My Days Read online

  In this life, Henry has been, and will always be, one of my greatest pals. He is one of the most loving and sensitive human beings I have ever known, and whenever I have been asked (which I have been, about a bazillion times) what he is like, I always repeat the line he used to say when he was asked about his character: “The Fonz is everything I wasn’t, and everything I always wanted to be.”

  “One of the great joys of my life has been getting to spend time with Marion, to work with her, laugh with her, and absorb her wisdom. Her light is so bright, you have to wear sunglasses to be around her.” —Henry Winkler

  David Laurell (DL): Marion has said that when you two first met, a spark was ignited that became a flame that has never been, and will never be, extinguished.

  Henry Winkler (HW): Here’s what happened: our souls and our humor collided and coincided, and we knew it was meant to be [laughing]. I think that bond between us also became strong because of our characters. She was the mother the Fonz never had. I know that she gives the credit to the writers for deciding that Mrs. C would be the only one to ever call Fonzie by his given name, Arthur. But here’s the truth behind that: One day on the set, when we had just started doing the show, Marion made a mistake and called me Arthur. So Garry’s ears perked up and the writer’s ears perked up, and right there and then it was decided that Mrs. C would always be the only one to call Fonzie by his real name.

  DL: It’s amazing, by talking to all the Happy Days cast members, of whom Marion was adamant that they all be a part of her book, to learn how much you all supported and loved one another.

  HW: You are right about that, David. It was, and always will be, something so unique and special. I’ll tell you what is amazing: that the creators of the show—Garry Marshall, along with Tom Miller and Eddie Milkis of Miller-Milkis Productions—in casting that show, accomplished something that was truly uncanny. It was as if each person they cast was like the coupling of cars on a train. Each one pulled the other forward. And we didn’t just click as characters. We clicked as performers, as actors and as people. I have never done anything in my life that gave me loving friendships like the ones that came from doing Happy Days.

  Marion always says that I’m an old soul, but the really old soul is Ron. What a career he has had, before, during and after Happy Days. He is almost ten years younger than me, but he is easily at least ten years smarter than me. Everyone in our cast had done stage work except for Ron. So when we began doing the show in front of a live audience, that was a new experience for him. He had done more television and film work than many of us, but working in front of a live audience was not something he was familiar with. So we all came together and gave him some pointers, and you would have never known that he had never done live theater. He took to it like a duck to water. Then there was Anson. He would come in every Monday morning with a new song he had written and then sing it about two or three inches from your face.

  And Tom, I had seen him on Broadway back in the mid-1960s, in a play called Catch Me If You Can, so I had a great respect for his work, as I did for Marion when I learned of all the theatrical work she had done before Happy Days. She is an extraordinary person and one of the most gifted actresses I have ever had the pleasure to work with. She is a little ditzy, and yet extremely smart and wise. She is incredibly funny and very centered and strong. And, of course, no one can imagine anyone but her playing Mrs. C. She will go down in history as one of the greatest television moms. She exuded this unique “momness” quality [laughing]. She is the epitome of momness. But, also, in my opinion, she was limitless in what she was able to do as an actress. If you look at Mrs. C and then you look at the grandma in Brooklyn Bridge, and then at everything else she has done in between, she defines our job. She is the definition of what an actor is. If an actor is supposed to create another being, then there is not another being she cannot carve out of whatever material she is given.

  DL: Most serious Happy Days fans, I’m sure, are familiar with that classic and hilarious outtake of Fonzie and Marion passionately kissing. What is the story behind that?

  HW: I think that may be the most famous outtake from the entire run of the show, and it just stemmed from our doing this scene together. I don’t remember if we were getting a little punchy over not doing the scene right, or if one of us blew a line or something, but it was just one of those unplanned, organic things that happen. I had been joking around with her, and something had happened that we both knew the scene was blown, but the director hadn’t called to cut, so I started to nibble her neck. Then from there it grew into this passionate embrace, and the audience stared going wild with laughter, which spurred us on into doing this mock make-out scene. To this day, no matter where I go, hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t bring that up.

  I love seeing that clip because, to me, it shows this beautiful side of Marion. That she was always so game to go for it. She was right there with me, or with any other cast member, for whatever was happening at the moment. She can be this very majestic woman with impeccable acting training and talent, and yet she can also be so down to earth and funny. There is such a playfulness about her that I just love. That was so very evident when we began traveling all around the world, playing softball. I know that had never been a part of the career plan for Marion, and yet there she was, all suited up, just like the rest of us, in her Happy Days uniform. There was nothing she wasn’t up for. We had all developed a strong bond by working together, but those games were like the glue that would seal our love for one another forever.

  DL: Is there a more private moment you would like to share that would provide insight into the relationship between you and Marion?

