Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond

     This Fonz was supposed to be a knockabout guy, a man of few words, rough around the edges. Confident. A guy who could make things happen with a snap of his fingers. If this wasn't the diametric opposite of who I was in the fall of 1973, it was pretty close. I was twenty-seven years old, a short Jew from New York City with a unibrow and hair down to my shoulders, confident about next to nothing in my life.

    The one exception was when I was acting.

    When I was on stage, playing someone else, I was transported to another world, one where pretending made you successful. What I was miserable at was being myself. 

My thoughts:  I was too little to watch Happy Days when it first aired, but when it went into reruns I watched it for one reason: The Fonz. He was always my favorite character. Which made Henry Winkler one of my favorite actors. And his memoir is full of humorous candor and charm.  He tells about his foibles and flaws, his struggles with anxiety, and his severe dyslexia and how he nearly flunked out of high school because of it. He talks about getting into Yale's School of Drama and his love of acting onstage with an ensemble. And how he made the leap from New York to California and landed the role of the Fonz on only his second audition in L.A. A role that changed his life.

I had fun reading about Henry's life and his love not only for acting, but for his wife and kids, his friends, his dogs...and fly-fishing. I related to his fears and insecurities. And I loved his honesty and humor. This memoir is conversational, personable, and as entertaining as Henry Winkler himself. 

Favorite quote:  "...you really don't know what you can accomplish until you try. All you have to do is try. And you will amaze yourself. So simple. But so crucial. And so true."

Happy Reading!