Henry Winkler will forever be Fonzie, the leather-jacketed embodiment of cool from 'Happy Days' (1974-1984), a role so iconic it threatened to swallow his career. Born in New York in 1945 to German-Jewish refugees and trained at Yale, he spent the following decades producing, directing and writing children's books about a dyslexic boy, drawing on his own dyslexia. Comedy brought him back into view: the hapless lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in 'Arrested Development' (2003), Coach Klein in 'The Waterboy' (1998) and finally the vain acting teacher Gene Cousineau in 'Barry' (2018-2023), which won him his first Emmy at 72.
Henry Winkler
Actor · Producer
81 years (Oct 30, 1945)New York City, USANew York City, New York, USA
Henry Winkler will forever be Fonzie, the leather-jacketed embodiment of cool from 'Happy Days' (1974-1984), a role so iconic it threatened to swallow his career. Born in New York in 1945 to German-Jewish refugees and trained at Yale, he spent the following decades producing, directing and writing children's books about a dyslexic boy, drawing on his own dyslexia. Comedy brought him back into view: the hapless lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in 'Arrested Development' (2003), Coach Klein in 'The Waterboy' (1998) and finally the vain acting teacher Gene Cousineau in 'Barry' (2018-2023), which won him his first Emmy at 72.
1945-10-30 · New York City, USANew York City, New York, USA
Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer, and author.
Winkler grew up in New York and was a student in the Yale School of Drama.
Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days. "The Fonz," a leather-clad greaser and auto mechanic, started out as a minor character at the show's beginning but had achieved top billing by the time the show ended. He also portrayed Jack Dunne in Heroes (1977), Andy in the Carl Reiner film The One and Only (1978), and Chuck Lumley in Ron Howard's Night Shift (1982). Winkler has evolved into a character actor, portraying roles such as the high school principal Arthur Himbry in Scream, Coach Klein in Adam Sandler's The Waterboy, Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development, Sy Mittleman in Childrens Hospital, Dr. Saperstein in Parks and Recreation, Mr. Rock in the Hank Zipzer BBC series, Eddie R. Lawson in Royal Pains, Fritz in Monsters at Work, Uncle Joe in The French Dispatch, Al Pratt (Uncle Al) in Black Adam, and Gene Cousineau in Barry.