Tom Hanks’ Rise To Stardom Began By Kicking Fonzie Through A Window – Looper

The role itself was memorable enough. Tom Hanks was cast in the Season 10 episode “A Little Case of Revenge.” In it, he played Dwayne Twitchell, a former schoolmate of Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), who, despite having become a successful doctor himself, still holds a grudge against the Fonz for bullying him in the third grade. Dwayne, who has also become accomplished in martial arts, ends up kicking Fonzie through the stained glass window of Arnold’s Drive-in.

Interviewed on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show,” Hanks recalled the experience. “I got dressed up in a judo karate outfit. And I think I’m legendarily the first guy to actually strike Fonzie.” If this sounds just a wee bit outlandish, then let’s not forget it was a good five years after Fonzie and “Happy Days” had quite literally jumped the shark (via MovieWeb).

What made the “Happy Days” gig especially fortuitous though was that it gave Hanks the opportunity to get linked up with Ron Howard. Howard had left the show two years prior, with his character Richie Cunningham written off. But Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel were still around, serving respectively as supervising producer and creative consultant (via IMDb).