Milwaukee Raises Funds For A Bronze Fonz

Tourism Group Wants Visitors To Remember City As Home Of "Happy Days" Hipster

(AP)  The Fonz in bronze? It could happen.

Visit Milwaukee, a group that promotes the city as a tourism and convention destination, is leading an effort to raise money for a bronze sculpture of the character played by Henry Winkler on TV's "Happy Days," which was set in Milwaukee.

Some $45,000 has been raised toward a goal of $85,000 to commission the statue.

"It's an honor," says Winkler. "But it is so bizarre to think there should be a statue."

"If it helps the city, a city that has been so supportive and warm to me over the years, then I am so OK with it," the 61-year-old actor says.

Winkler played Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the family comedy, which aired from 1974 to 1984. The series also starred Ron Howard, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley and Erin Moran.

Visit Milwaukee is confident the statue will be unveiled next year, says Dave Fantle, vice president of public relations for the nonprofit group.

Fantle says the dedication ceremony would draw media attention to Milwaukee, and the sculpture would provide another tourism draw.

"This is a statue of a TV icon who remains the epitome of cool," he said.

Winkler said he would be willing to come to Milwaukee for the statue's dedication.

TV Land, a cable network that airs reruns of vintage shows, has donated six statues commemorating memorable TV events or characters to various cities, starting in 2000 with a statue of Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason's character on "The Honeymooners," which was given to the city of New York.

But TV Land isn't planning to donate any more statues and is re-evaluating the program, said network spokeswoman Jennifer Zaldivar.

[tnt1954]

the worst show of all-time. hippie daze
would have been much better. happy days
were anything but happy. more like some
surrealistic daily nightmare. it was like
living in the twilight zone 24/7/366.

[tnt1954]

on second thought, hippie daze were even worse.
most of my friends were dead or beyond recall
by age 25. the recovery movement saved many.
it was my pleasure as a jr.g-man to help
put timothy leary behind bars in 1972.
lsd-25 was a chemical weapon, manufactured
by the german swiss corporation sandoz inc. in
1939 as part of the nazis plan to conquer
the world. it wasn''t easy nailing timothy.
many irish fought for the nazis in world war 2.
military maze might have been another program
to fill the airwaves with. but radio and
rock n roll took many away from the tube
and their homework. schoolnights for some
were just playnights in los angeles, ca where
i was born and lived most of my life.
one of the guys who narrowly escaped lives
in wisconsin today. he was born and raised
in l.a. too. he credits his church. so do i.
i knew many guys in the 50''s exactly like
the character ''the fonz''. pretty scary guys.
when the *** angels wanna ride, its time
to ride. satans slaves too. white fence too.
mongols too. just to name a few. chick
gangs like the black widows still exist, and
do grow. don''t kid yourself.

[tnt1954]

leary was like harry houdini, always escaping.
like bill wilson of AA he had powerful friends
and a knack for borrowing money. bill wilson
took lsd also. some think this was a slip.
some debate whether or not bill wilson
and doctor bob ever got sober or were sober,
or were just thinking of a racket to pay
their bills with, especially their liquor
bills. i''ve known so many people thoroughly
disillusioned with even AA. and they are
not cynical people. its cultish nature,
is so obvious to most. so where''s britney
spears? has she been spearfishing all day?
how come no britney knews? where''s britknee?
did she go kneeboarding? we''re all going
through brit-ney withdrawal. cold turkey.
first they take away the yahoo comment boards,
done by concerned parent herself, and now
suddenly no britney. the national enquierer
just had a few sentences about her. how could
you? get us hooked, and then yank away
the product. its just not right. waiting
for november 13th and her cd release.