Skippermonkey
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Posted - 2010.03.15 13:06:00 -
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Fonzie (The Fonz) is a leather jacketed Italian-American, and later, part-owner of Arnold's restaurant, who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the 1950s. In the very early episodes, Fonzie rode custom Harley-Davidson models. In the later episodes he rides a Triumph motorcycle. Overall, the Fonz rode a variety of models including Harley Panhead, Harley Knucklehead, Harley Sportster, Triumph 500cc TR5 Trophy (seen in the opening credits), Trophy 650cc and a BSA. He is known for his catchphrases: "Whoa", and "Aaay!"/"Eyyy!" while snapping his fingers, and forming a thrust-forward double thumbs up. He is also known to be able to fix Arnold's jukebox (or cause it to play his favorite song) by hitting it with the side of his fist.
He is a high school dropout seen by establishment characters in the show as a rebel. As a child, he and his mother were abandoned by his father. The only advice Fonz remembered his father giving was, "Don't wear socks in the rain." When he disappeared, he left a locked box for his son, but not a key; Arthur did everything to open the box, finally running over it with his tricycle. The contents? "The key, and that's it!"
In the sixth season episode "Christmas Time", his father, a sailor, delivers a Christmas present to make amends. Fonzie is resentful, but at the end of the episode reads his father's letter explaining why he left, and opens it. In a later episode, Fonz unexpectedly meets a woman he believes is his mother in a diner. She convinces him she is not, but in the end she looks at a picture of Fonz as a small child and sighs.
Occasional facts about the Fonz's past emerged: during the show, the Fonz finished his high school diploma at night school, became an auto mechanic instructor, and later school teacher. In later seasons, he went from being a womanizer to having a single long-term girlfriend. Though he never married, he adopted a young orphan boy named Danny in the final season, completing his transformation from rebel to family man. Various shows indicate that the Fonz has extensive martial arts training. In one show, he compares his nerve strike knowledge to that of a woman while both use Ralph as a training dummy.
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