Henry Winkler Biography

Winkler continued to appear in class productions and dreamed of becoming a professional actor. He studied drama at Emerson College in Boston, and earned a master's degree at the Yale School of Drama.

In 1973, after acting in a few films and many commercials, Winkler moved to California. He had guest roles on 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and 'The Bob Newhart Show', before his big break came, on his 28th birthday in 1973, when he was cast as Arthur Fonzarelli, in 'Happy Days'.

The producers never intended for the Fonz to be the star of the show. But suddenly “Fonzie” was a new American hero. Winkler, who always regarded himself as a character actor, achieved teen-idol status, complete with posters, and Fonzie dolls. He also enjoyed a substantial salary boost, from $750 dollars per episode to (eventually) $80,000.

As his character assumed heroic proportions, the actor began behaving in as polite and agreeable a manner as possible. Accordingly, Fonzie became less of a Marlon Brando-type hoodlum and more of a good-hearted and moral role model. By the end of the series, he was more “drop-in” than “drop-out”.

Winkler was afraid of being typecast, and took on the most varied movie roles he could find, appearing as a Vietnam veteran in 'Heroes', and as a mortuary attendant in 'Night Shift'.

Winkler began working his way into the production and direction end of the business. In addition, he tried to use his name and status for the benefit of others, remaining active in charitable and political causes.

After a seven year break, Winkler returned to acting in the 1990s, in a variety of TV roles.

In addition to his acting roles, Winkler is a well-accomplished author. In 2003, along with Lin Oliver, he co-authored a series of children's books called 'Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Under-Acheiver'. The books are based on his own early struggles with dyslexia.

Between 2003 and 2005, Winkler returned to sitcom when he played lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in 'Arrested Development'. He played a doctor in 'Out of Practice' in 2005 to 2006 and in 'Numb3rs' in 2008.

This year, Winkler will be returning to films as he will be appearing in 'Running Mates' which tells the story of two friends running for mayor of the same town. This will be followed by 'Here comes the Boom' in 2012, which also stars Salma Hayek and Kevin James. In it, a high school biology teacher moonlights as a martial-arts fighter in a bid to raise money for his school.

Offscreen, Henry has been married since 1978 to Stacey Weitzman with whom he has three children. Together, they are actively involved with various children's charities. In 1990, they co-founded the Children's Action Network (CAN) which provides free immunization to over 200,000 children.

He is also involved with the Annual Cerebral Palsy Telethon, the Epilepsy Foundation of America, the annual Toys for Tots campaign, the National Committee for Arts for the Handicapped, and the Special Olympics.

Winkler was awarded with an honorary OBE for his work with dyslexic children in September 2011. The actor was given the award by the British Ambassador Nigel Sheinwald in Washington.

He was awarded an OBE as he has spent the past two years touring UK schools talking to students, teachers and policy makers about how he has coped with the condition after being diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult.

Winkler said: "My goal when I started working with children was never to bring accolades on myself but to change how people think about those around them for whom learning is a struggle."