Ron Howard reveals hair loss was due to anxiety over The Fonz eclipsing his character

[TMC]

'It came out in alarming clumps!' Ron Howard reveals he lost his hair due to anxiety over Henry Winkler's The Fonz eclipsing his character in Happy Days​

After starting out as a child actor, he shot to worldwide fame as Richie Cunningham in Happy Days back in 1974.

And now Ron Howard, 67, has revealed that he began losing his hair aged 20 due to anxiety over Henry Winkler's The Fonz eclipsing his character in the American sitcom.

In his joint memoir with brother Clint, 62, titled The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, the actor detailed how he developed a stress-induced skin condition which resulted in his hair 'falling out in alarming clumps'.

During the early run of Happy Days - which ran for a decade - ABC toyed with renaming the show 'Fonzie's Happy Days' such was the character's popularity.

In his book, Ron explains: 'The biggest stressor of all was Fonzie. Not Henry [Winkler], but Fonzie.

'It did not escape my notice that as the season went on, the Fonz was getting more and more screen time.

'I didn't handle my stress particularly well,' he writes. 'I probably would have benefited from seeing a psychotherapist … Instead, I kept everything inside.

'Then I started breaking out in eczema rashes all over my body, most acutely on my eyelids … And my hair started thinning.

'Looking at the men on both sides of my family, I knew it was inevitable … But it started coming out in alarming clumps during this time.'

Ron eventually left Happy Days in 1980 to focus on directing, producing and sometimes writing a variety of films and television series, including Splash and Willow.

He went on to direct A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, Frost/Nixon, The Da Vinci Code and many others, picking up numerous awards for his work along the way.

Ron and wife Cheryl recently celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary at the beginning of June.

The couple tied the knot at just 21 years old on June 7, 1975 when he was still an actor while she worked as a writer.

They have four children together: actress Bryce Dallas Howard, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Howard, and son Reed Cross.

[SarahBellum]

So is he going to keep wearing ball caps? A bald head is nothing to be ashamed of.

[stevea]

Maybe Clint was scared of the bear.

Now I need to figure out my reason...

[Chocolate Moose]

i am going to love reading that book!!!

[PracTz]

Poor Mr. Howard!



Well, I suppose after all this time, he's actually more comfortable wearing a ball cap than he would be letting his noggin see daylight (like many women who wear wigs have become more comfortable with the netting and extra follicles atop their own).

I wonder how he was able to see with his eyelids getting rashes?

[RetroGuy2000]

I suffered similar work-related stress health issues back in the day: clumps of hair were falling out, there were rashes on my eyelids, and I had shingles on my limbs. I eventually resigned from that stressful position, and recovered. Some of my hair even grew back, and someone I know from that era recently met me and remarked on how great I look now.

A stressful job can kill you, and I've no doubt Ron Howard had to remove himself from that situation. The episodes after he left were mostly terrible, and it really shows how much Ritchie Cunningham was needed to keep the show focused/grounded. Without him, the show lost its way.

[TVFactFan]

To me they always was on same level. One wasnt higher than the other

[DEH55]

Some people don't look good bald so I don't blame him for wearing a baseball cap. It's more attractive. He was going to be bald anyways. His bro and dad lost their hair young too. But the stress does not help. He was the star at first and then it became the fonzie show.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by DEH55

Some people don't look good bald so I don't blame him for wearing a baseball cap. It's more attractive. He was going to be bald anyways. His bro and dad lost their hair young too. But the stress does not help. He was the star at first and then it became the fonzie show.

It really did, and that was a shame. The series really lost something when the show became completely focused on the Fonz.

[PracTz]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It really did, and that was a shame. The series really lost something when the show became completely focused on the Fonz.

I totally agree! Fonzie worked best as a background character in the first two seasons whose layers were being explored instead of as the Super Fonz who became as two-dimensional as the rest of the cast (including Richie himself) for cheep laffs for the Studio Audience years!

[DEH55]

I have been reading Ron Howards book. I didn't realize that his choice to leave Happy Days came down to the last minute. He was talking to ABC and NBC. He was willing to come back if they were willing to allow him to direct TV movies and a film. They said no!!! So he went with NBC who said yes.

The cast of Happy Days were at the studios ready to start up the new season. Henry called him asking where he was and Ron said he was not coming back.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by DEH55

I have been reading Ron Howards book. I didn't realize that his choice to leave Happy Days came down to the last minute. He was talking to ABC and NBC. He was willing to come back if they were willing to allow him to direct TV movies and a film. They said no!!! So he went with NBC who said yes.

The cast of Happy Days were at the studios ready to start up the new season. Henry called him asking where he was and Ron said he was not coming back.

What's the name of the book?

[DEH55]

It's called "The Boys". It's a book he did with his brother Clint. A good read.

He mentions that one Christmas the bosses at Paramount gave the cast gifts. Everyone got wallets except Henry who got one of the earliest vcr's. A way better gift. Ron complained saying it was disrespectful to the rest of the cast.

[TMC]

Ron Howard says he was treated with 'a lot of disrespect' by 'Happy Days' network execs after Henry Winkler became more popular on the show

• Ron Howard said studio executives were disrespectful after the Fonz became popular on "Happy Days."
  
• Howard said Richie Cunningham was the lead but Henry Winkler was "remarkable" as Arthur Fonzarelli.
  
• The two men are still good friends, and Winkler is the godfather to Howard's children.

Ron Howard said in a new interview that top studio and network executives involved with "Happy Days" treated him "with a lot of disrespect" after Henry Winkler's character Arthur Herbert "The Fonz" Fonzarelli became more popular than Howard's character Richie Cunningham.

In a clip from Friday's coming episode of "The Graham Norton Show," Howard said that Richie was meant to be "the undeniable lead" of "Happy Days" but Winkler proved "remarkable" as the Fonz from the first episode.

"We immediately bonded and became great friends," he told Norton. "We were a fantastic ensemble - we all got along great."

While Howard said it was "exciting" to watch viewers fall in love with Winkler as Fonzie, he accused "the studio heads" and "network heads" of "really treating me with a lot of disrespect from a business standpoint, just in terms of interaction."

"The press kept saying: 'What's it like? Do you feel that you've become a second-class citizen on your own show?' and these kinds of things," Howard said. "Which I didn't feel within the workspace. And I certainly didn't feel it within our friendship, which endures to this day."



In fact, Howard told Norton that not only did the two men enjoy a close bond while working on "Happy Days" but Winkler remained godfather to all four of Howard's children, including the actor Bryce Dallas Howard.

Moreover, his experience on the ABC sitcom pushed Howard, now an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, to become more serious about his dream to take charge behind the camera, producing and directing his own films.

Winkler separately told Insider in October that he kept getting passed over for comedy roles after "Happy Days" because people still saw him as the Fonz.

"People would say: 'Wow, he's funny. He's such a good actor. But he was the Fonz,'" Winkler said. "And so they would pass me by. You have to learn to find the strength in yourself to deal with that, reinvent yourself, move on."

Howard's full interview is set to air on "The Graham Norton Show" on BBC America on Friday at 11 p.m. ET.

Read the original article on Insider

[80s Dude]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

It really did, and that was a shame. The series really lost something when the show became completely focused on the Fonz.

It got worse when it started focusing more on Chaunchi.