Tom Hanks Once Beat Up The Fonz On Happy Days

Tom Hanks and Henry Winkler have long-standing reputations for being easy to get along with, although the veteran actors have had some notable conflicts on-screen and in real life. Winkler’s Arthur Fonzarelli on “Happy Days” was the quintessential 1950s tough guy, but in Season 10, he is momentarily bested in a fight by an unlikely rival in psychiatrist Dr. Wayne Twitchell (Hanks).

Wayne spends years earning a black belt in karate to get revenge on Fonzie for pushing him off a swing when they were 8, and he tracks his perceived nemesis down at Al’s diner. Our hero is initially able to avoid Wayne’s kicks and punches so the frustrated gi-clad doctor destroys several fixtures in the diner as Matsuo “Arnold” Takayashi (Pat Morita) looks on in horror. The Fonz then agrees to remain still so Wayne can get one shot in. To the shock of Fonzie’s friends, the doctor sends him through the diner’s saloon doors and a lobby window with a powerful chest kick.

Wayne’s brief (and hilarious) bit of gloating is interrupted when Fonzie saunters back into the diner unhurt and grabs Wayne by his headband/neckerchief. Their characters quickly come to amends and shake hands, but Winkler and Hanks clashed on a movie set not long afterwards.

On a 2024 episode of the podcast How to Fail, Henry Winkler told host Elizabeth Day that he and Tom Hanks didn’t see eye to eye on the set of the 1989 comedy film “Turner & Hooch.” Winkler was initially hired to direct and began work in earnest. “I knew this dog,” he said. “This slobbery mastiff and I became friends. The star (Hanks) did not become my friend.” Winkler added that he believes things got tense between the two men after a fan recognized him — and not Hanks — while they were out scouting a location. Winkler was replaced by Roger Spottiswoode 13 days into filming, and Winkler and Hanks kept their distance for more than 30 years. 

Ron Howard is close with both men; he acted alongside Winkler on 170 episodes of “Happy Days” and has directed Hanks in five films to date. In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Howard said the conflict between his two friends had been difficult on all three of them. “I’m friends with them both, and both men felt compelled to come to talk to me about it,” Howard said. “It was just one of those unfortunate things where they really had a working style that did not fit.” Winkler has traditionally downplayed the feud by deflecting questions with references to Hanks’ co-star, Beasley the French Mastiff. TVLine has reached out to Hanks for comment. 

The “Happy Days” appearance helped Hanks land a starring role in “Splash,” and in 2020 Winkler flat-out denied there was ongoing conflict when a TMZ reporter peppered him with questions outside a cafe. “I don’t have a feud with Tom Hanks … What everybody says and what is true are two different things.” He added that he and Hanks had recently spoken at the Screen Actor’s Guild awards and taken a photo together at a Bruno Mars concert. When asked if he would work with Hanks on a film again, Winkler responded “Sure I would.”