Henry Winkler Jokes He’ll Be Using a Walker by the Time a “Happy Days” Reboot Comes Out
Henry Winkler Jokes He’ll Be Using a Walker by the Time a “Happy Days” Reboot Comes Out
Victoria Edel, Juliet PenningtonMon, November 9, 2026 at 6:28 PM UTC
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Henry Winkler on ‘Happy Days’ (left); Henry Winkler in June (right)Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Leon Bennett/Getty -
Henry Winkler and his Happy Days costar Anson Williams cheekily weighed in on the idea of a Happy Days reboot
Ron Howard, who also starred on the show with them, opened up about a possible return series to PEOPLE last year
Happy Days premiered in 1974, but was about the 1950s and early 1960s
If there is a Happy Days reboot, Henry Winkler isn’t sure he’ll be up to it.
On Saturday, Nov. 7, at Rhode Island Comic Con in Providence, Winkler, 81, and his Happy Days costar Anson Williams took part in a panel, answering questions from the audience. On Happy Days, Winkler played breakout star Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli, while Williams, 77, played Potsie Weber. Both were good friends of Ron Howard‘s Richie Cunningham and Don Most’s Ralph Malph.
A person in the audience asked the pair, “Now that we’re in the era of reboot, would you two be interested in doing some sort of Happy Days reboot?”
Winkler replied, “By that time, I would need a walker.” Williams chimed in, “And I would need a wheelchair.”
Henry Winkler in ‘Happy Days’Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty
Happy Days originally aired from 1974 to 1984. The show was a period piece, looking back at the 1950s and early 1960s in the Midwestern United States.
Back in 2025, PEOPLE asked Howard, 72, about a possible Happy Days reboot, and he said he would not reprise his role as Richie if one happened.
“It’s amazing, but we’re not doing a reboot,” he said. Howard left Happy Days after the seventh season to focus on directing. He had gotten his start as a child star, playing Opie on The Andy Griffith Show.
“The fact that the show endures, and that The Andy Griffith Show is still on — both of these shows have never left the air — and it kind of blows my mind in an interesting way,” Howard said. “There’s something about that that doesn’t age — it was nostalgia when it was made.”
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“For that reason, [both shows] seem to endure, and it means the world to me,” he said.
But reluctance to do a reboot doesn’t mean the surviving Happy Days gang is on bad terms: Winkler, Howard, Williams and Most remain close friends, using a group text to keep in touch. Plus, Marion Ross, who played Richie’s mother, Marion Cunningham, turned 98 last month and remains in touch with Winkler.
Henry Winkler in JuneCredit: Leon Bennett/Getty
Happy Days also starred the late Erin Moran and Tom Bosley.
During their panel, Winkler and Williams also reflected on one of the most dangerous things that happened on the show: the time Winkler actually rode Fonzie’s motorcycle.
“As a short Jew, I don’t ride a motorcycle,” Winkler joked. “I rode it for 17 seconds.” He was supposed to “move it an inch,” but said he got confused by the controls because he’s “so dyslexic.”
Instead, “all of a sudden, I turn up the gas, and it shoots forward.” The director of photography dove out of the way, and Winkler and the bike ended up sliding under a truck.
“And then they come running over. And they go, ‘Oh, my goodness. Is the bike OK?’ ” Winkler remembered, noting that, during season one of the show, his part on the series was small.
“The bike was rented,” he said. “It was the same bike that Steve McQueen used to jump the fence in The Great Escape.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
