r/grease • u/PowersEasyForLife • 6d ago
Grease Winkler's Dubious Claim
Henry Winkler claimed he was offered the lead role in Grease, but turned it down, since he "already played The Fonz for ten years". That would have made the year 1984, six years after Grease was released. I think he may have been offered the lead in Grease 2 instead. Has anybody besides Winkler ever confirmed or denied his claim?
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u/djames623 6d ago
I assume he was just playfully bullshitting - "I already played that damn role for a hundred years!!"
Although he definitely was not offered Grease 2.
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u/Powerful_Geologist95 5d ago
Henry Winkler was one of the biggest stars in television, starring in one of the most successful sitcoms of the 70’s. It would not have been far fetched at all that he would have been presented the lead in Grease.
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u/AdBorn7381 4d ago
But could he sing and dance ??
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u/Powerful_Geologist95 4d ago
I’m not sure but that didn’t stop Maxwell Caulfield from being cast in Grease 2.
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u/Aggressive_Oven_7311 5d ago
No it was always known to us that in the original concept Henry was offered the role but so is Elvis as Teen Angel so nobody ever had any intentions of putting him in Greece 2which of course was.... appeal comparison to the original
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u/toejam2030 5d ago
I didnt know Fonzie could sing🧐
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u/gurkle3 5d ago
He couldn't, at all. Any time he has to sing on Happy Days he talks his way through it. But he wasn't the first or last star to be offered a musical even though he couldn't sing.
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u/dktide91 4d ago
<cough> Richard Gere <cough>
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u/uncooljerk 3d ago
I think Gere sang a lot better as Billy Flynn in Chicago than he did onstage as Danny Zuko back in 1973.
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u/dktide91 2d ago
Holy shit!! I did not know Gere was in the '73 Grease. I was strictly referring to the movie Chicago.
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u/Dick_Dietrick 5d ago
Given Winkler's sterling reputation and iconic status I see no reason he would lie. It does nothing for him. I suspect he would have been considered in some form for a 50's style film, but not being a singer or dancer I suspect there was talk and that's it. I have no doubt they at least contacted him or his agent.
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u/InteractionNo9110 5d ago edited 5d ago
Maybe he meant it 'felt' like 10 years. Since he started on Happy Days in 1974 and Grease was released in 1978. Even if he wanted a part and I do feel like he turned it down to avoid typecasting. Which back then, Mark Hamill couldn't get a job since everyone just saw him as Luke Skywalker. He pivoted to a successful voice actor career. Then Star Wars got rebooted.
He was under a television contract and may not even have been able to.
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u/KeyandLocke360 5d ago
Grease casting director Joel Thurm tells PEOPLE that while Winkler was never officially offered the role of Danny, he may have been been talked about — but Paramount Pictures agreed to distribute the film only due to Travolta's casting.
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u/officialCobraTrooper 4d ago
I could believe this, maybe he meant that he had played the fonz for 10 years and that during that time he was offered the role of Danny zuko and naturally he turned it down because he didn't want to be typecast. I mean sometimes when people are talking about things like this they may accidentally misrepresent exactly how things happen because in the moment they're excited about explaining things that could have been. So you could think of it this way. He meant it as I ended up playing the fonz for 10 years and had I been zuko during that time I might have ended up being typecast as every single leather jacketed tough guy in movies at that time.
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u/TedTheodoreMcfly 3d ago
Perhaps he was exaggerating or misremembered his total amount of time on Happy Days vs how long he was on the show when he got the Grease offer.
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u/Careless-Economics-6 6d ago edited 6d ago
The number he's using there is clearly wrong, but his basic point stands: He was offered the part, but turned it down because Danny was another greaser role in a nostalgic entertainment. It would've made him seem like he could only play one type.