The “Happy Days” alum busted some serious dance moves as Fonzie in the ‘70s.

Henry Winkler responds to William Shatner’s offer to try to get him on DWTS next season

The "Happy Days" alum busted some serious dance moves as Fonzie in the '70s.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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April 3, 2026 3:20 p.m. ET

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Henry Winkler and William Shatner in 2018. Credit:

Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

Don't expect to see Henry Winkler reprise Fonzie's moves on *Dancing With the Stars*.

Winkler, the actor who played the leather jacket-clad, thumbs up-giving Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on *Happy Days*, received an offer from his close pal William Shatner on Thursday.

The pair were having a conversation on social media, after Winkler had referred to the *Star Trek* actor as "SUPERMAN."

"Henry! speaking of Superman," replied Shatner, "I saw your repost of the Fonzie dance. I’m sure you can still do that," Shatner wrote. "You want me to see if they have an opening on *Dancing With The Stars *next season?"

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Shatner is a friend of the reality competition's former host Tom Bergeron.

But Winkler's answer was clear.

"Love to you but NO dancing thank you," said Winkler, 80.

A rep for Winkler tells ** that Winkler was "very flattered to be considered but he would not be able to spend the amount of time required to participate in the competition."

Winkler added, "I love William Shatner. I have traveled the world with William Shatner on [their former NBC show] *Better Late Than Never*. I don't think I could dance with William Shatner."

As the Fonz, Winkler was the breakout star of *Happy Days*, which aired for 11 seasons between 1974 and 1984.

The character displayed some serious dance moves in a 1976 episode, "They Shoot Fonzies, Don't They?", in which he competed in a dance marathon. Winkler reposted a clip of the episode on X on Wednesday with the comment, "Wow."

He marveled at the footage showing Fonzie cutting a rug to the cheers of onlookers.

Although Winkler didn't leap at Shatner's offer, he proved back in January that he still has some of the moves as he made his way through the Spirit Tunnel at *The Jennifer Hudson Show*.

While his time on *Happy Days* — for which he was nominated for three Emmys — is long behind him, Winkler has faced no shortage of work.

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Just in the past few years, the veteran of movies such as *The Waterboy* and *Scream* has starred on *Barry,* for which he won an Emmy in 2018 for his portrayal of acting teach Gene Cousineau; *SpongeBob SquarePants*, on which he's voiced multiple roles; and Maya Rudolph's* Loot*. He also hosts the History Channel series *Hazardous History*, which debuts its second season April 19.

And Winkler has said that he doesn't plan to stop working any time soon.

"People keep asking me, am I gonna retire or 'have you retired?'" he said on the *IMO* podcast, hosted by former first lady Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, in January. "And I think that is like the furthest thing from my imagination. I will retire when I am not able to do [this] more."

He added of retirement, "I think that it is deadly."

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