IN LOVE WITH LIFE
Happy days are here again for the kids’ book author and star of Barry.
I ’m used to nominations,” says Henry Winkler. “I’m just not used to winning.”The veteran actor took home his first Primetime Emmy award in September 2018, for his portrayal of acting coach Gene Cousineau on Barry. Then he kicked off 2019 with a Critics’ Choice Award, also for his work in the acclaimed HBO series.
At 73, the former star of Happy Days is happier than ever. Winkler, who wanted nothing more than to “make it” in Hollywood from an early age, is pinching himself over how far he’s climbed, bursting with gratitude and embracing everything that comes his way.
No Plan B
Acting was it for Winkler, who was born in Manhattan; he had no backup plan. “I wanted to be an actor. I needed to be an actor. I dreamt of being an actor!” he says. But the road to success was not easy.
The son of German-Jewish immigrants, he struggled in school; he was often told he was stupid. But Winkler pushed through, eventually earning his bachelor’s degree from Emerson College and a master’s from the Yale School of Drama. It wasn’t until the age of 31, when his stepson was diagnosed with dyslexia, that he learned that he had been battling the same condition throughout the years.
Winkler’s dyslexia presented a challenge in his acting career, which he overcame by putting in extra hours studying scripts in preparation for roles. And his condition inspired him to co-create a series of children’s books that feature Hank Zipzer, a bright boy with learning challenges of his own. Here’s Hank: Everybody
Is Somebody, published in January, is the final Zipzer book, but
Winkler isn’t hanging up his author hat. He’s in the process of creating a new book series.
Here Comes Fonzie
Winkler got his start in his local Manhattan theater scene and doing TV commercials before heading to Los Angeles, where he landed guest spots on The Mary Tyler Moore
Show and Rhoda. His breakthrough came in 1974 with his portrayal of the leather-clad, bad-boy, cool-cat Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli in the 1950s-era sitcom Happy Days, which ran from 1974 to 1984.
Initially a supporting player on the show, Fonzie rapidly surpassed the other characters (played by ostensibly bigger stars, including Ron Howard, Anson Williams, Tom Bosley and Marion Ross) in popularity. In 1999, TV Guide ranked Fonzie fourth on its list of greatest TV characters of all time (behind Taxi’s Louie De Palma, The
Honeymooners’ Ed Norton and I Love Lucy’s Lucy Ricardo).
Being “the Fonz” forever changed Winkler. “He was so much fun to play. He introduced me to the world,” he says. Winkler vowed to use the role as a springboard to a lifetime of following his passion. “I was 27 and I saw my career as a pine tree, a little sapling. My job was to water it so it would grow tall and strong,” he recalls.
Winkler doesn’t quite know what made the Fonz so beloved, but he is eternally grateful for his mass appeal. “I’m delighted that it touched so many people,” he says. Thirty-five years later, he’s still proud to be associated with the Fonz and Happy Days. But he laughs at having his name forever attached to “jumping the shark.” In a 1977 Happy Days episode, a water-skiing Fonzie literally jumped over a shark. The phrase came to mean the moment a oncepopular TV series turns to stunts to get attention.
“Every time newspapers mentioned ‘jump the shark,’ they ran a picture of Fonzie water-skiing. At that time, I had great legs, so I didn’t care,” he says with a chuckle.
Blessings & Barry
Winkler went on to hold a number of prestigious roles. Some of his favorites include defense attorney Barry Zuckerkorn on
Arrested Development and Parks and Recreation’s obstetrician Dr. Lu Saperstein. “I have been blessed to work with brilliant human beings,” he says, mentioning that one of the greatest career compliments was being asked by Adam Sandler to play his father in the movie Click. “He’s now a wonderful friend and he gives great hugs,” Winkler says.
In 2018, Winkler began costarring as acting coach Gene Cousineau on Barry. The hit HBO series stars Bill Hader as a hit man from the Midwest who goes to Los Angeles for a job and decides he’d much rather become an actor. “[Producer-writer] Alec [Berg] and Bill said they saw Gene as a darker, meaner guy, but as I played him, they went, ‘Oh, he could also have that, a more humane dimension.’ ”
In 2018, Barry earned Winkler his first Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, an accolade he’d waited for since his first nomination,
back in 1976, for playing Fonzie on Happy Days.
“My Emmy is not a doorstopper and it’s not in the bathroom,” he says, poking fun at a common response his colleagues use to downplay their achievements. His award sits in the middle of his dining room table, a constant reminder of his discipline throughout the years.
In Love With Life
Family is everything to Winkler, who refers to his clan as “very close, a lot of fun, chaotic,” and something that he “can’t breathe without.” He and his wife, Stacey Weitzman, have been married for 40 years. (They met in a clothing store where she was working and Winkler came in to buy a coat.) He says the secret to their longevity is listening. “I think the center of all relationships is the ear; no other part of the body is as important,” he says.
Winkler’s son, Max, 35, followed in his entertainment footsteps and pursued a career as a director-screenwriter; his work includes episodes of TV’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Brooklyn NineNine and Fresh Off the Boat. “He helped me audition for Barry,” Winkler says. He is equally proud of his daughter, Zoe, 38, whom he refers to as “one of the greatest preschool teachers.”
When he’s not in front of the camera, Winkler spends his days at the movies, going to plays—he recently treated his four grandkids to Wicked—and trying new restaurants.
But he’s also at home on a tranquil Montana river, waistdeep in water, fly-fishing. He credits his beloved hobby as the ultimate way to clear his head.
“It’s like a washing machine for your brain,” he says, cueing up an iPhone photo gallery of himself holding up rainbow trout.
While awaiting the news on a possible season three of Barry, Winkler is heading to France to join Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Adrien Brody to work on The
French Dispatch, the latest film from director Wes Anderson. And he has a rather unconventional item on his bucket list.
“I have wanted to play a mute for as long as I can remember,” he says. He thinks using his entire body to communicate without his voice would be “amazing.” Does this have anything to do with the fact that scenes without dialogue would give him a temporary reprieve from his dyslexia? Winkler hides a smile and answers the question with a sly, Fonzie-like wink.
When he looks back on his life, he blinks in astonishment. “It’s unbelievable!” he exclaims, noting that he’s far exceeded any goal he ever set for himself. He credits his success to “preparation, tenacity and gratitude,” and he places a major emphasis on the latter.
“Gratitude is like a food group. It is essential for being alive,” he says. “I’m shocked by people who can find a complaint about everything.”That’s the only remotely negative phrase he’s uttered throughout an entire hour of conversation. “There are two ways to look at everything,” he says, “and my glass is more than half full!”
Visit Parade.com/winkler for the actor’s touching message to his younger self and kids everywhere.