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August 20, 2004
Henry Winkler inspires
Actor will discuss life philosophy at CJA opening.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Henry Winkler is an actor, director, producer and author, as well
as a philanthropist, family man and all-round nice guy. He has been
to Vancouver many times and will once again be visiting what he
calls "one of his favorite cities," when he speaks at
the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver's Combined Jewish Appeal
(CJA) campaign launch next month.
Probably best known for his 10 years as Fonzie on Happy Days
(1974 to 1984), Winkler's interests and achievements extend well
beyond the television sitcom. Most recently in his long and successful
acting career, he has a recurring role on the series Arrested
Development and has appeared on the TV show Third Watch
and in the movie Holes. He has done voice-over work for an
upcoming episode of King of the Hill and he has just started
his third independent movie in a row, Berkeley, in which
he plays a Jewish dad whose son is a freshman at the University
of California in 1969. His extensive resume also includes directing
and producing (19 years of series on the air, by his calculation).
And, on top of it all, Winkler has co-authored seven children's
books in what will be a 10-book series.
About his many careers, Winkler said, "Each one came as a surprise,"
with the exception of acting. "I knew that I wanted to act,
so I trained to act – I have a master's degree from the Yale
School of Drama. Then directing was the next thing, and that happened
by mistake," Winkler told the Bulletin in a phone interview
from Los Angeles.
"I just walked up to the producers who were looking for a director
for an episode of Joanie Loves Chachi and I said, 'Oh, you
know what? I'll do it.' I was being flip, and they said, 'OK.' I
said, "No, no, no, no, I'm just kidding. I don't know what
I'm doing!' And they said, 'No, no, no, we think you'll be a good
director. You're going to do it.' And I did it."
Winkler took on the challenge despite his fears: "I'm always
scared," he said. "I live with fear. I just don't let
the fear actually stop me from doing. But, if I could cut one thing
out of my life, it would be fear."
Conquering dyslexia
While acting is Winkler's "love" ("If people were
born to do things, this is what I was born to do"), he told
the Bulletin that the writing of the Hank Zipzer: The
World's Most Amazing Under-achiever series is one of the great
achievements of his life, being dyslexic.
"I could not read, I couldn't write, for sure I couldn't spell,
among other things, when I was in the fourth grade," said Winkler.
"And now we are writing the seventh book of a series ... [about]
the funny adventures of this fourth grader who finds out that he
has dyslexia."
The books that Winkler has written with co-author Lin Oliver are
based on Winkler's experiences growing up – with some exaggeration.
"I never actually did flood my classroom," he admitted.
"But the teacher is mine, Ms. Adolph. I had Ms. Adolph. I had
Mr. Rock, the music teacher, in high school. It's the building I
lived in, it's the neighborhood, it's the school, PS87, that I went
to, so it is my life.
"And the kids who are writing back [to me] now, one kid said
reading was OK, your books make it excellent. Not bad, huh?"
Winkler explained that the books aren't dumbed down for the children.
"I wrote the real emotion; I love my brain and I hate my brain.
So parents read them to first graders and, since we didn't write
down to the kids, the parent and the kid laugh together,
because they [the books] really are funny."
Not only is Winkler dyslexic – something he only found out
at age 31 – but so, too, are his three children. "It's
passed on," he said, adding that "one out of five children
has some sort of learning challenge that has nothing to do with
being lazy or not living up to their potential."
Judaism in his life
Winkler is very familiar with Vancouver, having done MacGyver
and TV movies here. He said he's been to the city at least 20 times
since the mid-1980s.
"It's one of my favorite cities in the Western Hemisphere,"
he said, adding that one of the best photos he ever took was taken
at the top of Mount Seymour just after a snowstorm. When asked by
the Bulletin what he anticipated speaking about when he returns
to Vancouver the CJA opening event, Winkler quoted Theodor Herzl:
"If you will it, it is not a dream."
"That is the cornerstone now of my life," said Winkler,
who first read the saying on a metal cutting that was given to him
by a fan when Winkler was on Happy Days. "I quote it
to people, I speak about it, I live it and I am convinced that it
is truly one of the cosmic rules you can live by on this planet."
Another approach to life Winkler recommends is to be tenacious,
an attribute that he associates with Judaism and being Jewish.
"I love Judaism," said Winkler emphatically. "I love
that, for 5,000 years, people have tried to wipe us off the face
of the Earth and for 5,000 years, we have been unbelievable contributors
to whatever society we happen to live in. The tenacity of being
Jewish, I think, is a cornerstone for anybody to live a good life.
As a matter of fact, when I speak to young actors, I always tell
them that they should thumbtack the word, metaphorically, 'tenacity,'
they should thumbtack it to their brain."
Winkler has worked with many charities and events that focus on
helping children. He agreed that the concept of tikkun olam
(repairing the Earth) is part of his motivation: "I'm sure
that's in my genes ... it's mandatory to be in the gene of every
human being because, if you try to hold on to everything that you
have, and not give back, I believe you will explode. I believe it
will come back and haunt you eventually. It's against the harmony
of living."
Winkler opens the CJA campaign Sept. 8 at the Schara Tzedeck Synagogue,
7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at www.jfgv.com,
by phone at 604-257-5100 or in person at the Jewish Community Centre
of Greater Vancouver, #200-950 West 41st Ave.
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