Happy Days

In one episode the Cunninghams are coming out of a theater playing Vivir de ilusión (1962) when Mrs. Cunningham comments that the little boy in the movie looks just like Richie (Ron Howard) when he was little. Mr. Cunningham replies that she's being silly and that the boy in the film looks nothing like Richie. In fact, Howard did indeed play the little boy, Winthrop Paroo, in the film, when he was eight years old.

At the height of the show's popularity, a call came through to Paramount Studios, from a teen-aged boy who was contemplating suicide, and "wanted to talk to Fonzie". Henry Winkler took the call, and gave the boy a pep-talk about life, convincing him to give it another chance.

Both Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith of The Monkees auditioned for the role of Fonzie. However, both were considerably taller than the other main cast members and the producers decided that the Fonzie character should be more at an eye level with his peers. A search for a shorter actor resulted in Henry Winkler's hiring.