Earlier this week, Bill Simmons mentioned on his podcast that Henry Winkler and Tom Hanks — two of the nicest people in Hollywood — have been locked in a 30-year feud. I know, it sounds ridiculous, so we didn’t believe it either. Yet after we dug into the subject, it turns out that these two legendary actors are locked hopelessly in a blood feud that stretches back decades. The feud doesn’t quite go back as far as Hanks’ run on Bosom Buddies or Winkler’s domination of Happy Days (fight me), but still, 30 years is a long time for two guys who get along with everyone to decide they can’t stand each other.
So what happened? Well, on a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live, a caller brought everyone’s attention back to an issue that really matters. The woman asked about rumors about the Barry actor and Hanks not loving each other on the 1989 set of Turner & Hooch Well, the avid fisherman seemed taken aback at first and pretended not to understand the question. However, that ruse couldn’t last for long, and he admitted that there was indeed a beef, and WInkler lost his job as a result.
“What did you say?” Winkler first tried to divert before setting aside pretenses. He then admitted, “I was directing that movie for 13 days and then I was called into [producer] Jeff Katzenberg’s office and he said, “You have everything with you? Go home.'”
While not exactly articulating that he, indeed, isn’t a fan of Hanks, Winkler did admit that he was crazy about one actor on the set — the crime-solving canine that aided Hanks’ policeman character “I got along great, great with that dog,” he raved. “Love that dog.”
Apparently, the memories from that incident are so sour that Winkler, who just heard the title of the movie uttered to him from the caller, added, “I don’t remember the title of that movie.” And yeah, given that he was canned as a result of this mysterious feud, WInkler probably hasn’t seen the thing. We still don’t know why these guys hate each other, but it’s real. Way back in 1993, Winkler alluded to the beef while speaking with People: “Let’s just say … I got along better with Hooch than I did with Turner.”
Your move, Hanks. Watch the Watch What Happens Live clip below.
