Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor. Widely known as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on the sitcom Happy Days, Winkler has distinguished himself as a character actor for roles on stage and screen. His many accolades include three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Critics Choice Awards.
Winkler studied theater at both Emerson College and the Yale School of Drama, and spent a year and half with the Yale Repertory Theater. After getting cast in a small role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, he became a star playing the role of “Fonzie” on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) sitcom Happy Days (1974-1984). He then helped develop the original ABC series MacGyver and directed Memories of Me (1988) and Cop and a Half (1993).
Winkler acted in films such as Heroes (1977), Night Shift (1982), Scream (1996), The Waterboy (1998), Holes (2003), The French Dispatch (2021), and Black Adam (2022). He also found a career resurgence in television portraying humorous characters such as Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development (2003-2019), Eddie R. Lawson in Royal Pains (2010-2016), Dr. Saperstein in Parks and Recreation (2013-2015), and Gene Cousineau in Barry (2018-2023). The latter earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Winkler was a member of the main cast of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) reality series Better Late Than Never (2016-2018). In 2003, he drew upon his childhood struggles with dyslexia to co-write the Hank Zipzer series of children’s books, which he then adapted into the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hank Zipzer TV series (2014-2016) in which Winkler appears as Mr. Rock. He has also written three memoirs: Being Henry: The Fonz … and Beyond (2023), I’ve Never Met an Idiot on the River (2011), and The Other Side of Henry Winkler: My Story (1976).