Fonz.....a pipsqueak?
Fonzie was typically the smallest guy in the room.....and they never showed him kicking ass.
He got by on rep and attitude.
That is the way to do it.
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MovieChat Forums > Happy Days (1974) Discussion > Fonz.....a pipsqueak?
Yes, in fact, they addressed that in an episode. A bully wanted to beat up Richie, and Fonzie showed him how to act cool and tough. The bully didn't buy it. Fonzie realized that Richie had no reputation for toughness and that Richie never had actually beat up anyone. The inference was that Fonzie had.
5'6 is taller than all of the guys in my family. He could have beat them up easily.
shareIt's not the size of the man in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the man.
shareA good big man will beat a good little man. (I'll see your saying and raise you.) That's why they have weight divisions in boxing and MMA.
shareTell Mike Tyson that
shareYou do realize that Mike Tyson was in the heavyweight division right? He IS one of the big guys.
shareYes and he was about 20 - 30 lbs lighter at 15 stones and 11 pounds and up to six inches shorter at 5 feet 11' than the average heavyweight. You do know that though don't you?
Also, Evander Holyfield who was a pumped up cruiserweight yet became heavyweight champion of the world by beating the much bigger and heavier Riddick Bowe.
Yes. I do know that. I also know that Rocky Marciano, the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated throughout his entire professional career, was small for a heavyweight, he was 5'10", and had a shorter reach than any other champion in that division -- in fact, at his fighting weight of 188lbs, he wouldn't even qualify as a heavyweight under today's modified standards, he'd be a cruiserweight. Yet he was renowned as one of the hardest punchers in the history of boxing.
However...
We are talking relatively small differences here. Marciano and Tyson were still heavyweights and bigger than most other men in the sport. If Henry Winkler were a boxer, then at 5'6" and about 125-130lbs (which was his weight when he played Fonzie) he'd be a featherweight. That's five weight divisions down from the heavyweights. And the most gifted featherweight boxer who ever put on a pair of gloves, if he were to step into the ring with Marciano or Tyson (or indeed any other heavyweight champion, ever) would not be leaving the ring on his feet, I don't care how much heart or attitude he's got.
We are talking relatively small differences here. Marciano and Tyson were still heavyweights and bigger than most other men in the sport.
Yet still relatively small men in their division and champions despite their weight and height disadvantage.
Granted that in a ring a much bigger man (heavyweight) will have a massive advantage over a much smaller man (lightweight). But we are not talking about boxers here. We are talking about street fighters. No rules and no referees. Heart, desire and sheer will have a lot to do with it. Most people are not trained fighters nor do they have the mentality for it. Most bullies pick on people smaller than themselves because they can intimidate them. The shit tends to hit the fan for said bullies when the victim is not intimidated or worse, they fight back. Another poster on here has said that they themselves are not tough despite being 6ft tall but they knew plenty of people who were a lot shorter who were real nasty pieces of work. Hence the size of the fight in the man. As far as Fonzie is concerned, reputation does indeed go a long way, but he must have won a few fights to gain said reputation.
You can build a lot of reputation on taking out two or three people perceived as tough guys, especially if they're bigger. And some people really do punch above their weight. But the first time you come against someone with a serious size advantage, and he's just as tough, and as determined, and as aggressive as you are... Well, the odds are most certainly not in your favor.
shareWell, the odds are most certainly not in your favor.
Oh agreed, but the point remains.
Oddly enough, Henry Winkler got the part because he was short. Of all the guys who had auditioned for the part of Fonzie, Garry Marshall finally narrowed it down to two candidates: Henry Winkler and Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees. Apparently the deciding factor what that Dolenz, at six feet, was noticeably taller than the rest of the actors who had already been cast. Ron Howard, Anson Williams, Donny Most, and Tom Bosley were all shorter, and Dolenz' height made him stand out too much in any shot with the other actors. Winkler fit in better height-wise.
Dolenz himself conceded Winkler made a better Fonzie than he would have been, and it's interesting to speculate that if Dolenz had gotten the part, Fonzie might not have become the breakout character and eventual focus of the show he did, and might have remained the supporting character he was originally intended to be. Would the show have been as popular? Would Ron Howard have left the show he was the star of (the way Fonzie took over as the most popular character was a factor in him eventually leaving, though he'd always wanted to direct and produce rather than act.) Who knows? Interesting might have been.
I think a taller Fonz would have been better. At least more believable as an "intimidating" type of character.
shareAnother way that Henry Winkler really didn't fit the role in real life is that Fonzie was a biker, and Winkler really couldn't ride a motorcycle. (Just an aside, given Fonzie was a biker, I've always wondered why they gave him a air force pilot's A-2 flight jacket, instead of a motorcycle jacket.) The producers of the show gave Fonzie a '49 Triumph to ride, and Winkler ran it into a sound truck the first time he tried to ride it. I believe they did get a shot for the credits of him riding the bike -- in a straight line. But he's said in interviews that for most of the rare shots of him riding, the crew put the bike on a board and pulled it with Winkler seated on the thing.
On the other hand, Winkler was a good waterskier, eventually leading to one of the more ridiculous scenes ever to be aired on television.