Where Is Fonzie’s Leather Jacket From ‘Happy Days’ Today?

Gabrielle Moss January 15, 4:39 pm

HAPPY DAYS, Henry Winkler, 1974-1984 — Paramount/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Happy Days debuted on Jan. 15, 1974, but it took some time for the show to realize that its true breakout star was greaser Arthur Fonzarelli, a.k.a. The Fonz. Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler, became incredibly popular due to his comedic timing and wacky catchphrases — but the fact that he wore a super-cool brown leather jacket didn’t hurt (though in the first season, he’s often shown wearing a windbreaker instead).

The good news for Happy Days fans is that Fonzie’s jacket is being preserved in the permanent collection of one of the biggest museums in the United States. The bad news is that it isn’t currently on view to the general public.

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Where is Fonzie’s jacket now?

HAPPY DAYS, Henry Winkler, Ron Howard, (Season 2 episode), 1974-1984

Paramount/Courtesy: Everett Collection

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History acquired Fonzie’s jacket in 1980, when Winkler donated it. It has been frequently exhibited in the museum in the decades since, though as of right now, Fonzie’s jacket is not on view to the public. Classic TV fans visiting the Washington, D.C., Smithsonian museums can still see other memorabilia, though, including the Lone Ranger’s mask, Fred Rogers’ Sweater, and a Tribble used on Star Trek.

Fans might notice that Winkler donated his jacket to the Smithsonian four years before the series ended — so it was clearly not Fonzie’s only leather jacket, but one of several that had been used on screen.

How many screen-used Fonzie jackets are there?

The fate of the rest of Fonzie’s screen-used leather jackets was revealed by Winkler in 2021, when he put one leather jacket up for auction. In a 2021 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Winkler revealed that there were seven Fonzie leather jackets: the one he was auctioning, one he was keeping for himself, the one in the Smithsonian, one that was “stolen from the costume department at Paramount — it was the very first one I ever wore,” one that was ruined after “we ripped out the lining in order to do the water-skiing when we jumped the shark [on Happy Days],” and two that Happy Days creator Garry Marshall held on to after the show wrapped.

Winkler’s Fonzie jacket was auctioned off for a little over $75,000 to a private collector, with part of the proceeds going to charity. There is no word on what happened to the Fonzie jackets owned by Marshall, who died in 2016.