Henry Winkler Movies
A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, American actor Henry Winkler, born October 30th, 1945, first appeared on Broadway and in films (Crazy Joe, The Lords of Flatbush [both 1974]) before making the guest-star rounds on TV sitcoms. He worked several times for MTM productions, appearing in such roles as Valerie Harper's date on Rhoda and a charming thief undergoing psychoanalysis on The Bob Newhart Show. In 1973, Winkler was selected among hundreds of candidates (including ex-Monkee Micky Dolenz) to play the small recurring role of Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, a leather-jacketed auto mechanic, on the new TV sitcom Happy Days. Though the series' stars were ostensibly Ron Howard, Anson Williams, and Donny Most, the bulk of the fan mail sent to Happy Days during its first season was addressed to "the Fonz." By the time the second season rolled around, Winkler was afforded second billing and a larger slice of screen time on each week's episode. Soon the more impressionable TV fans of America were parroting such Fonzie catchphrases as "Aaaaay" and "Sit on it!," while the nonplussed Winkler, who always regarded himself as a Dustin Hoffman-esque character actor, climbed to teen-idol status, complete with fan magazine interviews, posters, and Fonzie dolls. He also enjoyed a substantial salary boost, from 750 dollars per episode to (eventually) 80,000 dollars. At first, the off-stage Winkler could be as testy and sarcastic as his on-stage persona, but as Fonzie assumed "role model" proportions, the actor began comporting himself in as polite and agreeable a manner as possible. Accordingly, Fonzie became less of a Marlon Brando-type hoodlum and more of a basically goodhearted, moralistic young fellow who happened to be a motorcycle-racing dropout. By the time Happy Days ended in 1983 (by which time Winkler was elevated to top billing), Fonzie was a "drop-in," with a good job as a high school shop teacher and the possibility of a solid marriage. During his Happy Days heyday, Winkler was determined to prove he was capable of playing parts above and beyond Fonzie by taking film roles as far removed from his TV character: the troubled Vietnam vet in Heroes (1977), the vainglorious actor-turned-wrestler in The One and Only (1981), a '30s-style Scrooge in An American Christmas Carol (1982), and the timorous morgue attendant in Night Shift (1983). Following the example of his Happy Days co-star Ron Howard, Winkler also began working his way into the production and direction end of the business. In addition, Winkler used his name value for the benefit of others, remaining active in charitable and political causes. After several years away from the camera, Winkler returned to acting in the 1991 TV-movie Absolute Strangers, playing the husband of a woman caught in the middle of a volatile pro-life/pro-choice argument. And in 1993, Henry Winkler starred in the brief TV sitcom Monty, portraying a bombastic Limbaugh-type conservative TV personality. Winkler appeared in Little Nicky (2006) and You Don't Mess With the Zohan (2008), both times playing himself. Winkler continued to take small roles and guest spots on television and film throughout the 2000s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1984
Strong Kids, Safe Kids is an educational general interest video that teaches children and their parents important safety skills. In an attempt to make serious subject matter accessible, the program uses a friendly, open voice, and takes a somewhat light approach. Viewers learn key steps to take to prevent a number of dangerous situations, including sexual assault. Several popular cartoon characters make cameo appearances and help convey the program's message. Happy Days' The Fonz also stops by to teach cool safety tips. ~ Betsy Boyd, Rovi
- 1985
Whether or not one thinks that MacGyver was the best TV adventure hero to come down the pike, one cannot dispute that he was one of the most inventive and resourceful. Played by Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver (we never knew he had a first name -- "Angus" -- until the series' last season!) was a former Special Ops agent who worked as a troubleshooter for the Phoenix Foundation, a private concern devoted to capturing evildoers and righting wrongs. Seldom resorting to fisticuffs or any other sort of violence, MacGyver preferred to reason his way out his various and sundry predicaments. Using his awesome backlog of scientific knowhow -- not to mention his ever-present Swiss Army Knife and roll of duct tape -- MacGyver was able to fashion a bomb out of an ordinary cold capsule, a lock pick out of a broken light bulb, a paper clip as a blocking device on a "killer" computer, a kitchen fan to stave off a helicopter attack...and he was able to do all of this in the same amount of time that it would take a normal person to blink! Peter Thornton (Dana Elcar) was MacGyver's contact man at the Foundation, a job he was able to do with utmost efficiency even as he began losing his sight in later episodes (just as actor Elcar himself was going progressively blind). Aiding and abetting MacGyver from time to time were fellow Phoenix operative (and the hero's sometimes love interest) Nikki Carpenter (Elyssa Davalos), his reckless pilot buddy Jack Dalton (Bruce McGill), and teenager Lisa ( Mayim Balik), a reformed "runaway." Occasionally complicating and interfering with MacGyver's life and work, albeit in a well-meaning fashion, was kooky artist Penny Parker (Teri Hatcher). And on the flip side, there was the sinister Murdoc (Michael Des Barres), a surly hit man who adopted all manner of disguises, and who seemed to live only to put MacGyver out of existence. Though generally MacGyver was escapist fare, the series tackled a number of serious social issues, ranging from racism to the environment. And in the final episode, MacGyver was surprised to learn that he had a son named Sam Malloy (Dalton James), who was eager and willing to join his dad on all future adventures. Debuted September 29, 1985, on ABC, MacGyver lasted seven seasons, ending its run on August 8, 1992. Two made-for-TV movies based on the series aired in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Dean Anderson
