If you’ve been a working actor in Hollywood for four decades, your personal memorabilia collection might pile up. Such is the case for Barry star Henry Winkler. Of course, to an entire generation of TV viewers, Winkler was and will always be “The Fonz” first. That was the nickname for his character of Arthur Fonzarelli, on the long-running sitcom Happy Days. And a key part of that Fonzie iconography was his leather jacket. One is displayed at the Smithsonian, while another two are in Winkler’s possession.
But soon, it will only be one. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Winkler is putting one of his jackets up for action, via Bonhams auction house. (He can’t bear to part with both, for understandable reasons.) Not only is his jacket up for sale, but he’s also auctioning off his Ghostface mask from the original Scream. In that film, fans might remember he played doomed Principal Himbry, who had quite the nasty encounter with the film’s infamous slasher. In total, Winkler is auctioning off some twenty-six items.
So why decide to do part with these items now? Especially after so many years? In part, you can blame the pandemic. Winker began doing a thorough “spring cleaning” during this time, only one that lasted for a year and a half. Also, the proceeds from this auction will go to support the nonprofit organization This Is About Humanity, co-founded by Henry Winkler’s daughter Zoe. The purpose of this organizations is to take care of the children separated from their parents at the border. So that’s another good reason.
There are a few items Winkler could not bring himself to give up, though, even for charity. One of these was “a complete set of Happy Days trading cards, still in the cellophane.” The other one is an alien’s rubber head from the ’90s Fox Network TV show Sightings, which he produced. That series was like a reality “news” show about the paranormal, airing during the X-Files craze. Look, we can’t blame him. We wouldn’t give those up either.
