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When Winkler auditioned for the part of Fonzie in 1973, he kept Stallone in mind when honing his characterization: I just changed my voice a bit, you know? he said. Earlier that year he had worked alongside Stallone in the coming-of-age film The Lords of Flatbush.
View this post on Instagram To my long time friend Henry Winkler Who finally won his much deserved EMMY after 40 plus In the business! I vividly remember working with him on those cold streets in Brooklyn almost 47 years ago !!! He was a super talented class act then and even more of one now !!! #lordsofFlatbush A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Sep 18, 2018 at 7:10am PDT
In 1974, that movie came out and Happy Days started airing, and Winkler became a household name. He played Fonzie for ten years, during which time he evolved from a secondary character to the star of the show, and became a fixture in pop culture, even helping coin the term jumping the shark"-but through it all, he never forgot the motivation from that first audition. Sometimes I would think, what would Sly do here? he said.
However, his career-making turn in Happy Days also led to typecasting after the show ended. "It took me maybe eight years after the Fonz to really get a good acting role," Winkler told Terry Gross in a recent interview on NPRs Fresh Air .
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However, he has long since returned from the wilderness. An uncredited, foul-mouthed cameo in the 1996 slasher satire Scream propelled Winkler back into the public consciousness, and hes been working steadily in film and TV ever since, with memorable guest roles in everything from Arrested Development to Parks & Recreation.
Winkler is currently co-starring with Bill Hader in the HBO dark comedy Barry as acting coach Gene Cousineau, a role which earned him a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series-his first win, after three nominations during Happy Days original run. More than forty years after they first worked together, Stallone took to Instagram to congratulate Winkler on his award, calling him a super talented class act. Talk about legends supporting legends.