Henry Winkler Career Retrospective | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations

Henry shares stories from his performances in Happy Days, Monty, Barry, Night Shift, and Children’s Hospital, in this interview about his acting career. He recounts his Emmy win, producing the TV show Sightings, working with Adam Sandler on The Chanukah Song, and his children’s book series Hank Zipzer. He gives new actors a wealth of advice on auditioning and the importance of building self confidence. This Q&A moderated by Michael Schneider, IndieWire, is part of the SAG-AFTRA Conversations series, an essential resource for actors, filmmakers and students of discussions with performers, exploring the process and profession of acting. Henry Winkler has enjoyed four decades of success in Hollywood and continues to be in demand as an actor, producer and director. A 1973 audition in Los Angeles forever changed the life of the Yale School of Drama graduate when producer Garry Marshall and Tom Miller cast Winkler in the iconic role of Arthur Fonzarelli, aka “The Fonz,” in the TV series “Happy Days.’ During his 10 years on the popular sitcom, he won two Golden Globe Awards, was nominated three times for an Emmy Award and was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Both his famous leather jacket and Fonzie’s lunch box became part of an exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum in 1980. In recent years, Winkler appeared in a number of series, including “Better Late Than Never,” “Children’s Hospital,” “Royal Pains.” “Parks and Recreation” and “Arrested Development.”He currently stars in “Barry,” a new HBO comedy series starring Bill Hader. His guest role in the ABC series “The Practice” earned him an Emmy Award nomination and he also starred in the CBS sitcom “Out of Practice.” He guest-starred in “Numb3rs,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Third Watch,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Law and Order: SVU,” and one of the highest rated Hallmark Channel holiday movies, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” He has lent his voice to such shows as “All Hail King Julien” on Netflix, “South Park,” “King of the Hill,” “Family Guy,” “The Simpsons” and “Clifford: The Puppy Years,” for which he received an Emmy Award. On the big screen, Winkler starred in “Night Shift,” “Here Comes the Boom,” “The Waterboy,” “Click,” “The Lords of Flatbush,” “Heroes,” “Holes” and “Scream.” Behind the scenes he has also made his mark as a producer and director. Winkler has executive produced or produced TV series and specials for 19 years, including “MacGyver,” “So Weird,” “Mr. Sunshine,” “Sightings,” “A Family Again,” “All Kids Do It,” (which won him an Emmy Award), “Ryan’s Four,” “Scandal Sheet” and the ABC documentary “Who Are the DeBolts and Where Did They Get 19 Kids?,” which won the prestigious Humanitas Prize. He also directed several movies, including “Memories of Me,” starring Billy Crystal and the late Alan King, and “Cop and a Half,” starring Burt Reynolds. On stage, Winkler has appeared on Broadway in “Neil Simon’s The Dinner Party” (with the late John Ritter) and “The Performers.” Winkler has always been concerned about the quality of children’s television programming. He has produced countless worthwhile projects for a young audience, including “Happily Ever After” for PBS and its sequel, “Two Daddies to Love Me.” Additional specials include “Run, Don’t Walk,” and “All the Kids Do It,” which was about teenage drunk driving and was directed by Winkler. As an author, his first book, “Niagara Falls or Does It? Hank Zipzer the World’s Greatest Under-Achiever,” became a bestseller. The books were inspired by Winkler’s struggle throughout his education due to his learning challenges. To date, he and his co-author, Lin Oliver, have written 34 children’s novels. Their latest is HERE’S HANK: Hooray! My Butt Left the Bench.” All 34 are in bookstores across the United States and have been published around the world in seven languages, with more than 4 million copies sold. 0:00 Introduction 1:57 Emmy win 5:14 Family 8:44 Politics 10:44 First inspirations 15:58 Education 18:13 Auditioning 21:35 Goals as an actor 23:17 SAG Card, commercials 24:40 Going to California 34:12 Happy Days, Fonzi 42:01 Night Shift, producing 46:34 Sightings 48:14 Monty 52:28 Scream cameo 54:39 The Chanukah Song, Adam Sandler 57:37 Children’s Hospital 58:53 Parks & Rec, Barry 1:06:01 Hank Zipzer series 1:12:12 Dyslexia, advice for new actors