Ron Howard Reveals That There’s a ‘Happy Days’ Cast Group Chat

Happy Days are just a text message away for Ron Howard. While appearing on the August 26, 2025, edition of People’s My Life In Pictures, Howard, 71, reminisced about his time on the classic television show. The Eden director also revealed how his bond with his cast members has endured throughout the decades — with some recent technological updates.

Howard famously portrayed the plucky teenager Richie Cunningham. Along with Potsie Weber (Anson Williams) and Ralph Malph (Don Most), Richie does his best to navigate high school and the trials of growing up in Milwaukee in the 1950s. And when things get heavy, there was the epitome of cool, Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler), there to help them out.

And though the sun set on Happy Days over forty years ago, the gang still keeps in touch.

“Donny Most, Anson Williams, Henry Winkler and I have a sort of ongoing text thread,” Howard told People. “There’s just kind of a running dialogue updating [everyone] on what’s going on. Anson just had a very successful play. Donny’s got a movie coming out. Oh, Henry’s on the road somewhere.”

“That’s been one of the, you know, really great gifts of my adult life is our friendship,” he added.

Howard also shared how he instantly clicked with Winkler on the set. “I had a lot of respect for Henry, because he is…older than I am, and he was formally educated at Yale Drama. [He’s] a highly intellectual man who viewed acting in a much more artful way, although he was a great improvisational actor.”

“I came from Hollywood, and that wasn’t Henry’s upbringing,” said Howard, who grew up in front of the camera on The Andy Griffith Show. Ron added that even though Happy Days was a comedy, Winkler was “looking for those other values at all times.”

“We became great acting partners,” said Howard, “and then great friends, and he really is kind of a big brother to me.”

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