Henry Winkler
American television in the postwar decades created a cultural space where character actors and comedians could build careers across multiple platforms simultaneously — moving between stage, screen, and the page with increasing fluidity. Henry Winkler, born on October 30, 1945, on the West Side of New York City, grew up to become one of the more versatile figures working within that expanding entertainment landscape.
Winkler's training was extensive and formal. He studied at the McBurney School before moving on to Emerson College, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and ultimately the Yale School of Drama. That grounding fed a career that ranged well beyond performing: he worked as a stage actor, a film actor, a television actor, a voice actor, a comedian, a television director and producer, and a writer. The breadth of those roles made him a genuinely difficult figure to slot into a single category, which may explain why his work accumulated across so many different formats over the decades.
Recognition came from several directions. He received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, along with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award. Perhaps the most unusual honor on that list is the Officer of the Order of the British Empire, a distinction awarded by the United Kingdom that underscores how far his reach extended beyond his origins on the West Side of New York.
Quotes by Henry Winkler
You know that genie where you get three wishes? One that has never changed for me is I would like to sing, and move an audience through song.
It feels blessed to me. Because I go to comic cons, and people come up and they say, 'You're the reason I ride a motorcycle. You're the reason I became a mechanic.' And there are people who love 'Scream' and 'The Waterboy,' 'Royal Pains,' 'Parks & Rec,' 'Arrested Development.' And now 'Barry.' And then there are kids who only know me as an author.
I have had teachers who were brutal. If you look up 'brutal' in a dictionary, you will see their names. And I think that it's under the guise of wanting to change the actor's habit - wanting to break bad habits and replace them with brand-new ones you can use for the rest of your career.
I taught four classes in my life. They were a master class at Northwestern and three classes at Emerson when I was making 'Here Comes the Boom' in Boston.
I was allergic to school. I was completely befuddled by school. I was trying so hard, but I couldn't succeed. I took geometry for four years, the same course over and over again, and I did not graduate with my senior class. I finally passed geometry after doing summer school, and eventually, I graduated.
All children know when something is wrong and they can't understand something - they never need someone to tell them they're stupid. They need help in solving the problem.
I didn't read a book until I was 31 years old when I was diagnosed with dyslexia. Books terrified me. They made me nervous. Now I know you can travel to the bottom of the ocean or to outer space or anywhere in between without leaving your armchair, and I'm so, so sorry I couldn't read when I was younger.