Director Rob Reiner's The Sure Thing is essentially It Happened One Night for the 1980s, but its lack of surprise in no way impedes its entertainment value. John Cusack plays Walter "Gib" Gibson, a self-involved college freshman who makes plans to head to California, there to touch base (and a few other things) with a "sure thing" played by Nicollette Sheridan. Likewise planning a westward journey is coed Alison Bradbury (Daphne Zuniga), a control freak who has a wealthy, stuffy fiancé over there. Gib and Alison despise one another on sight -- so naturally, they are compelled to travel to California together. The fact that everyone in the audience knows precisely how this one will end up is inconsequential; Cusack and Zuniga deliver such engaging performances that we're pulling for them to wise up and discover one another from the very first scene. One of the best bits: the mismatched couple being bombarded with an ear-piercing rendition of "The Age of Aquarius" by their dippy traveling companions. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, (more)
- 1985
Burt Lancaster is eminently hissable as a tabloid publisher in the made-for-TV Scandal Sheet. The current target of Lancaster's smears is alcoholic actor Robert Urich, who is on the verge of making a comeback through the auspices of his movie-star wife Lauren Hutton. Ruthlessly going after Urich merely for the purpose of selling newspapers, Lancaster "persuades" impoverished reporter Pamela Reed, the best friend of Urich and Hutton, to help him wield the hatchet. Sublimely trashy, Scandal Sheet is held together by the despicably dynamic performance of Burt Lancaster. The film was of course made long before tabloid publishers were being lauded as "news analysts" on TV talk shows. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1986
Smoky Mountain Christmas is the sort of fare that always seems to pop up exclusively during the Yuletide season: an original made-for-TV musical fantasy. Dolly Parton plays a country-music star (imaginative casting, this) who finds herself stranded in the Tennessee backwoods with taciturn mountaineer Lee Majors. Parton also touches base with seven orphaned young'uns...and a witch (Anita Morris). John Ritter makes an uncredited cameo appearance as the judge who presides over the inevitable climactic adoption proceedings. First broadcast December 14, 1986 (directly opposite the ratings-grabbing The Promise), A Smoky Mountain Christmas was directed "con brio" by Henry Winkler. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dolly Parton, Lee Majors, (more)
The bittersweet comedy Memories of Me stars Billy Crystal as Dr. Abbie Polin, a New York heart surgeon, long estranged from his father, Abe (Alan King). When the doctor suffers a mild heart attack, he tries to patch things up with his dad, hoping in this way to bring some equilibrium to his own life. This proves well-nigh impossible; Abe, the self-described "king of the Hollywood extras," is not only a play-actor in Tinseltown but in life itself, refusing to take on any real responsibilities, least of all the responsibility of parenthood. So far as Abe is concerned, his only "family" consists of his fellow extras. Though Abbie is extremely judgmental of his father, he himself is no prize in the commitment department, especially when dealing with his longtime lady friend (JoBeth Williams). Star/co-writer Crystal, co-star/co-producer King, and director Henry Winkler lay on the sentiment in thick, juicy slices toward the end. The final sequence in Memories of Me, a Felliniesque funeral, is very clever but somewhat out of synch with what has gone before. One of the film's highlights is a brief celebrity cameo by one of Alan King's "close personal friends." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Billy Crystal, Alan King, (more)
An animated film based on a set of French comic strip characters, this is the story of a Gallic warrior and his companion who battle invading Romans. This is a continuation of a series of history-spoofing cartoons from director René Goscinny which was picked up by Walt Disney, in which our mysterious warrior goes through notable periods of history and shows life in those times through action adventures. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1991
