How Henry Winkler Went from ‘The Fonz’ to Celebrated Author and Literacy Advocate

Emmy Award-winning actor Henry Winkler had a difficult experience with books growing up. Instead of joy, reading filled him with anxiety and dread.

“I could not follow the words,” he said. “I fell asleep. My eyes got tired. The words swam on the page.”

Winkler didn’t understand the reason behind his struggles until his early 30s, when he was diagnosed with dyslexia. Now, Winkler is a New York Times best-selling author of memoirs and dozens of children’s books, including the popular Hank Zipzer series, written with co-author Lin Oliver. 

On Saturday, May 17, Winkler, a widely-adored actor, author, director, producer and literacy advocate, will be the commencement speaker for the College of Arts & Sciences, where he will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Winkler’s stepson, Jed Weitzman (C’93), graduated from the College in 1993, and Winkler said he is honored to receive an honorary degree at Georgetown. 

“It would indeed be enriching for our students to hear his life lessons directly, given his career as an actor for the stage and the screen, his work as an author, his education and his childhood and adolescence,” said Andrew Sobanet, interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. “He is a fine role model for our university community. His longstanding commitment to education and literacy are especially in alignment with the university’s values.”

Embodiment of Cool

Winkler is best known for his star role as Arthur Fonzarelli – The Fonz – on the sitcom, Happy Days, set in Milwaukee during the 1950s and 1960s. His charm and charisma shined on the show, which ran for 11 seasons and 255 episodes. Fonzie became the embodiment of cool.

But even at the height of his fame and success, Winkler felt “embarrassed and inadequate,” he writes in his 2023 memoir, Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond. Every Monday morning, the cast would have a table reading of that week’s script, and at every reading, he would lose his place or stumble. 

“I would be staring at a word, like ‘invincible,’ and have no idea on earth how to pronounce it or even sound it out,” Winkler writes. “My brain and I were in different zip codes. Meanwhile, the other actors would be waiting, staring at me; it was humiliating and shameful.”

Winkler was raised on Manhattan’s West Side by parents who fled Berlin in 1939 during the rise of Nazi Germany. His academic struggles frustrated them. He took geometry multiple times in high school before finally passing with a D-minus. Convinced Winkler wasn’t trying hard enough, his parents gave him a nickname in German: dummer Hund.

In English, it translates to “dumb dog.”

From a young age, Winkler knew he wanted to become an actor and found resourceful ways to reach his goal. At Emerson College, where he received a bachelor’s in drama with a minor in psychology, Winkler wrote a paper on French sociologist Émile Durkheim by reading the table of contents. He received a B-minus. When he forgot the lines to the Shakespearean monologue he needed to perform for his Yale School of Drama audition, Winkler improvised. 

Yale admitted him to its Master of Fine Arts program, and after graduating in 1970, Winkler was one of only three people from his graduating class of 11 invited to join the Yale Repertory Theatre company. 

Winkler has since gone on to star in films like The Waterboy and critically-acclaimed sitcoms like Arrested Development and Parks and Recreation. He won a Primetime Emmy for his role as Gene Cousineau, an eccentric acting teacher, in HBO’s Barry. 

“It is up to us to figure out what our gift is and dig it out and give it to the world,” Winkler said.

Embracing Challenges

When Winkler first learned of his dyslexia diagnosis at age 31, he was angry.

All of the yelling. All of the shame. All of the moments he was made to feel less than. It felt like it was for nothing.

Then, Winkler decided to embrace his challenges. 

“You don’t just will it away. You learn to negotiate it,” he said. 

For a time after Happy Days, Winkler struggled to receive the acting roles he desired. He worried about being typecast as The Fonz. In the early 2000s, an agent encouraged Winkler to write children’s books inspired by his personal experience with dyslexia. Winkler has since co-written dozens of children’s books between the Hank Zipzer, Here’s Hank, Ghost Buddy, Alien Superstar and Detective Duck series. 

Outside of his family, Winkler said he is most proud of these books. It’s something he never thought he could accomplish. He wants children and students with learning disabilities to know that “how you learn has nothing to do with how brilliant you are.” 

That’s part of the lesson he plans to share with Georgetown seniors at commencement. 

“I was told I would never achieve,” he said. “And here I am standing in front of you.”

(Photo of Henry Winkler by Raph_PH/Flickr)