Henry Winkler

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Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer and author who is most famous for his role as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the popular sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984). Winkler gained national fame for his auto mechanic-greaser role as "The Fonz", starting out as a minor character at the show's beginning but having top billing by the time the show ended.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Hank Zipzer 4 External links

[edit] Personal life

The son of Jewish parents who escaped from Germany before the beginning of World War II, Winkler was born in New York City. He attended the McBurney School and received his bachelor's degree from Emerson College in 1967. He also received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 1970.

He has been married to the former Stacey Weitzman since May 5, 1978, and they have three children whose names are Jed, Zoe, and Max. In September 2003, Winkler's friend of nearly 25 years, John Ritter, died unexpectedly. The day that Ritter died, Winkler was slated to guest star on Ritter's ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Winkler was devastated and as a tribute to the impact his friend and fellow actor had on his life, he reminisced fondly on many TV outlets (such as Entertainment Tonight, and the Emmy Awards) to pay his respects to his deceased friend.

[edit] Career

Winkler started his career by appearing in a number of television commercials before landing a role in The Lords of Flatbush (1974) (which also starred then-unknown Sylvester Stallone). He began the role of Fonzie in Happy Days that same year. During his decade on Happy Days, Winkler also starred in a number of movies, including playing a troubled Vietnam veteran in Heroes (1977) and a morgue attendant in Night Shift (1982), which was directed by Happy Days co-star Ron Howard. He was also one of the hosts of the 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert.

An interesting note about his character on Happy Days was that director/producer Garry Marshall originally had in mind a completely opposite physical presence. Marshall sought to cast an Italian model-type male in the role of Fonzie, with intent of his being a stupid foil to the intended real star, Ron Howard. However, when Winkler, a Jewish Yale MFA student interpreted the role in auditions, Marshall immediately snapped him up, smelling success. Winkler's character, though remaining very much a rough-hewn outsider, gradually became the focus of the show as time passed, a testament to Winkler's acting and Marshall's foresight.

After Happy Days, Winkler's acting career slowed down as he began concentrating on producing and directing. He produced several television shows including MacGyver, So Weird and Mr. Sunshine, Sightings, and the game shows Wintuition and The Hollywood Squares (the latter from 2002–2004 only). He also directed several movies including the Billy Crystal movie Memories of Me (1988) and Cop and ½ (1993) with Burt Reynolds.

As the 1990s continued, Winkler began a return to acting. He is good friends with horror movie director Wes Craven and played an uncredited role as a high school principal in Craven's 1996 movie Scream (1996), and in 1998, Adam Sandler asked Winkler to play a college football coach, an important supporting role in The Waterboy (1998). He would later appear in two other Sandler films, Little Nicky (2000), and Click (2006, as the main character's dad). He has also played small roles in movies such as Down To You (2000) and Holes (2003). During this time, he also starred in the short-lived Fox sitcom Monty.

Winkler recently had a recurring role as incompetent lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in the Fox Television comedy, Arrested Development. In one episode, his character literally hopped over a dead shark lying on a pier, a reference to his role in the origin of the term jump the shark.

When Winkler moved to CBS for one season to star in 2005–06's "Out of Practice," his role as the Bluth family lawyer on Arrested Development was taken over by Happy Days co-star Scott Baio in the fall of 2005, shortly before the acclaimed but Nielsen-challenged show ceased production.

Winkler has guest starred on television series such as South Park, The Practice, The Simpsons, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, Arrested Development, Crossing Jordan, Family Guy and King of the Hill. The Weezer video for 1994's "Buddy Holly" featured Henry Winkler as the Fonz, and featured Weezer performing in Arnold's restaurant, with digital effects adding the old cast members.

Winkler's most recent appearances were on KTTV's Good Day L.A..

Winkler is appearing in his first pantomime at the New Wimbledon Theatre in 2006, playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan, replacing David Hasselhoff who pulled out when he was offered a TV role by Simon Cowell.

[edit] Hank Zipzer

Henry Winkler has co-authored along with Lin Oliver the Hank Zipzer series children's books published by the Penguin Group (USA). (The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever) renamed (The World's Greatest Underachiever).

Henry and Lin answered questions about their series and themselves and they were very honest:

Q: Which of your books do you like the best?
A: "I cannot pick one book that I like the best. Each one of them is like my own child. Each one of them has some great detail that makes me laugh every time I think about it."

Q: What's it like working as a team to write the Hank Zipzer books?
A: "Lin Oliver and I have written seven books together so far. We are going to write ten. We have the most wonderful time working together. Lin sits at the computer and I walk in a circle in front of her desk. If I start talking like the characters, Lin kindly types it in because I don’t use a computer. Or, she’ll tell me stop for minute because she’s got a great idea and her fingers fly across the keyboard. Sometimes, I’ll write my chapters in long hand and Lin will transcribe them and correct my spelling. When the book is done, we both go over it to see if we’ve left anything out or perhaps we’ll find a better joke for one of the characters or better action in a scene. When it’s completely done, we send it to our editor and she sends back her notes which we then incorporate."

Q: What's your favorite thing about Hank Zipzer?
A: "My favorite thing about Hank Zipzer is that he is resourceful. Just because he can’t figure something out doesn’t mean that he won’t find a way. I love his sense of humor. Even though Lin and I write the books together, when we meet in the morning to work we never know where the characters or the story will take us. Hank and his friends make us laugh all the time.Hank likes to write lists of things.

Q: Are you a list person, too? (if so, what sorts of list do you make?)
A: Hank likes to write lists and so do I. My whole life is organized on scraps of paper in a pile on my desk by my phone. If I didn’t make lists, I would get nothing done because I would forget the important things that I had to do. And then, I’m constantly rewriting those lists and adding to the list. So yes, I’m a list maker."

[edit] External links

• Henry Winkler at the Internet Movie Database
• Henry Winkler at the Notable Names Database
• Hank Zipzer
• Peter Pan Pantomine with Henry Winkler as Hook