Henry Winkler hails Happy Days star as ‘one of the best acting partners’

Henry Winkler has heaped praise on Ron Howard, his former Happy Days co-star.

Henry Winkler has hailed Ron Howard as “one of the best acting partners” of his career.

The 80-year-old actor starred alongside Ron, 71, on Happy Days, the hit TV sitcom, and Henry has revealed that he relished working with his showbiz pal.

Henry – who played the role of Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli on Happy Days – said on the What Matters with Liz podcast: “When we did Happy Days together, now here’s a guy who’s never done theatre before, he’s only done film. Ron had never done it before and was really nervous — especially in 1975 when we went from doing it like a little movie to in front of an audience. He was panicked.

“And I’m telling you — things would come to me during the show, and I would just do them, I wouldn’t stop my imagination. And Ron went wherever I went. And then I went wherever he went. And it was uncanny, you could not fake it. You couldn’t make it up.”

Last year, Henry confessed that he thought his “life [was] over” when Ron quit Happy Days.

Speaking to People, Henry recalled: “When we worked together, there was something that happens out of the blue. We had a shorthand with the script. He went where I went, I went where he went, and it became something else.”

However, Ron decided to quit the show in 1980, and Henry still has vivid memories of the day he found out.

Henry shared: “There was a phone booth right by the front door of stage 19. They said, ‘Oh, the phone is for you, Henry.'”

Ron – who has subsequently become one of the most successful directors in Hollywood – told his co-star at the time: “It’s going to come out in the press in about 10 minutes, but I wanted you to know first, I’m not coming back.”

Henry was initially shaken by the news. However, he ultimately encouraged his showbiz pal to follow his long-term ambitions.

Henry said: “My first thought was, ‘I’m going to die now’. 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. 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.'”