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Marion Ross on her feelings regarding The Fonz
"He's got— let's face it!— this funny-looking, narrow face"
There's no modern comparison for how big of a deal The Fonz was. Nothing today reaches that level of exposure and market saturation. The culture has become so fragmented that no single character is as popular now as Fonzie was then. There's no 1:1 analog— especially in the world of sitcoms— that you could say to a kid, "Oh, Fonzie was this popular back in the day."
So, what must it have been like to share the screen with Henry Winkler, aka Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli?
There were other people on Happy Days, but those people didn't suddenly have their faces emblazoned on any product you could think of. These were great actors, with impressive careers and histories, that just weren't The Fonz. Incredible talent was overshadowed by this newly towering phenomenon, so what must that have felt like?
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Luckily, Marion Ross was there to give us an idea about standing that close to lightning. In 1977, Ross (who played Marion Cunningham on Happy Days) spoke with The Daily Utah Chronicle about her mammoth co-star.
"He's a prep school graduate," Ross said, giving the interviewer a better idea of who Henry Winkler (The Fonz) was in real life. "[He's] very gentle, very courtly. He's short. He's got— let's face it!— this funny-looking, narrow face, and he wouldn't dream of riding a motorcycle."
It's easier to see Winkler as his own person today because we've seen the proceeding decades of work and interviews. But at the time, The Fonz was so ubiquitous that people only identified Winkler with his character.
Marion Ross, though, was sure he was capable of more.
"Henry is going to be one of the great actors. He's so creative, always inventing business for the Fonz to do, like walking over the bed or the furniture. He is very careful to distinguish publicly between himself and the Fonz. But, at the same time, he feels a great responsibility towards those youngsters who write to him for advice, kids who have absolutely no other guidance in their lives."
As for being the co-star to America's newest sensation, Ross had this to say:
"We're all riding on Henry's coat-tails but we don't mind. Maybe Ron Howard is starting to get a little annoyed. Henry is very gracious and careful with us on the set. He's quite physical, hugs us all, kisses us all."
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He may not have been thrilled with the direction of the show, but I think he ultimately wanted to move on to directing movies.
