By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Two cool cats will grace Fan Expo Vancouver come November 10 to 12th, 2017. Famke Janssen and Henry Winkler (announced this week) are best known as The Phoenix (Bryan Singer’s X-men Trilogy) and The Fonz (Happy Days).
Before being cast in X-men which made her a household name, she appeared in Star Trek TNG (as Kamala), and for me, I took notice when she appeared in movies such as GoldenEye (Xenia Onatopp) and Lord of Illusions (Dorothea Swann). The latter was definitely of interest because of my love for the supernatural in cinema, and this film is written/directed by Clive Barker. This former model took on a variety a roles post X-men and is always a favourite for playing supercharged characters. Other roles include seeing her as the villain Muriel in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters and appearing as Olivia Godfrey in the horror series Hemlock Grove on Netflix.
Winkler had very few roles before becoming an American institution on Happy Days. The Fonz cemented him as the coolest character to be on air when this series premiered in 1974. The later half of the series focused on this character’s growth when Ron Howard (Richie Cunningham) left the show, and saw him transition to become a family man. After the show, this actor became a producer and director; his filmography is vast. My top picks include MacGuyver and Sightings; both of which I watched regularly, and he even did voice over work for cartoons like South Park and All Hail King Julian.
Both performers will no doubt help bring several decades of pop culture fandom under one roof because of their diverse appeal. Hopefully I will have a chance to ask Winkler about what led him to produce Sightings and ask if we will ever see a full DVD release of the series.
Happy Days have been made for this fan who watches this show broadcasting on MeTV and tuning into Netflix to binge on paranormal and animated series. Although it’s very doubtful to see The Fonz go toe-to-toe with The Phoenix, a Cosmic Force with different abilities like Mork, perhaps these two will meet and have some fun that some may recognize as a jovial nod to the episode, “My Favourite Orkan”
