Henry Winkler “went dark” after Happy Days finished.
Career Was “Over”
The 80-year-old actor had “no idea” what to do with himself next and feared his career was “over” after he bid farewell to his ABC sitcom alter ego Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli in 1984 after 10 years.
Appearing on the latest episode of 78-year-old actor Ted Danson’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Henry admitted, “After Happy Days finished. I’m sitting in my office. All I’m getting are Fonzi-like [offers]. I have no idea, ‘Am I ever going to do anything that is as powerful?'”
“And I went dark. I went dark.”
Pivoting
The entertainer faced an uncertain future for “eight or nine years” before he turned his hand to producing, writing, and directing.
Henry said, “The greatest thing you learn is to pivot. You’re going on a way, and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to stay. I can’t do anything else. I don’t want to do anything else.'”
“You have to learn to pivot. And when you pivot, the universe opens up, and all of this generous stardust falls on you.”
His late lawyer, Skip Brittenham III, offered to start a production firm for him.
Henry recalled, “I said, ‘I can’t do that. I don’t understand one thing about producing or the business. I only know how to do what I’m doing.'”
But Skip knew his client would make a success of the new venture, adding, “You’ll learn.”
New Projects
Under the new company, Henry produced the ABC drama MacGyver, which ran from 1985 until 1992, and starred the likes of 76-year-old Richard Dean Anderson (Anderson Angus MacGyver), 61-year-old Teri Hatcher (Penny Parker), and 79-year-old Robert Englund (Tim Wexler).
He said, “First show I ever produced. And you learn there are things I can do. There are things I can’t do, but then there are wonderful people who do what I can’t do. And then they become part of your world.”
Henry went on to helm ABC’s teen sitcom Clueless, a few episodes of Nickelodeon sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and other projects.
He joked, “My directing career is like a lawn mower that you pull that never turns over.”
Acting Return & Author
Henry made his acting return with the 1996 horror, Scream (uncredited role), and he went on to appear in the likes of the 1998 comedy-sport movie, The Waterboy (Coach Klein), and the 2003 FOX sitcom Arrested Development (Barry Zuckerkorn).
In 2018, he won the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy for his role as Gene Cousineau in HBO’s tragicomedy crime series, Barry.
Henry is also a children’s book author. He released his 40th book, Detective Duck: The Mystery at Emerald Pond, in 2025.