Henry Winkler Wins First Emmy 40 Years After Playing The Fonz, Reunites With ‘Happy Days’ Co-Star Ron Howard

Henry Winkler won his first Primetime Emmy Award, more than 40 years after he became a household name for his breakthrough role as Fonzie on the 1970s sitcom, Happy Days . Forty-two years after his first nomination, Winkler won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as renowned acting coach Gene Cousineau on the HBO dramedy, Barry .

“I only have 37 seconds; I wrote this 43 years ago,” the six-time Emmy nominee said as he accepted his long-awaited trophy. “Skip Brittenham said to me a long time ago, ‘If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you, and tonight I got to clear the table.”

Winkler also thanked the creators of Barry , Alec Berg, and Bill Hader, and gave a sweet shout-out to his kids, who, incidentally, are all over age 35.

“I can’t stop yet. My wife Stacey, oh, my God. My cast and crew, and the kids! Kids! Jed, Zoe and Max, you can go to bed now! Daddy won!”

Winkler later marveled about his Emmy win to reporters.

“I was 27 when I started doing the Fonz,” the actor said backstage, per Entertainment Weekly . “I’m now 72 standing in front of you with her [points to Emmy]. Wow.”

Henry Winkler and Ron Howard have a Happy Days reunion at #Emmys https://t.co/fIJh5gUIan

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) September 18, 2018

Henry Winkler was nominated for his first Emmy Award in 1976 for his role as Arthur Fonzarelli, the beloved sitcom character known for his black leather jacket and thumbs-up tagline, “Ayyyy.”

Winkler later scored two more Emmy nods for his role as the Fonz in the late 1970s, as well as a 1979 nomination for Who are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get 19 Kids? Winkler’s most recent Emmy nomination before his Barry win was for a 2000 guest role on The Practice .

Before the Emmy Awards telecast kicked off on Monday night, Winkler reunited with his Happy Days co-star, Ron Howard. Winkler and Howard starred together for seven seasons on the classic ABC sitcom as best friends Richie Cunningham and Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli. Forty years after their Happy Days heyday, Winkler documented the reunion with a photo on Twitter captioned, “Pals at the Emmys.”

Howard later celebrated Winkler’s win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series with a retweet of the Barry star’s photo and a congratulatory caption about his friend’s well-deserved win.