From a tough-talking teen to the ultimate king of cool, some of the most memorable stars of "Happy Days" are still going strong 40 years later. What have they been up to lately?
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00:00From a tough-talking teen to the ultimate king of cool, some of the most memorable stars
00:05of Happy Days are still going strong 40 years later. What have they been up to lately?
00:10Ron Howard got off to an early start as an actor when he was cast as the adorable Opie
00:14Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. Viewers grew up along with Howard, so he was perfect
00:18casting for American Graffiti and its unofficial spinoff, Happy Days. Howard turned 20 during
00:24the show's first season, but he still had that baby face and aw shucks demeanor. With
00:28his romantic struggles and garage band aspirations, he was the squarest hipster on television.
00:34Howard of course had aspirations of his own, which led him to leave Happy Days in 1980.
00:38After directing Grand Theft Auto for Roger Corman in 1977, Howard turned into a Hollywood
00:43hitmaker with hilarious comedies like Night Shift and Splash and the fantastical duo of
00:48Cocoon and Willow. He's been a go-to A-list director ever since, with Parenthood, Cinderella
00:53Man, and Apollo 13 being his more memorable films.
00:56Houston, we have a problem.
00:58In 2001, Howard took home Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for A Beautiful Mind.
01:03Though he's primarily focused on directing, he'll occasionally take a break to narrate
01:07the adventures of the Bluth family on Arrested Development, or pop up in a cameo in something
01:11like Only Murders in the Building.
01:13And maybe pitches her TV show to a Hollywood icon who says,
01:17No, I, uh, I don't see it as a series.
01:21There's never been a sweeter greaser than Arthur Fonzie Fonzarelli.
01:25Eeeeee.
01:28Though he's plenty tough, he's a lover, not a fighter. And when he has to step up to a
01:32bully, his swagger and reputation almost always ends the altercation before it begins.
01:37With his MFA from the prestigious Yale School of Drama, Henry Winkler was an unlikely TV
01:42star. Though his breakout work on Happy Days was a big enough deal for studios to try him
01:46out as a full-fledged movie star, it didn't take.
01:49I am having the time of my life.
01:53Hey, hey, Dr. Hate.
01:55No touching!
01:56He tried his hand at directing like Howard, but only made two films before dipping behind
02:00the camera on occasion for various TV shows.
02:03Winkler ultimately segued to being a character actor, a line of work that paid off with memorable
02:07performances in Scream, The Waterboy, and Parks and Recreation.
02:12Great as Winkler was in these supporting turns, he found another gear as acting coach Gene
02:16Cousineau on Bill Hader's deliciously dark HBO comedy, Barry.
02:20Stanley Kowalski!
02:21Stella! Get down here!
02:23In 2018, the role earned him a long-deserved Primetime Emmy. Winkler turned 79 in 2024,
02:30and he's never been more exciting or unpredictable.
02:33If you're making a list of the greatest TV mobs, your top ten must include Marion Cunningham,
02:38played by Marion Ross. Mrs. C. was a little loopy, but unconditionally loving, invariably
02:43playing the good cop to Tom Bosley's gruff yet lovable Howard Cunningham. She gave expert
02:48counsel to Ritchie in The Younger Joanie, and doted on Fonzie when he moved into the
02:52Cunninghams' attic later in the series' run.
02:55Ross remained a familiar face and voice on television via Gilmore Girls and the underrated
02:59CBS sitcom Brooklyn Bridge. She's also popped up on animated series like SpongeBob SquarePants,
03:05voicing Grandma SquarePants. Her last guest spot on SpongeBob came in 2024, when Ross
03:10was 96.
03:12As Potsie Webber, Ritchie's endearingly dim best friend, Anson Williams turned what could
03:16have been a one-note punchline of a character into a hard-to-pin-down goofball. He was nerdier
03:21than Ritchie, but a stand-up guy when it mattered, and, of course, one heck of a singer.
03:25When Potsie took the stage, his confidence soared, and it wasn't uncommon for girls to
03:29swoon over him. Though Williams was never able to build on his happy-days success as
03:33an actor, he became an incredibly prolific television director.
03:37No, Anson Williams.
03:39No, Anson Williams. Like I said I was, Anson Williams."
