"The Fonz" from the television show "Happy Days." Photo: ABC Television

City Plans Tribute to "The Fonz"

"The Fonz" soon might be part of the Milwaukee downtown landscape. City tourism leaders want a life-size bronze sculpture of the popular TV character to bring visitors to downtown Milwaukee.

The Fonz is Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, the character from the long-running TV show "Happy Days." The program was a nostalgic look at Milwaukee in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The project is headed by Visit Milwaukee. It is a non-profit group that promotes the city for tourists and business meetings. It is leading an effort to raise $85,000 for the statue. The plan is to place the statue in front of the Chase Plaza office tower at 111 East Wisconsin Avenue. It is the center of Milwaukee's downtown.

So far, Visit Milwaukee has raised $45,000. The group believes it will raise the rest of the money. It plans to unveil the sculpture of the Fonz in 2008. The agency wants to choose the artist by the end of October.

Project has actor's support
The project has the blessings of "Happy Days" co-creator Garry Marshall and Henry Winkler. Winkler is the actor who played Fonzie during the show's 10-year run. The show first aired in 1974.

Winkler said he was surprised when Visit Milwaukee called him about the project.

"It is an honor," Winkler said. "But it is so bizarre (strange) to think there should be a statue. I wasn't sure it was something that could happen to me."

Or, more correctly, happen to a character brought to life by Winkler. Winkler is a 61-year-old actor, producer, director and author. Still, Winkler likes the idea. He says he would come to Milwaukee for the statue's dedication.
"If it helps the city, a city that has been so supportive and warm to me over the years," he said, "then I am so OK with it."

Or, as the Fonz, with two thumbs up, might put it: "Aaay."

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article by Tom Daykin