  HW: I was always going to her for advice if something was bothering me, either professionally or emotionally. She was so grounded and always available to all of us, and I never came away from talking to her that I didn’t have a different perspective on whatever it was I was dealing with.

  DL: Perhaps the most incredible thing about the Happy Days cast is that as the years have passed by, you have all remained close.

  HW: That is true. We have always stayed involved with one another’s lives, and I think that is because, beyond our work, we were all so involved with each other’s lives when we were doing the show. I have never worked with a cast in which there was so much mutual respect and a genuine love and care for one another. From the time we first started doing the show, we have all celebrated the joys and sadness of each other’s lives together. And that is not only a tribute to the cast. That is a tribute to our leader. When anything as special as Happy Days comes together, it starts with the man at the top. Garry set the standard and the tone. He and the other producers just didn’t accept bad behavior on the set. He will always be my “Don.” I will always bow down and kiss the ring of Garry Marshall for what he gave me.

  DL: Can you explain what your relationship with Marion is like today? How it has evolved as you have gotten older?

  HW: I think we all treasure the special people in our lives more and more as we get older. I make sure I call her and that we have the chance to talk no matter where I am in the world. I may not have much of anything to tell her, but I always just want to hear her voice. It always amazes me how busy and unstoppable she is. It seems like she always has something to tell me about her children or grandchildren or what work she has done around the house. She is filled with effervescence. When you talk to her on the phone, it is almost as if she has jumped through the receiver and is sitting in front of you. There is always such joy and excitement in her voice. Even if she is complaining about something, she is even joyous about that [laughing]. One of the great joys of my life has been getting to spend time with Marion, to work with her, laugh with her, and absorb her wisdom. Her light is so bright, you have to wear sunglasses to be around her.

  Chapter 20

  My Funny Donny

  When you purchased this book, you may have just thought it would be a nice little story about the life of a woman who
played a mother in a beloved television series. Little did you know that it would also reveal the secret to maintaining youth.

  While the cosmetic manufacturers, exercise gurus, nutritionists and plastic surgeons are out there promoting their products, lifestyles and services to ward off aging, not a one of them can offer my tried-and-true fountain of youth secret, which I will now reveal to you: if you want to stay young, surround yourself with young people!

  Up until the time that I got the part of Mrs. C on Happy Days, I had done a few plays, films and television shows that included children and teenagers in the cast. I also had had my own two children at home. What I had never done in my life up until that point in time was spend the majority of every week with young people in their late teens and twenties.

  Yes, it did have its nerve-racking moments, what with all the usual problems and broken hearts that come with those years, but it also gave me the opportunity to be around the most exciting, vibrant, creative, talented and funny young people I have ever encountered. That was both intoxicating and infectious for a middle-aged woman. I was swept up in their youthful exuberance about everything, and the one who made me break out in a huge smile by just walking into the room was Donny Most, who played Richie’s friend Ralph.

  Donny was very inventive, and Jerry Paris loved him, his character and his antics so much, he would often just give him full rein to go off on a bender and surprise us all with some improvisation he brought to his lines or actions. He was a very talented actor who had great comedic intuition. He was also a very good singer, and while he always wanted to incorporate that into the character of Ralph, Anson’s Potsie had already staked that ground.

  Every time I would see Donny, I would just beam. He was as cute as a button, which I always thought was appropriate, because he reminded me of Red Buttons when he would say his catchphrase “I’ve still got it!”

  When we first started the show, Ralph was just a peripheral character—kind of a wise guy who was into girls and cars. But as he evolved, he became a jokester. I think the reason Jerry liked the character so much was because he had been a comedic actor, and I think he saw a lot of himself in Ralph.

  Donny was an interesting character in his own right. He had been born in Brooklyn and at the age of nine decided to pursue a career in show business after seeing the 1946 biopic The Jolson Story, based on the life of Al Jolson, the singer, actor and comedian who dominated American entertainment in the first half of the twentieth century. That film had a very strong impact on him, and he became a huge Jolson fan. None of his young friends had any idea who this Jolson person was, but Donny became obsessed with him. He would buy Jolson’s albums and would learn the songs and sing along to them. And then, when he was thirteen, he surprised the heck out of everyone at his bar mitzvah when he got up and sang a few Jolson songs with the band.

  His friends, and even his family members, were so shocked at how good he was that he mustered up the courage to do the same thing I had done as a young girl: break the news to my family that I was going into show business. Just like with me, no one in his family was in show business, so he was rather hesitant to express his intent. But his parents understood, and they found a school in Manhattan that catered to young kids who were interested in singing and acting. Donny enrolled, and at the age of fourteen, he was tapped for his first professional gig. The man who ran the school he was attending would pick a few standout kids to be a part of a professional troupe that performed in the Catskill Mountains during the summer, and in 1968 he picked Donny to be a part of the group.

