Henry Winkler reveals what his iconic Happy Days character Fonzie would be up to today

On the October 25 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Henry Winkler sat down with Drew Barrymore for an entertaining segment, which included a fun “Fast Five” Q&A about his classic Happy Days character, Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli. In a playful twist, instead of interviewing Winkler, 78, live on set, Barrymore introduced pre-recorded footage of herself dressed as “The Fonz,” asking questions in character.


First, “Fonzie Drew” asked Winkler what he thought his character would be doing in 2024. Winkler imagined, “He would own a franchise of garages,” suggesting this would be a natural fit for his beloved greaser character who famously worked as a mechanic on the show. Winkler also shared advice for his character about “how to treat a lady.” Laughing, he said, “This, I know for sure. Do not snap your fingers at a woman. It worked on TV, but in real life, they’ll break your fingers.”


Barrymore’s next question as Fonzie touched on the famous Happy Days episode in 1977 when The Fonz, in swim trunks and his signature leather jacket, water-skied over a shark—an event that coined the phrase “jumping the shark.” When asked if he ever regretted the scene, Winkler replied, “No, nor did I care, because we were number one for many years after that.” He added that the press often used the phrase alongside his water-skiing photo, joking, “At that time I had great legs.”


For the final question, Drew-as-Fonzie asked Winkler to turn on a jukebox the way his character did on Happy Days. Winkler reminded her that he’d recently recreated the moment during the 2024 Emmys with costar Ron Howard on a replica of the Happy Days set, celebrating the show’s 50th anniversary.