Okay, let’s get the Fonz stuff out of the way, shall we? Because I have a lot to say about Henry Winkler and very little to say about the Fonz. But it’s his most iconic role, so you have to talk about it at least a little. The fact is, he had a few roles before that, but it was Happy Days that made him famous. The two things about it that amuse me is that the network censors required him to wear a sweater unless he was on the motorcycle initially, so there were many scenes with the motorcycle just so he could wear his leather jacket. And, of course, there’s the fact that he promised himself that he wouldn’t comb his hair, as it was a juvenile delinquent stereotype, so when he was told in his very first scene to comb it, he merely looked in the mirror and acted as though he was already perfect, which became a gimmick far better than combing his hair would have been.
But there are much more interesting things about Henry Franklin Winkler than that. His parents, German Jews, came to the US in 1939 on a “six week business trip” and managed to stay, thereby escaping the Holocaust. The “Henry” is after his uncle Helmut, who died at Auschwitz. (The Franklin is after Franklin Roosevelt.) This is part of why Frances Bay adopted him as her unofficial grandson, to replace the grandparents he lost in the Holocaust. Young Henry had a hard time in school, not just because of the known psychological issues around children of survivors but also because he was dyslexic, which was undiagnosed.
In fact, Winkler has an honorary OBE for his work with dyslexic children in the UK. He’s done a lot of it, in the US and the UK. He’s written a series of books where the main character is dyslexic, despite his utter conviction that his dyslexia would prevent him from being able to write at all. That’s much more inspiring than learning that he literally jumped over a shark on an episode of Arrested Development as a nod to a certain phrase referencing an infamous Happy Days episode. I really ought to look into the books; they might be good for my kids.
He’s done a lot of producing; he may not be as well known for it, but he’s shaped the face of television at least as much in producing as in acting. I mean, just for starters, he’s one of the producers of MacGyver. And if he has fifty more TV acting credits than TV producing credits, well, 37 TV producing credits is still quite respectable and the sort of thing that might get someone on my list. He hasn’t done as much directing, but he’s done a bit of that, too. He’s one of those people who doesn’t stand still.
It would be easy for someone like Henry Winkler to rest on their laurels. Surely Happy Days residuals have to bring in enough to live on, if nothing else. And of course there are always the people who want to cast him because they want to reference the Fonz. But I don’t think that’s why he was cast in, say, Holes. And even if it was, he was good, so who cares? Likewise roles like his two episodes of Crossing Jordan. He’s a talented actor, a prolific producer, and a tireless activist, and he deserves better than being remembered for one thing.
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