Fonz Memories

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why do you think the Fonz became such an icon?
HENRY WINKLER: People wanted to be like him. People wanted to be cool. People loved the fact that he took care of his friends, that he was loyal, that he was really nonviolent. He only intimidated; he never actually killed anybody. It seemed like he was his own person, which is something that, for Americans, is really important and really hard to do. Most of us, we just kind of follow the crowd. You don't feel like you have control. And I think that people wanted that desperately. 24's Jack Bauer [is that] now for me. Here's the tragedy about Jack Bauer: There's no one actually like him in the government. We're f---ed. There's no one actually who can take care of us like Jack Bauer, but you feel if you knew him he would protect you. And that I think the great people on television, you feel if you knew them they would understand you. They would take care of you.

And, of course, the Fonz is also known for the phrase ''jump the shark.''
''Jump the shark,'' to me, is America. A guy comes up with a phrase. Whether or not it is true, whether or not it actually means anything to anybody, he got a book out of it, he got a board game out of it. We're talking about it today all these days later. Every time that they talk about ''jump the shark'' in the newspaper, they always show a picture of me — and I had really good legs at that time. Also, I am, truly, the only actor on the Earth who has jumped the shark twice. Once on Arrested Development, I jumped the shark.

Speaking of Arrested Development, you've managed to have a strong career post-Happy Days, where many other actors who've had far less iconic TV roles have not. How do you pull that off?
Because you want to. I think if I were to give one word to somebody, and I think this is the most important word on the earth: ''Tenacity.'' I see myself as one of those toys with sand at the bottom and you punch it and it goes down but it comes right back to center. And that's what you have to do. If you're down, you brush yourself off. And you know in your system, I have something to say, I can do this, I want to do this, I will do this. And eventually, that dream will become a reality.

It seems like the fact that you're personally so different from Fonzie really helped too.
In a way. I had to use a lot of me in the [character]. I changed my body language and the sound of my voice, but a lot of his principles were mine. Look, I got typecast. Still to this day, I'm typecast. People see me, from that generation, as the Fonz. It is a great compliment. I did a play in London over the holidays [last year], in one of the pantomimes. One of the great theatrical experiences of my whole life. You talk to the audience, they yell at you; 1,600 people twice a day, six days a week, yelling and cheering and jumping and shouting. We had 20 little boys and little girls [in the play]. They all found Happy Days [on TV], and they were talking to me in exactly the same language as the kids that I met in Dallas in 1975. Exactly the same. ''Oh my God, when you did this...! Oh my God, you're so cool! Oh my God, when you did that...!'' It was amazing.