The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online
The Fonz in bronze?
Group hopes that's correctamundo, wants to put statue downtown
By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 25, 2007
Aaay, Milwaukee.
"The Fonz" soon might be part of our downtown landscape, immortalized in a life-size bronze sculpture that city tourism leaders hope would be a stopping point for visitors.
The Fonz, of course, is Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, the character from the long-running TV show "Happy Days," set in a nostalgic version of Milwaukee, circa the late 1950s and early 1960s. Visit Milwaukee, a non-profit group that promotes the city as a tourism and convention destination, is leading an effort to raise $85,000 to commission the statue, which likely would be in the plaza south of E. Wisconsin Ave. and west of N. Water St., near the Chase Plaza office tower.
So far, Visit Milwaukee has raised $45,000, and the group is confident it will meet its timetable of unveiling a bronze Fonz in 2008, said Dave Fantle, the agency's vice president of public relations. The agency already has contacted four artists and hopes to choose a sculptor by the end of October, he said.
The project carries the blessings of "Happy Days" co-creator Garry Marshall and Henry Winkler, the actor who played Fonzie during the show's 10-year run, which started in 1974.
Winkler confessed he was a bit taken aback when Fantle contacted him about the project.
"It's an honor," Winkler said. "But it is so bizarre to think there should be a statue. I wasn't sure it was something that could happen to me."
Or, more accurately, happen to a character brought to life by Winkler, a 61-year-old actor, producer, director and author. Still, Winkler likes the idea and 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."
Visit Milwaukee got the idea of a Fonzie statue from TV Land, a cable network that broadcasts reruns of vintage shows.
TV Land has donated six sculptures commemorating memorable TV events or characters to various cities, starting in 2000 with a New York City statue of Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason's character from "The Honeymooners."
Other statues include Mary Richards, the main character from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Located in downtown Minneapolis, it depicts the well-known shot from the show's opening credits when Mary gleefully tosses her hat in the air.
Another one close to Wisconsin is a sculpture of Bob Hartley, from "The Bob Newhart Show," near the entrance to Chicago's Navy Pier.
All six sculptures are from shows mainly popular in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, in keeping with TV Land's focus on its baby boomer audience.
But TV Land, owned by New York-based Viacom International Inc., isn't planning a major role in the campaign for a Fonzie sculpture. The network isn't planning to donate any additional statues and is re-evaluating the program, said Jennifer Zaldivar, a TV Land spokeswoman.
TV Land is planning to revamp its lineup of shows, Zaldivar said, adding newly created programs and "more contemporary shows," as in reruns that baby boomers' children might recognize. As a result, a program that donates sculptures commemorating older TV shows might not fit TV Land's new image, she said.
But Viacom, which owns the rights to the Fonzie character, has approved the project, Fantle said.
The dedication ceremony for the statue, with appearances by Winkler and possibly other "Happy Days" cast members, would draw media attention to Milwaukee, Fantle said. He said the sculpture would provide another tourism draw for a city that anticipates an upswing in visitors when Harley-Davidson Inc. opens its museum.
What about image?
But what about those umpteen attempts to depict Milwaukee to the outside world as some place other than the home of "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley," a "Happy Days" spinoff that some complain has typecast Milwaukee as a stodgy, blue-collar town?
"This isn't a statue of 'Laverne and Shirley,' " Fantle said. "This is a statue of a TV icon who remains the epitome of cool."
The Fonz represents the old image of Milwaukee, which some visitors still would appreciate, Fantle said. He said the statue could serve as a bridge between that world and Milwaukee's new image, exemplified by the Milwaukee Art Museum and other developments.
"I don't think we want to run and hide from our past, especially when our past happens to be a timeless television character," Fantle said.
Or, as the Fonz, with two thumbs up, might put it: "Aaay."
Buy a link here
From the Sept. 26, 2007 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Have an opinion on this story? Write a letter to the editor or start an online forum.
Subscribe today and receive 4 weeks free! Sign up now.
© 2006, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. | Produced by Journal Interactive | Privacy Policy
Journal Sentinel Inc. is a subsidiary of Journal Communications.
