Henry Winkler, 80, Reveals Why He Refuses to Retire

Henry Winkler recently revealed why he refuses to retire at 80.

In an IMO With Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson podcast episode, published on December 24, the Happy Days icon opened up about how he’s doing after becoming an octogenarian on October 30.

Michelle Obama asked, “What is entering your 80s feeling like for you?”

“I’m very grateful,” Winkler replied. “You know, people keep asking me, ‘Am I gonna retire?’ Or, ‘Have you retired?’ And I think that is, like, the furthest thing from my imagination. I will retire when I am not able to do, again, more. You know, I just, I think that it is deadly.”

When the former first lady asked if Winkler wakes up each day with a schedule, he offered more details about his current work-life setup — which currently includes a TV show and children’s books.

“I work a lot,” the Night Shift actor explained. “I have several jobs. I do a wonderful show on the History Channel called Hazardous History, which, when they presented it to me, I just loved the facts of it. I thought, ‘This is outrageous.’ …And it did so nicely because people watched. We were now picked up for 30 [episodes].”

Additionally, Winkler shared, “Our newest children’s book came out on September 30. This is the 40th… We have 40 children’s books. The newest one is Detective Duck.”

Winkler echoed his sentiments on retirement during a 2023 interview with People. “I have no license for that,” he told the publication. “I just have that feeling. I will stop when I have to stop.”

In addition to portraying the iconic Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli in Happy Days for 11 seasons from 1974 to 1984, Winkler is known for movies like The Waterboy (1998), Click (2006), Here Comes the Boom (2012), and more. Most recently, he appeared in an episode of Loot.

Happy Days, streaming on Paramount+ and Pluto TV