  He once told me that he was kind of an odd curiosity to his friends because of that. Remember, this was 1968, when there was an explosion of all this rock and pop and folk music, which all the kids were listening to, and here was this redheaded kid who was more interested in Jolson, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and other crooners of the Great American Songbook, all of whom meant nothing to his friends.

  Following his summer of performing in the Catskills, Donny sat down with his father and expressed his desire to seriously pursue a career in entertainment, and they found a really good acting coach and, through her, an agent and a manager. He attended college at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, although he was back home in New York on a regular basis, going on auditions and doing some commercial work. After completing his junior year, he came out to Los Angeles and began making the rounds and getting auditions, which included one with Garry Marshall for a sitcom that had just been picked up. And that was how Donny came to Happy Days.

  After the curtain fell on Happy Days in 1984, Donny continued to act. He did a few feature films and television shows, and he even carved out a niche as a voice actor on several animated productions. He has also done some directing work and returned to his first love—singing the swinging standards. He does a wonderful nightclub show, “Donny Most Sings and Swings,” which I have had the pleasure of seeing, and I have noticed that audiences, who come in knowing him only as Ralph Malph, leave with a very different impression of him.

  And so my funny Donny, who always made me smile, has continued the grand tradition of Brooklyn-born music makers, whose short list includes George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Marvin Hamlisch, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. But just as it is for the rest of us, his work on Happy Days will always hold a special place in his heart, and I think it is very sweet that during each nightblub show, he always takes the time to acknowledge the people who came to see him because they are Happy Days fans.

  “Marion has this incredible spirit. She has such a wonderful energy and warmth about her; she lights up a room by just walking in the door.” —Donny Most

  David Laurell (DL): When you think back on doing Happy Days, what are the things that come to mind?

  Donny Most (DM): I think the thing that stands out in my mind the most is the early days. I had just turned twenty, and everything was so new and exciting. During the first two seasons, we didn’t have a live audience and did a one-camera shoot. When you are doing a show that way, you finish your scenes and you’re done for that day and can go home. I wasn’t in a lot of scenes at first, so when they would finish with me, they still had to do the Cunningham family scenes. I rarely left when I was finished. I always wanted to stick around and watch everything that was being done. I really enjoyed watching all the other cast members do their scenes.

  DL: Tell us about the relationships—the personal interactions—between cast members.

  DM: It was a magical thing from a character standpoint. I mean, when anyone thinks of Happy Days, it is almost impossible to think of just one or even two of the characters. You always think about the guys all together at Arnold’s or Howard and Marion and Joanie sitting in their kitchen. I think the beauty of Happy Days was that the characters were perfectly matched with one another. And then, when you get beyond the characters to the actors—to the people who brought those characters to life—there was a lot of magic there, too, in the way we all worked with one another and enjoyed being with one another. I’ve been lucky to have worked with a lot of good people on many productions, but nothing that has ever matched doing Happy Days. That’s something that I don’t believe happens very often in show business, or any business.

  DL: Do you have any one special memory from the Happy Days years?

  DM: Oh David, I have so many, but I think one of my fondest memories of doing the show was when we did the episodes in which the characters went from Milwaukee to Hollywood. Because we were supposed to be in California, we, of course, had to do beach scenes, and I remember we did this one scene where we were all sitting at the beach as it started to get dark. We had this roaring fire going, and we were all sitting around like we were a bunch of kids at camp. I can play that memory out in my mind so clearly: all of us just sitting there in the glow of the fire, Erin telling us these funny stories about her family, and Marion just being the delight she always was.

  I also have wonderful memories of these parties t
hat Jerry Paris would have at his house. They were really great, and we all had so much fun just being together. We really had such a great relationship with one another. Tom was like an uncle to me, and Marion was like my aunt. I used to love to go out for lunch with Marion when we were doing the show, and we have continued to do that ever since. I don’t care where we go or what we eat. I just love being with her, because we have so many laughs. We really were like a family. We still are and always will be till we’re all gone.

  DL: When I took on this assignment to work with Marion on her book, it was decided I would talk to all the cast members about her. After that decision was made, she gave me a warning I really haven’t heeded. She said, “Don’t let them sound like they are giving my eulogy. Ask them to tell you the bad things about me.” So far, I haven’t had any success in getting anyone to give up the bad stuff on her.

  DM: [laughing] That would be Marion. I can hear her saying that. Well, there’s a good reason you haven’t been able to get any dirt on her, and that’s because if you pleaded with me or even threatened my life, I still don’t think I could come up with a bad word about her. She is one of the most unique people I have ever met. She has this incredible spirit. She has such a wonderful energy and warmth about her; she lights up a room by just walking in the door. She also has quite a sense of humor and imagination, and if you are lucky enough to be with her when that imaginative mood strikes, you will be in for a real treat.

  DL: Don, when someone mentions the name Marion Ross, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?