The Truth About Tom Hanks And Henry Winkler's Rumored Feud

Tom Hanks and Henry Winkler have both enjoyed long-standing Hollywood careers portraying fan favorite, affable characters for decades, and both are considered among the friendliest men in the business. Rumor has it that Hanks once refunded two disgruntled fans who had just come from seeing his 2011 film Larry Crowne. Winkler got his big break portraying Fonzie on Happy Days and has been open about his struggles with dyslexia as a child.

In the late 1980s, when Hanks was fresh on the heels of his megastar-making turn in Big, he was attached to the buddy cop movie Turner & Hooch, where he would play detective Scott Turner opposite a canine co-star. That family comedy would go on to become a box office success, but it was also the supposed catalyst for a serious feud between these two seemingly sweet stars.

Winkler was originally slated for directing duties on the 1989 film, but tension on set quickly rose between the film's star and its director, which reportedly led to Winkler being unceremoniously dismissed from his duties. "Let's just say I got along better with Hooch than I did with Turner," Winkler told People in an interview back in 1993. 

Continue reading to see how the rift affected their mutual friends.

Ron Howard is regarded as one of the finest directors working today, and he received his big break playing Richie Cunningham alongside Henry Winkler on Happy Days. The two have maintained a close relationship over the years. They're so tight that Howard named the Arrested Development actor as the godfather to his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard.

The director has also famously collaborated with Tom Hanks on several hit pictures, including Apollo 13 and The DaVinci Code. In a September 2020 interview with The Guardian, Howard opened up about the decades-long feud between his two pals: "It was just one of those unfortunate things where they really had a working style that did not fit," he said. "I know it was painful for both of them."

There is light at the end of the tunnel for these Hollywood legends to possibly make amends. Howard told The Guardian that he has invited both Hanks and Winkler to events, such as his birthday parties, over the years, and he believes both actors have moved on from their beef. "It's been a lot of years, two men with a lot of water under the bridge," the Inferno director said. 

Hanks hasn't opened up his history with Winkler, but the latter has spilled a spot of tea on the situation. 

Henry Winkler has been confronted about those reports of a long-standing quarrel with Tom Hanks, and he has seemingly changed his tone about the beef over time. 

In October 2020, Winkler appeared on an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen where he fielded call-in questions. One caller asked the actor pointblank about his feud with the Forrest Gump star. Winkler recalled the moment he was fired from Turner & Hooch. "I was directing that movie for 13 days and then I was called into Jeffrey Katzenberg's office? 'Do you have everything with you? Go home,'" Winkler said.

On a separate occasion, while out on the street, Winkler was approached by TMZ, who asked if there was any hope of burying the hatchet with Hanks. "I don't have a feud with Tom Hanks," Winkler told the reporter, adding, "I just saw him at the SAG Awards, it was beautiful."

This could possibly mean that these two are not only ready to forget the past, but to possibly work together in the future. We're all for it!