03:45He made his behind-the-camera debut on the ABC After School special No Greater Gift and,
03:49between 1987 and 2013, helmed episodes of some huge shows like L.A. Law and Beverly
03:55Hills 90210. His last acting credit came in 2016, but he's been busy outside of the entertainment
04:01world. Williams made an unsuccessful bid for mayor of Ojai, California in 2022 and got
04:07married for the third time at the age of 73 in 2023.
04:11Every circle of friends needs an obnoxious, practical joker, and Ralph Mouth fit that
04:16mold alongside Ritchie and Potsie. Ralph was more of a girl chaser than Potsie, and had
04:20a penchant for running afoul of humorless tough guys at school. Alas, most was so effectively
04:25irritating as Ralph that he couldn't break free of his smart-aleck caricature. He made
04:29appearances on shows like Charles in Charge and Glee, and performed in a North Carolina
04:34production of The Sunshine Boys. However, he's been more focused on music since leaving
04:38Ralph Mouth behind.
04:40Most took a shot at pop music stardom in 1976 with a self-titled LP that failed to chart.
04:45Forty years later, he formed a swing band and continues to tour successfully across
04:49the country.
04:51Scott Baio was brought onto Happy Days during its fifth season to inject some young, crush-worthy
04:55blood into the still-popular series. As Chachi Arcola, Baio delivered and then some. The
05:00tough-talking teen developed quickly into a love interest for Aaron Moran's Joni, and
05:04their tour at Love Affair earned a sitcom spinoff with Joni Loves Chachi.
05:08The series only lasted for two seasons, but Baio went on to land another long-running
05:12sitcom in 1984 via Charles in Charge.
05:15I've always loved you. I probably always will.
05:24Baio worked steadily after Charles in Charge ended its run in 1990, but he wouldn't pop
05:29up as an actor again until he became law blog operator Bob Loblaw on Arrested Development.
05:34Outside of television, Baio has been a loud and proud conservative supporter of President
05:38Donald Trump.
05:39I want him, as any one person can do, is to go into Washington and blow it up. I'm fed
05:44up.
05:45Linda Goodfriend made her Happy Days premiere during season five as Richie's main squeeze
05:49Lori Beth Allen, and hung around for one season after Howard's departure. Lori Beth's most
05:54memorable moments wound up being her acceptance of Richie's over-the-phone marriage proposal
05:58and the Fonzie-assisted delivery of her first child.
06:02Goodfriend went on to make appearances in films like Beaches and Pretty Woman, both
06:05of which were directed by Gary Marshall, the creator of Happy Days. She also directed the
06:09TV pilot for the Marshall-produced Four Stars before becoming the creative director of Acting
06:14for Film at NYFA's Los Angeles campus.
06:18When Ron Howard left Happy Days, the writers were faced with the challenge of expanding
06:21existing roles and creating a couple of new ones.
06:24One they didn't technically have to create was Jenny Piccolo, Joni's troublemaking best
06:28friend whose wild off-screen antics had been a source of punchlines in previous seasons.
06:33Kathy Silvers had her work cut out for her when she brought the character to life in
06:37the eighth season, but as the daughter of comedy legend Phil Silvers, she could more
06:40than hold her own.
06:42Silvers left Happy Days before its final season. Her post-Piccolo career included guest-starring
06:47bits on The Love Boat and Wings, and a main cast part on the short-lived CBS sitcom Foley
06:52Square. She retired from acting in the late 1990s.
06:56Lovingly known as the patron saint of shark jumping, Ted McGinley cemented his reputation
07:00as a show-killer when he joined Happy Days during the first post-Richie season in 1980.
07:05The handsome McGinley played Mrs. Cunningham's nephew, Roger. The series was well past its
07:10sell-by date at this point, and nothing drove this home more emphatically than the writers
07:14scrambling to find something for Roger to do. McGinley is also credited with being a
07:18death knell late addition to long-running shows like The Love Boat and Dynasty. To his
07:23credit, McGinley has had a ball making fun of his shark-jumping stature, and has managed
07:27to turn up on series such as Married... with Children and Mad Men without getting them
07:30immediately canceled.
07:32McGinley is still plugging away in movies and film at the age of 66, though it's possible
07:36he's never topped his work as fraternity scumbag Stan Gable in 1984's Revenge of the Nerds.
07:42Well, gentlemen, as president of the Greek Council, I'm sorry to inform you that your
07:46membership has been denied."
07:48Fortunately, he's currently one of the funniest characters on the Apple TV Plus show Shrinking,
07:52so audiences can still laugh along with him today.