Glendale, Calif. ? Actor Henry Winkler took the witness stand Wednesday in a lawsuit over the death of actor John Ritter, telling jurors he had a conversation with his friend just hours before he died.

Winkler, who played The Fonz on “Happy Days,” also gave the jury a testimonial to the comedic brilliance of Ritter, who was best known for the classic sitcom “Three’s Company.”

Ritter, at the time starring in the TV show “8 Simple Rules … For Dating My Teenage Daughter,” died on Sept. 11, 2003, after suffering a tear in his aorta, known as an aortic dissection. He was 54.

Winkler testified that on the day of Ritter’s death he was doing a guest appearance on “8 Simple Rules” and he did not suspect anything was seriously wrong with his friend.

At one point, he said, they were recalling old times before they were due to perform an episode in which Winkler was to play Ritter’s new boss.

“We were reminiscing,” Winkler said. “He was sweating (and said) ‘I really need to get some water.’ I said ‘I really need to memorize my lines.’ And he went one way and I went the other. And that was the last time I saw him.”

The lawsuit says Ritter was treated for a heart attack instead of the aortic dissection and seeks $67 million from a radiologist who earlier gave Ritter a body scan and the cardiologist who treated him that day.