In 1988, Nancy Klein, the pregnant wife of Long Island accountant Marty Klein, was involved in a car accident that left her comatose. Convinced that Nancy would never recover if she went to full term with the baby, Marty asked the doctors to perform an abortion. Almost immediately, Nancy Klein became a cause celebre for pro-life and pro-choice activists alike. Made for television, Absolute Strangers recreates this traumatic event and the drawn-out courtroom litigation that followed. Henry Winkler, who produced the film, returned to acting after a long absence to play Klein; others in the cast include Jennifer Hetrick as Nancy, Richard Kiley as Dr. R. J. Cannon, Karl Malden and Audra Lindley as Nancy's parents, and Patty Duke as a lower-court judge. Though it is clear that the filmmaker's sympathies are clearly on Marty Klein's side, the script remains even-handed throughout, observing that the pro-choicers can be just as narrow-minded and contentious as the "absolute strangers" who wish to usurp Marty Klein's rights concerning his wife's wellbeing. Written by playwright Robert Anderson (Tea and Sympathy, I Never Sang For My Father), Absolute Strangers premiered April 14, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry Winkler, Richard Kiley, (more)
- 1993
In this suspenseful drama, an woman unwittingly endangers her ex-husband's life after she becomes involved with a sociopath. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Ritter, Henry Winkler, (more)
When an eight-year-old black youth (Norman D. Golden II) witnesses a mob hit, he orders the police to make him a cop for a day before he will help identify the killer. Detective Nick McKenna (Burt Reynolds) is the unfortunate assigned to the case. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Norman D. Golden II, (more)
- 1994
- NR
In this telemovie spinoff of the popular series MacGyver, the titular hero (Richard Dean Anderson) - an astonishingly resourceful scientist ere-equipped with his trusty Swiss Army Knife - embarks on an Indiana Jones-style quest to find the lost treasure of Atlantis. Brian Blessed, Sophie Ward and Christian Burgess co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Dean Anderson, Brian Blessed, (more)
A young boy embarks on a holiday adventure with his estranged father in this poignant family drama starring Henry Winkler, Katherine Hepburn, and Swoosie Kurtz. Based on a short story by author Truman Capote, One Christmas opens in 1930, as eight year old Buddy (T.J. Lowther) leaves his aunt in Alabama to spend Christmas with his father in New Orleans. It's been years since Buddy has seen his dad, and these days the old swindler seems more interested pulling off scams than bonding with his long lost son. But the life of a con man has taken a heavy toll on Buddy's dad, and when you're entire world is based on lies, a little truth can bring the whole thing crashing down. As the hard-living grifter begins to realize the importance of cherishing every minute he has with the boy who looks up to him, young Buddy gets his Christmas wish to reconnect with the father he's never known, but always loved. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 1994
Ann-Margret stars in the made-for-cable movie Nobody's Children, filmed on-location in Bucharest, Romania, and based on a true story. Ann-Margret and Jay O. Sanders star as the real-life Carol and Joe Stevens, a married couple from Detroit who are unable to conceive a child of their own. They travel to Bucharest in 1990, just following the end of Ceausescu's regime, where a secret police controls the populace and state institutions are filled with abandoned children. The Stevenses bear witness to the deplorable conditions under which the unwanted babies must live as well as the extreme poverty and illness of the other Romanian children. French doctor Stephanie Vaugier (Dominique Sanda) helps Carol wade through the bureaucracy so she is able to adopt two children and return to the States. Originally aired on the USA television network in March of 1994. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- 1995
Picked as the spokesman for Florida Orange Juice after assuring their representative that he's a straight-arrow, meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) soon finds himself facing controversy after Phil (Wallace Langham) finds a revealing video in the newfound spokesman's desk. After viewing the tape and witnessing Hank celebrating his birthday sans pants and in the company of a feisty pair of hookers, Phil sends a copy to a friend and plans a screening for the whole crew. After walking in on the screening, Hank panics at the thought of losing his spokesperson job and attempts to salvage his reputation before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Scream is at once a slasher film and a tongue-in-cheek position paper on the "dead teenagers" movies of the late 1970s/early 1980s that plays as half-parody, half-tribute. Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is having a rough time lately: she's still getting over the brutal rape and murder of her mother a year ago, and now one of her friends (Drew Barrymore) has been killed by a lunatic who harassed her with terrifying phone calls, then stabbed her to death while wearing a Halloween costume. Soon Sydney is receiving similar phone calls, quizzing her on the arcane details of such films as Friday the 13th and Prom Night, and is attacked by the same cloaked maniac. With her father missing, she has hardly anyone on her side except her best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan) and Tatum's brother Dewey (David Arquette), a half-bright cop. As for the murderer, it could be any number of people: Syd's father; her cute but overly intense boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ullrich); Tatum's goofball boyfriend Stuart (Matthew Lillard); or Randy (Jamie Kennedy), who works at the local video store and seems to like horror movies just a little too much. Much like Halloween, Scream spawned a series of sequels and inspired a large number of similar films -- its original working title, Scary Movie, became the title of the 2000 parody film by Damon Wayans. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, (more)
