Henry Winkler Thought ‘My Life Is Over’ When Ron Howard Left ‘Happy Days’ (Exclusive)

“We just clicked as acting partners,” says Ron Howard, looking back at his kismet-like connection to Happy Days costar Henry Winkler.

The kind of chemistry that turned the show into a number-one sitcom of the ’70s and early ’80s — and became the basis of a 50-plus-year friendship. As the director, 71, says of Winkler in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, “He was and is kind of like a big brother to me.” 

“When we worked together, there was something that happens out of the blue,” adds Winkler, 79. “We had a shorthand with the script. He went where I went, I went where he went, and it became something else.”

He still remembers the day in 1980 when Howard told him he was leaving the show to become a film director, a long-held dream. “There was a phone booth right by the front door of stage 19,” Winkler recalls. “They said, ‘Oh, the phone is for you, Henry.’ ” 

That’s when Howard told him: “It’s going to come out in the press in about 10 minutes, but I wanted you to know first, I’m not coming back.”

“My first thought was, ‘I’m going to die now,’ ” recalls Winkler. “My great acting partner on this show, my good friend is no longer going to be here. My life is over.”

“And that was in the first two seconds,” he adds. “Then I said, ‘Ron, we’ve talked about this since the beginning. All you want to do is be a director. It’s in your DNA. Go and be the best you can be, and I cannot wait to see what you do.’ ”

Their next collaboration would come soon enough. After making his directorial debut with Grand Theft Auto in 1977, Howard got the chance to make his first studio film, Night Shift a few years later, with one catch.

As Winkler recalls, “He said, ‘Warner Brothers will give me $6 million to make Night Shift if you are in it, and you can play either part.’ ”

“It was a huge pivot point in my career and we were not going to get that movie made,” says Howard. “It became an absolute no-brainer for the studio, if Henry would say yes. I gave him the script. I said, ‘I could see you in either role. And I’d love to do it with you if this interests you. And if it doesn’t, I understand.’ ”

Twenty-four hours later, the Fonz was in and, says Howard, “We got the movie made.”

“It was one of my all-time favorite experiences from then until now,” Winkler recalls. “And I’ve had some really wonderful experiences.”

“I even said to him, ‘If you were a brain surgeon, whether I needed it or not I would be your first patient.’ You absolutely knew and felt this man is to be trusted as a professional from his hair to his toes.”

Adds Howard, “This was a giant step forward. It was the first partnership with Brian Grazer and I, which would eventually lead to the formation of Imagine Entertainment.” (Their storied film and tv company is now celebrating its 40th anniversary, and a string of films, including Howard’s latest, Eden.)

Looking back at his lasting bond with Winkler, he adds, “That’s been one of the really great gifts of my adult life, is our friendship.”

For more on Ron Howard, and his friendship with Henry Winkler, check out a copy of this weeks’ PEOPLE.