FoNZ

Stopped by Perri Inc. on Melrose and saw this street art rendering of
The Fonz.
I guess he was the first "cool guy" I ever saw on TV- I was born in the early 70's- what did I know? Still have my old lunch box, too.
The first two seasons of Happy Days were definitely the best. The Fonz still wore the wind-breaker jacket like his idol, James Dean wore. Apparently the execs at ABC thought the Fonzie character too hardcore, so they added the leather jacket instead- really?!
The first two seasons were shot with one camera, on location and Henry Winkler had to ride "Fonzie's" '49 Triumph Trophy TR5 a lot. I say had, because Winkler wasn't a bike rider. The opening credits scene where The Fonz rides up the Cunningham driveway- was cut before he actually rode all the way up the driveway and crashed into the retaining wall on the other side. Who has THAT footage?!
The bike itself was put together by the one and only Bud Ekins -McQueen's friend and stuntman on The Great Escape. Ekins kept it until '95 or so, then sold it to a friend who didn't realize who's bike he just bought (Ekins never told him- until Cycle World tracked him down in 2000). I believe it went to auction a couple of years ago and sold for over a hundred grand. Heyyy!