An angry and unstable youth lashes out against the school he believes has destroyed his future in this made-for-TV drama inspired by a true story. Jason Copeland (Rick Schroder) is a teenager teetering on the edge of emotional collapse; he was kicked out of high school for poor grades, he hasn't been able to find a job, and living at home with his bitter and demanding mother has become intolerable. One day, Jason snaps and decides to take revenge against the teachers who he believes ruined his life. He grabs a couple of guns and a stockpile of ammunition and invades his old high school, killing several teachers and students and then taking 62 kids hostage. Among the students being held at gun point are Aaron (Freddie Prinze Jr.), a bright but rebellious student who is having his own problems at school, and Samantha (Katie Wright), whose father is a deputy with the local police department. As Skip Fine (Henry Winkler), generally regarded as less than the brightest penny in the local police force but the only one with training in hostage negotiation, tries to talk Jason out of taking any more lives, Aaron and Samantha try to convince Jason from the inside that letting the students go and giving himself up would be the best thing to do. Hostage High was originally screened on American television under the title Detention: The Siege at Johnson High. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1997
- R
In this slapstick outing a small heart attack leads a doctor to prescribe rest and relaxation to the afflicted salesman. Unfortunately, the vendor's peaceful plans are destroyed when his well-meaning but inept friend comes to call. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henry Winkler, Olivia D'Abo, (more)
As with his previous films, comedian Adam Sandler and writing partner Tim Herlihy have conceived a simple premise, character, and title, and peppered their creation with visual sight gags. The story concerns Bobby Boucher, a Louisiana-born-and-bred kid living in the swamps with his overbearing, alligator-eating mom (Kathy Bates). Bobby is a water boy for the local college football team, and a damn good one, even good at turning a deaf ear at the ridicule he gets from the players and coach (Jerry Reed). But when Bobby is fired from his job, he is forced to continue his water management skills at the rival college, a losing team with a washed-up coach (Happy Days' "The Fonz," Henry Winkler). It's here that the coach teaches Bobby to channel his anger, and he makes a surprising discovery. The water boy can tackle like no one he's ever seen. Forced to keep his football talents from his mom, Bobby soon joins the college as a student and learns that there's more to life than alligator stew. He even falls for a perky ex-con (Fairuza Balk) who teaches Bobby about the birds and the bees. As Bobby leads his team toward victory, they get an invitation to play in the annual Bourbon bowl against his old college rivals. Bobby must choose between the love of his ailing mother and the glory of the final game -- or maybe there's a way he can get both. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, (more)
Randy Quaid, Tim Redwine and Henry Winkler star in this sci-fi adventure for the family about a group of outcast teenagers who run afoul of an evil scientific genius. However, they are able to get ahold of his latest invention -- a special suit that gives superpowers to whomever wears it. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Randy Quaid, Tim Redwine, (more)
- 1999
Dill Scallion is a mock-documentary that chronicles the fast rise and even faster fall of a country singer whose IQ appears to equal the waist measurement of his jeans. Billy Burke plays a school bus driver in a small Texas town who becomes a Country and Western superstar overnight thanks to songs like "I Found Love At A Family Reunion" and his unique dancing skills; unfortunately, his dance style is the result of an injured foot, and Dill has to keep hurting himself to keep giving his audience what they want. The film includes cameo appearances from actual country stars (including Willie Nelson and LeAnn Rimes) and supporting performances from Jason Priestley and Henry Winkler; rocker Sheryl Crow contributed an original music score. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Billy Burke, Peter Berg, (more)
Ground Control follows the reluctant return to work of Jack Harris (Kiefer Sutherland), a retired air traffic controller who is still haunted by his role in a probably unavoidable plane crash that has left him guilt-ridden and professionally gun shy. When a Phoenix airport fighting budget cutbacks calls him in for emergency duty, he begins experiencing flashbacks to the night of the disaster, all while trying desperately not to lose concentration even for the single moment it would take to cause a fresh disaster. He is supported by a seasoned supervisor (Bruce McGill) but challenged by a cocky young controller (Robert Sean Leonard) who not so privately questions his mettle. All must put aside their differences and band together when stormy weather and failing equipment puts another flight in harm's way. The tension mounts as a resourceful mechanic (Henry Winkler) tries to paste together the outdated circuitry and give the skeleton crew technical support beyond their professional cunning. Ground Control also stars Kristy Swanson and Kelly McGillis. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kiefer Sutherland, Robert Sean Leonard, (more)
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