in Happy Days together from 1974 to 1980, then Howard left the show.
While speaking to PEOPLE last August, Winkler recalled the exact moment he found out Howard would be leaving to pursue his long-held dream of becoming a film director.
“There was a phone booth right by the front door of stage 19,” Winkler recalled. “They said, ‘Oh, the phone is for you, Henry.’ ”
Credit: Ron Howard/Instagram
That’s when Howard told him that he would not be coming back to the show.
“My first thought was, ‘I’m going to die now,’ “ Winkler continued. “My great acting partner on this show, my good friend is no longer going to be here. My life is over.”
“And that was in the first two seconds,” he added. “Then I said, ‘Ron, we’ve talked about this since the beginning. All you want to do is be a director. It’s in your DNA. Go and be the best you can be, and I cannot wait to see what you do.’ ”
While their time on the hit sitcom was cut short, Winkler said earlier this year that there was a “string between” him and Howard that started on the show and has continued into the rest of their lives.
“We were like touched by the universe. There was a string between us,” he said on the Rich Eisen Show in June, noting that he and Howard come from wildly different backgrounds. “I didn’t have to tell him what I was going to do. He didn’t tell me what he was going to do. We just were in the same space at the same moment, it’s rare.”
Read the full article here
