Hollywood Icon Reveals The Career Path He Almost Chose Instead

Liberty Check

• Hollywood legend Henry Winkler overcame lifelong dyslexia to build an iconic acting career spanning five decades
• The 80-year-old star candidly reveals he nearly became a child psychologist due to learning challenges that went undiagnosed until age 31
• Winkler’s story exemplifies the American dream: perseverance, hard work, and refusing to let obstacles define your destiny

Henry Winkler, the beloved 80-year-old actor known for playing Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on the classic sitcom “Happy Days,” recently opened up about an alternate career path he seriously considered before Hollywood came calling. During an interview on the “You Could Make This Beautiful” podcast, Winkler shared that he almost pursued a career as a child psychologist instead of acting.

The reason? His severe dyslexia made him seek out “whatever I could do, with the least amount of education.”

“I understand children. I’m able to listen, I think, to children,” Winkler explained. “I’m interested in what they have to say and how they are. I marvel at their prowess in the universe. Yes, I would work with children.”

But destiny had other plans. Winkler found fame playing the iconic Fonzie from 1974 to 1984, a role that earned him three Emmy Award nominations and cemented his place in television history.

The actor has been remarkably candid about his lifelong struggle with dyslexia and how he managed it throughout his successful career. In a November 2023 interview with “PBS News Weekend,” Winkler reflected on the unique challenges dyslexia presented in an industry that demands quick script reading and memorization.

“Destiny is very strange, because I’ve chosen a profession that is so unbelievably difficult, not only to survive in, but to participate in for me,” he explained. “When we were doing ‘Happy Days’ or any table read, which is the whole cast all the producers, the directors, everybody on the crew listening, for the first time to the script. I couldn’t read off the page. And it was embarrassing. It was humiliating. I covered it with humor.”

To overcome these obstacles, Winkler developed a system that required extraordinary discipline and preparation. He would “literally read one word at a time” and request scripts ahead of schedule so he could “almost memorize” them before table reads, allowing him to perform “with a flow” when the time came.

What makes Winkler’s story even more remarkable is that he struggled with dyslexia his entire life without knowing what it was. He didn’t receive a diagnosis until age 31, when his young stepson was diagnosed with the same condition. The news initially filled him with anger.

“I was because I was humiliated. I was constantly browbeaten. I was punished, grounded for most of my life,” he told PBS. “Then the next stage was all right, so I have this thing. Now I have to learn to negotiate it because it doesn’t go away. It is the wiring in your brain.”

Over time, Winkler learned to reframe his struggle as a source of strength. He realized that “maybe I would not be sitting in this chair” if he hadn’t gone through “the challenge to constantly work through that made my tenacity, like steel.”

Following “Happy Days,” Winkler continued building his career, introducing himself to younger audiences in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy “The Waterboy.” He appeared in popular shows like “Arrested Development,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “New Girl” before landing a starring role in HBO Max’s “Barry,” playing Gene Cousineau, an acting coach who befriends an assassin.

The role earned him his first Emmy Award win in 2018 at age 72 — a testament to perseverance and dedication.

“Be yourself, be honest about your ability, prepare so that you are not a flash in the pan,” he said backstage after his win.

“When I first started here in Hollywood … I thought of myself as a tree or sapling. I planted. I wanted to grow and be strong until I couldn’t do this anymore. And what a great tree it is.”

Americans deserve better role models like Winkler who prove that hard work and perseverance can overcome any obstacle.