'Happy Days' cast dedicates 'Fonz' statue

MILWAUKEE, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Henry Winkler, star of 1970s television sitcom "Happy Days," gave the thumbs-up in Milwaukee Tuesday to a new statue of his character, "The Fonz."

Winkler and most of the cast of the feel-good comedy, which was set in the Wisconsin city, gathered along with about 500 onlookers to unveil a 5-foot-6-inch bronze monument to the leather jacket-wearing, wise-cracking rebel, whose trademark "thumbs-up" gesture was made part of the monument, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

Located along the Milwaukee River in the city's downtown, the sculpture drew a crowd that included Winkler, show creator Garry Marshall, his sister Penny Marshall (Laverne), Cindy Williams (Shirley), Don Most (Ralph Malph), Anson Williams (Potsie), Erin Moran (Joannie) and the TV parents, Tom Bosley and Marion Ross.

Proclamations were read from Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle while Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker -- dressed in a black leather jacket and motorcycle boots -- also lent the ceremony an air of respectability.

Many in the crowd were heard to shout at Winkler, "We love you, Fonzie!" as well as "schlamiel, schlamazel," a phrase made famous by Penny Marshall and Williams in their "Laverne and Shirley" spin-off show, the Journal Sentinel reported.