Pink Passion

Caesar had Cleopatra. Tristan loved Isolde. Romeo died for Juliet. Arthur Fonzarelli (a.k.a. "the Fonz") went ape over Pinky Tuscadero. Flame-haired Pinky (played by Roz Kelly, thirtyish), came roaring into Fonzie's life on her guess-what-color motorcycle for the new season's first two shows of ABC'S hit series Happy Days. Instantly smitten by the shapely Pinky, the self-proclaimed "world's greatest female biker," the Fonz actually bussed her in the bike shop and carried her pink scarf close to his leather-jacketed heart. For a few tense moments marriage loomed. Were viewers turned off by this soft side of their superstud hero? No way. The Nielsen ratings showed that Happy Days captured 53% of the total television audience for each of the Pinky episodes.

Two Firecrackers. ABC programming executives promptly decided to keep Tuscadero and her bike in high gear. She will probably not be around to tempt the Fonz again for a while, but she may be riding off on her own. The network is rushing ahead with a pilot for a new series featuring Kelly as Pinky. (Happy Days has already spawned one successful spinoff, Laverne and Shirley.) Kelly, a New York actress who played a hooker in Deathwish and Barbra Streisand's roommate in The Owl and the Pussycat, says she knew the Fonzie-in-love idea would pay off. "We were incredible together: a couple of firecrackers popping off in double time." Though delighted to be tackling a series on her own, Kelly will miss the Fonz. Says she with a sigh: "I do have the hots for his leather jacket."

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