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'Happy Days' star Linda Purl recalls Henry Winkler's emotional meeting with a terminally ill child as Fonzie
Fox News ^ | November 4, 2022 | Stephanie Nolasco

Posted on 11/05/2022 12:27:57 PM PDT by lowbridge

"This one little boy was 11 years old – terminally ill," the star recalled. "His wish was to meet the Fonz."

"Our habit was to get out of costume and makeup, completely put on our robes and our schleppy things, go over to the commissary, have dinner together and go back into hair and makeup. Henry would get out of the pompadour, out of the jacket. He would get into whatever he’d come to work in that day. This little boy was coming, and he was going to have dinner [with us]… And Henry comes in, but not as Henry but as the Fonz."

"I thought, ‘Well, that’s silly. What’s the deal? Just be yourself.’" the 67-year-old said. "What I failed to realize until I saw it in action was that Henry knew that this young boy was not coming to meet Henry. He wanted to meet the Fonz. And Henry was very clear on the difference between the two. So, we all had dinner with this darling boy and his father. And in this case, Henry had sprung for the rest of the family to be flown out at his own expense. He didn’t even tell us this, but we learned this later.

-snip

"As we’re sitting there… the Fonz was able to say things to this little boy that Henry wouldn’t have been able to say – sort of Fonzi-isms. You know, life wisdom of ‘Hang in there, dude. You’re going to be [OK].’ I had to turn away [because] the tears were flowing, most of us did. But Henry stayed strong, and he stayed on his mission and his task for that hour or so with this little boy to give him this treasured time of joy. That’s Henry."

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: fonzie; greatshow; happydays; henrywinkler
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To: Bullish

Me too !!!!


41 posted on 11/05/2022 5:25:56 PM PDT by al baby (Yes he did he said how come i wasnt invited )
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To: x

Excellent reference points; I forgot about them.


42 posted on 11/05/2022 8:54:47 PM PDT by john drake (Lucius Accius-Roman,170 BC - "oderint dum metuant" translated "Let them hate so long as they fear")
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To: sam_whiskey

Maybe, but this story was about how he treated a fan, a terminally ill child.


43 posted on 11/05/2022 10:48:25 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: lowbridge
She's 67, yet gorgeous still.


44 posted on 11/05/2022 10:54:18 PM PDT by Lazamataz (The firearms I own today, are the firearms I will die with. How I die will be up to them.)
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To: x
Sure, it was a fantasy. TV always creates a caricature. Lenny and Squiggy weren't typical of anything either. Garry Marshall was trying to cash in on the Sha-Na-Na, Grease thing. Grease the theatrical musical, not the movie which came later.

I always thought “American Graffiti” was one of the influences.

45 posted on 11/05/2022 11:00:25 PM PDT by Allegra
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To: SamAdams76

The Fonz character seems to be a carryover from the Lords of Flatbush movie.


46 posted on 11/06/2022 5:13:49 AM PST by Coffee... Black... No Sugar (“Salute the Marines.” - Joe )
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To: Allegra
Probably a bigger one. I forgot all about it. Ron Howard was in both in both the movie and the TV show and his character was similar, so that explains a lot about where Garry Marshall's mind probably was. Funny thing, though, American Grafitti was set in 1962, not in the Fifties.

Grease was more memorable to me because my sister was always playing the record, singing the songs, and going to the movie. When I looked up Grease, I found that Sha-Na-Na was an influence on that, and I took it from there. There was a leather jacket guy in American Grafitti, but the comic aspects of Fonzi may owe more to Bowser or Grease.

You're right, though. However big Grease the movie would be later, more people saw American Grafitti than Grease the musical, and Marshall must have seen it too.

47 posted on 11/06/2022 8:56:38 AM PST by x
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To: BookmanTheJanitor
The scene where Michael finds out how old Pam’s mom is ...hard to watch.

Yes! Lots of cringey pathos... like in the "Scott's Tots" episode.

48 posted on 11/06/2022 9:06:59 AM PST by LittleBillyInfidel (This tagline has been formatted to fit the screen. Some content has been edited.)
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