The ''Bronze Fonz'' is a public artwork by American artist Gerald P. Sawyer, located on the

Milwaukee Riverwalk The Milwaukee Riverwalk is a continuous pedestrian walkway along the Milwaukee River in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History The Milwaukee Riverwalk began in 1994. Since 1999, the city of Milwaukee had required all new riverfront developmen ...

in downtown

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The ''Bronze Fonz'' depicts

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...

as " The Fonz," a character in the 1970s television series ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'', which was set in Milwaukee.

Description

The sculpture, made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

, depicts actor Henry Winkler as he appeared in his role as Arthur Fonzarelli (also known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz"). Fonzarelli was an iconic character in the 1970s television show ''

'', a

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

about a family in 1950s–1960s Milwaukee. He stands in his usual attire, a leather jacket and jeans, and gives a two-handed thumbs up gesture, as he often did in ''Happy Days''. The statue is located on the

, just south of Wells Street. It is accompanied by an inscription that lists donors who contributed to the ''Bronze Fonz'' project. The organization "Visit Milwaukee" raised $75,000 to commission the sculpture and since 2008 it has been on the Milwaukee Riverwalk.

History

Acquisition

The ''Bronze Fonz'' was commissioned by Visit Milwaukee, a non-profit group with the purpose of promoting tourism and bringing new businesses to Milwaukee. Visit Milwaukee raised $85,000 to commission the statue. Over the decade prior to the statue's creation, other similar television character based bronze statues, commissioned by the cable television channel,

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...

, had been built in other cities and towns to portray such figures as

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whic ...

(as Mary Richards from ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'') in Minneapolis,

Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy ...

and

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

(as Andy and Opie Taylor from "

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

") in Raleigh, and

Jackie Gleason Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed a style and characters from growin ...

(as Ralph Kramden from ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It f ...

'') outside the

Port Authority Bus Terminal The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus station, bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving ab ...

in Manhattan. However, TV Land scrapped its plans to build a Fonz statue after a change in their marketing strategy in 2007. The sculpture was unveiled on August 18, 2008. Most of the ''Happy Days'' cast, including Winkler, Marion Ross,

Tom Bosley Thomas Edward Bosley (October 1, 1927 – October 19, 2010) was an American actor, television personality and entertainer. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham (Happy Days character), Howard Cunningham on the American Broadcasti ...

Erin Moran Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann (October 18, 1960 – April 22, 2017) was an American actress, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on the television sitcom ''Happy Days'' and its spin-off ''Joanie Loves Chachi''. Early life Erin Marie ...

Don Most Don Most (born August 8, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ralph Malph on the television series ''Happy Days''. Early life Most was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. He lived in Flatbush, Br ...

, and Anson Williams, attended the dedication ceremony. Winkler referred to the statue as "unbelievable."

Opposition

Mike Brenner, then a local gallery owner and executive director of Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN), objected to the statue, which was originally planned to be located at the intersection of Wisconsin and Water Streets, a prominent downtown site. He threatened to close his gallery and resign his position in MARN if "that stupid Fonzie sculpture" was erected there. Brenner received death threats for speaking out against the ''Bronze Fonz'', and reposted several on his web site. The CEO of the

Milwaukee Art Museum The Milwaukee Art Museum (also referred to as MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection of over 34,000 works of art and gallery spaces totaling 150,000 sq. ft. (13,900 m²) make it the largest art museum in the state of Wis ...

, David Gordon, along with ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

'' arts critic Mary-Louise Schumacher and other Milwaukee arts dignitaries, also opposed the statue, which ultimately was erected instead at the Riverwalk site. Brenner nevertheless closed his gallery in May 2008, and opened a Milwaukee

microbrewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

Maintenance

The sculpture was removed for maintenance in February 2022. The sculpture has become shiny on the surfaces people have been touching. The weather has also damaged the finish on the sculpture. The bronze has begun to oxidize where salt has interacted with the metal. The sculpture encourages interaction and

selfies A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph or a short video, typically taken with an electronic camera or smartphone. The camera would be usually held at arm's length or supported by a selfie stick instead of being controlled with a self-timer ...

: visitors have been climbing on it, leaving scratches.

In popular culture

* The statue is referenced in the lyrics of the 2014 song "Milwaukee" by The Both. The song, which recounted the local origin of the collaboration between the duo of

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often d ...

and

Ted Leo Theodore Francis Leo (born September 11, 1970) is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman and lead guitarist of the rock group Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and in 2013, he and Aimee Mann formed the indie rock duo The Both. Earl ...

, was the first single from their self-titled debut album. * In the 2015 novel ''In the Drink'' by Allyson K. Abbott, part of a

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries (also referred to as cozies) are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community. Cozies thus s ...

series set in Milwaukee, the body of a murder victim is found underneath the ''Bronze Fonz'' statue.

References

External links

The Bronze Fonz
on

Atlas Obscura ''Atlas Obscura'' is an United States, American-based travel and exploration company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via professiona ...

{{MilwaukeePublicArt 2008 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Wisconsin Happy Days Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee Statues in Wisconsin Sculptures of men in Wisconsin Statues of fictional characters