Henry Winkler Thinks He Knows The Origin Of His Decades-Old Feud With Tom Hanks

If Ryan Murphy makes another season of Feud, it should be about Tom Hanks and Henry Winkler. The actors, who fall into the rare category of Celebrities Who Seem Like Decent People (along with Keanu Reeves and Dolly Parton), haven’t gotten along since the 1980s. We’ve gotten bits and pieces of what happened over the years, but on a recent episode of the How to Fail podcast, Winker offered some more details about the feud.

Winkler was the original choice to direct Turner & Hooch, the 1989 buddy cop comedy starring “Pops” and this good boy. But he was fired and replaced by Roger Spottiswoode 13 days into production. “I did 11 weeks of preparation,” the Barry actor said, according to the New York Post. “I knew this dog, this slobbery mastiff and I became friends. The star did not become my friend.” When asked if he meant Hanks, Winkler added, “I probably do.”

So what the heck happened?

Before he was fired from the film, Winkler and Hanks had an interaction with a fan that Winkler believes caused a strain on their relationship.

“We were in Carmel, this little seaside wonderful town on the coast of California, looking for a location,” he said, “and a woman comes, honest to God, comes running out of a shop and says ‘Henry, Fonz! Oh, my god!’ and I say, ‘And of course you know Tom Hanks.’ The director of photography, when I was fired 13 days into filming said, ‘I knew that this was going to happen, on that day in Carmel.'”

The feud has supposedly been buried like a dog’s bone in the backyard, but I won’t believe it until Hanks casts Winkler in Toy Story 5. If he voices the villain, then we’ll know they’re still at it.

You can listen to the podcast below.

(Via the New York Post)