Micky Dolenz Says He Was Almost Cast as Fonzie on ‘Happy Days’

Micky Dolenz reflected on how he was almost cast as Happy Days’ greaser sex symbol Arthur Herbert “Fonzie” Fonzarelli in a new interview. “I almost got it,” the actor told People. “Supposedly, it was between me and Henry [Winkler]. He remembers it, too. The story I heard is that he was in the waiting room, saw me come in, and thought, ‘Oh shit, I’ll never get this — Micky Dolenz is here!’ So we laugh about it now. He’s a good friend and a brilliant talent.”

At the time of the casting in 1973, Dolenz was still best known as the drummer from the Monkees, whose TV series had last aired in 1968. Winkler had already cornered the greaser market, though, having gotten a jump start on the look in The Lords of Flatbush, which came out in ’74. Happy Days aired between January of that year and July 1984 (though Fonzie jumped the shark in ’77).

“Oh my God, he’s just so good,” Dolenz told People of Winkler. “I was definitely not as good as he was. Come on — he was the Fonz! He had that New York/New Jersey thing down. I’m from Southern California. It wasn’t gonna happen!”

Both Dolenz and his fellow Monkee, Michael Nesmith, auditioned for Fonzie, according to Happier Days: Paramount Television’s Classic Sitcoms, 1974 – 1984. But it was Tom Miller, of Miller-Boyet Productions, who suggested Winkler based on rumors he’d heard about The Lords of Flatbush. After the audition, series creator Garry Marshall had reservations about Winkler’s height (5’6″) and exclaimed, “This is my Fonzie?” Ultimately, Marshall wasn’t thrilled with any of the prospective Fonzies so he settled on Winkler, who impressed him because he “acted like he was 10 feet tall,” according to the book.