NEED TO KNOW
- Zoe Winkler Reinis has many special memories from growing up with her dad, Henry Winkler, and his Happy Days fame
- Henry starred on the sitcom alongside pal Ron Howard from 1974 to 1984
- Zoe tells PEOPLE one of the special outcomes has been the bond she shares with Howard’s daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard
Zoe Winkler Reinis shares something special with Bryce Dallas Howard.
The daughters of Happy Days stars Henry Winkler and Ron Howard have a special connection, having grown up in the later years of the beloved series. Just as the two actors kept a close bond in the years that followed, so too did Zoe and Bryce.
“Bryce actually grew up in Connecticut for most of her life. They would come to Los Angeles and we would get to see them. We spent our entire first three or four years of life together all the time,” Zoe, 45, tells PEOPLE.
“Recently, they actually came for dinner with her kids and my kids, and my dad and Ron were talking about all these moments and memories and it was insane,” she continues. “And I said to Bryce, ‘How are we going to remember these?’ And she was like, ‘Don’t worry. I recorded it.’ ”
Richie (Ron Howard) and Fonzie (Henry Winkler) in a 1974 episode of “Happy Days”.
Ron Howard and Henry Winkler.
Richie (Ron Howard) and Fonzie (Henry Winkler) in a 1974 episode of “Happy Days”.
Credit:
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Ron Howard and Henry Winkler.
Credit:
Ron Howard/Instagram
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“She was recording their conversation! I’m grateful,” she laughs. “Our lives went in different directions. Obviously, she is an insanely talented actress and director and producer and all the things, but at the core, we’re still like family. We get together and it’s as if no time has passed. Our moms are super close to this day and whenever they’re in town, they meet for breakfast.”
While Bryce, 44, shares her talents onscreen, Zoe has spent the last few years outside of the glitz and glam of Hollywood. She pivoted from her background in education to cofound This Is About Humanity alongside Elsa Marie Collins and Yolanda Selene Walther-Meade.
The three moms started the organization after seeing the hardship facing families being separated at the United States-Mexico border.
“My whole childhood is deeply rooted in philanthropy. My dad jokes that it lay dormant until I found my own calling,” she shares.
“I think that often, when you see something happening and it feels so big, you just compartmentalize. I was unable to compartmentalize at all,” she says. “It was sticking with me. I was thinking about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
Zoe Winkler Reinis at This Is About Humanity fundraiser.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty
After connecting with Collins, who was outspoken about what was playing out across the news, they began discussing what could be done.
“I reached out and I was like, ‘Hey. I know we don’t know each other that well, but whatever you’re doing, I’m in,'” she recalls. “Because this wasn’t my lane, but I was like, ‘I don’t care. I don’t need to know anything other than just a human level of a mom and a child, and I’m in.’ ”
This Is About Humanity recently had its annual soiree, hosted by Henry and his wife, Stacey, at their home. Events like these allow the founders to reflect on what they’ve built and the continued work ahead.
Zoe Winkler Reinis with This Is About Humanity cofounders Elsa Marie Collins and Yolanda Selene Walther-Meade.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty
While Zoe sometimes “loses sight” of their overarching goal amid the day-to-day hardships, her friends are always there to remind her of how far they’ve come and why they started the foundation in the first place.
“They were just saying to me today, actually… we do one event a year, it’s always at my parents’ house because it’s free. When it started seven years ago, there were 30 people. It was a sit-down dinner for 30 people, and now it’s 300 people,” Zoe says, crediting her “lifers” for cheering her on along the way.
“Just seeing the way that it’s grown and the way that we’ve grown as women, as moms, just from starting this organization,” she adds. “I forget sometimes, because you’re just going, going, going, and you don’t really take a second to be like, ‘Wait. This is wild.’ “