The Fonz
| Fonzie | |
|---|---|
Fonzie
|
|
| First appearance | "All the Way" (1974) |
| Last appearance | "Passages Part 2" (1984) |
| Portrayed by | Henry Winkler |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Mechanic, co-owner of Arnold's Drive-In, high school teacher |
| Family | Vito Fonzarelli (father) Angela Fonzarelli (mother) Arthur 'Artie' Fonzarelli (half-brother) |
| Children | Danny Corrigan, Jr. (adopted son) |
| Relatives | Grandma Nussbaum (grandmother) Louise Arcola (aunt) Chachi Arcola (cousin) Spike (cousin) Angelo "Angie" Fonzarelli (cousin) |
Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli (better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz") is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lead character when he began surpassing the other characters in popularity.
Happy Days producer and writer Bob Brunner created both Arthur Fonzarelli's "Fonzie" nickname, and the invented put-down, "Sit on it."
In 1999 TV Guide ranked him number 4 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list.
Fonzie first appeared in the first episode of Season 1 and was one of only two characters (along with Howard Cunningham) to appear in all 255 episodes.
Arthur Fonzarelli was born to an Italian-American family. He and his mother were abandoned by his father. When the senior Fonzarelli disappeared, he left a locked box for his son, but not a key; the young Arthur did everything to open the box before finally repeatedly running over it with his tricycle, only to reveal that it just contained the key to the box. The only advice Fonzie remembered his father giving was "Don't go out in the rain in your socks." In the Season 6 episode "Christmas Time", a sailor delivers a Christmas present ostensibly from his father (played by Eddie Fontaine), who wishes to make amends. Fonzie is resentful, but at the end of the episode he opens his father's letter explaining why he left and reads it. He also learns that the sailor was his father, who admits in the letter that he doubted he would have the courage to reveal the truth to his son. In a later episode, Fonzie unexpectedly meets a woman he believes is his mother in a diner. She convinces him she is not, but in the end, she looks at a picture of Fonzie as Grandma Nussbaum appears to have been a primary caregiver to Fonzie through the age of six. When he (instead of Grandma Nussbaum) moves into the Cunninghams' garage apartment—a plot development that helped precipitate his domination of the program—he turns his old apartment over to his grandmother. She is rarely referred to after that but she is featured in at least one later episode.
Grandma Nussbaum (and she alone) calls Fonzie "Skippy". She is also the grandmother of Fonzie's cousin Chachi. Fonzie's devotion to her foreshadows his ongoing devotion to mother figures throughout the show, particularly to Marion Cunningham, whom Fonzie affectionately calls "Mrs. C." For example, when Marion feels her family no longer needs her, she learned the ways of the world from Fonzie, and Fonzie learned about the closeness of a tight-knit all-American family from the Cunninghams. Though at first looked down on and mistrusted (a result of his past and being a high school dropout), he eventually became accepted by the Cunninghams (his friend Richie's family), especially when he rented an attic room over their garage. Even Richie's father, Howard ("Mr. C." to Fonzie and the most resistant to him living with them), a pillar of the community, came to regard Fonzie with affection.
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