Winkler Henry

American actor who became popular as the brash ultra-cool biker Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the TV series "Happy Days," which made a debut on 1/15/1974, running for over ten years. He is the godfather of all four of Ron Howards children and the crew left from "Happy Days" still remain in contact with each other. Henry dreamed of being an actor from the time he was a kid of seven. He learned in his 30s that he is dyslexic. Making poor grades and being considered stupid by his family reduced his confidence to zero. To compensate, he became the class clown. After acquiring college drama and repertory experience, he built up screen credits from 1973, playing in "The Lords Of Flatbush" in 1974. TV remained his best medium; his attempts to make it on the big screen by appearing in "Heroes," "The One and Only" and "Night Shift," did not lead to further major roles. A period of confusion followed when he retreated from the spotlight and reevaluated his direction. In 1986, Winkler began working as a TV producer. Giving up the spotlight for behind-the-scenes work, he now focuses his time backstage with his own production company, Fair Dinkum. His first feature film, "Memories of Me," in 1988, starred Billy Crystal but turned out to be a flop. Winkler worked on the TV series "Sightings" and filmed a cable movie, "Race Against Time." Known for being well-bred, educated and a gentle loner, he was married to Stacey Weitzman on 5/05/1978 after they had dated for two years; they have two kids, Zoë and Max along with Jed, Staceys son by a former marriage. In October 2000, Winkler opened a Neil Simon play in New York, "The Dinner Party." The play, which closed on 6/03/2001, is a fulfillment of his youthful dream to appear on the legitimate stage. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less