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In Milwaukee Buzz Briefs
The Fonz gets bronzed on Aug. 19
Dave Fantle poses at the site of the Bronze Fonz.  
By Jeff Sherman RSS Feed
OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer
Photography by Visit Milwaukee
E-mail author | Author bio
More articles by Jeff Sherman

Published May 27, 2008 at 11:20 a.m.
Tags: bronze fonz, winkler, penny marshall, cindy williams, laverne, shirley, potsie, anson williams, joanie, ralph malph, marion ross, cunningham, fonz staute

"Happy Days" returns again to Milwaukee for a first-run reprise performance Tuesday, Aug. 19 when the show's stars Henry Winkler (Fonzie), Marion Ross (Marion Cunningham), Tom Bosley (Howard Cunningham), Erin Moran (Joanie), Don Most (Ralph Malph) and Anson Williams (Potsie) return to their "adopted" home for the dedication of the bronze Fonzie statue on the RiverWalk in Downtown.

Stars of the "Happy Days" spin-off, "Laverne & Shirley," Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams (Laverne and Shirley respectively) are also expected to attend, along with the show's creator, director / producer Garry Marshall and his sister, Ronny Hallin, who served as a producer on the show.

The staute's location has also been changed to the patio across from Rock Bottom Brewery to the RiverWalk location just south of Wells Street on the east side (formerly Tula's outdoor dining area). This move was at the request of the Milwaukee RiverWalk District, a major funder of the project.

"The District felt and we agreed that this new site offers easier access, more visibility and a considerably bigger footprint for people to pose with the statue," said David Fantle, vice president of public relations for VISIT Milwaukee.

The statue dedication ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Aug. 19. A public celebration at Pere Marquette Park follows at 11 a.m. with a free public frozen custard social. There, Winkler and the other guests are scheduled to make an appearance with some other -- yet to be announced -- autograph opportunities.

The day-long celebration concludes when Winkler and his cast colleagues are honored at a pre-game ceremony at Miller Park prior to the Brewers vs. Astros game. The cast will throw out the first ball and Williams will sing the national anthem. Every fan at the game gets a commemorative bronze the Fonz baseball card.

The show, "Happy Days" ran for 11 seasons on ABC starting in 1974 and was inspired by the real-life experiences and characters of Thomas Miller, who served as executive producer on the series and grew up in Milwaukee.



More Information ...
The Intercontinental Hotel has set aside a block of rooms at a $129 rate for out-of-town guests. Reservations can be made at intercontinentalmilwaukee.com, use the code: FNZ

Related links:

6 comments about this article.
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Recent Talkbacks ...
Posted by Preview
citykid The idea of paying homage to the Fonz seems pretty silly given the fact that ...
Downtowner Interesting how this item was presented on jsonline. Not as a cool thing for ...
CoolerKing Actually, if they were going to put up a bronze statue of anybody from that ...
nan You have got to be kidding??? We need a bronze fonz like we need more crime!! ...
mitchgat It will be a good time and I can't wait!!! It's about time this happened!


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