Wisconsin Public Radio's "BETA" has never talked with anyone who has a bronze statue of their likeness displayed publicly. That is, until now. Standing 5 feet, 5 inches tall, the Bronze Fonz proudly resides on the River Walk in downtown Milwaukee.
"BETA" talked with the actor who played the character of Fonzie on the 1970s television show "Happy Days," Henry Winkler. He's recently released a memoir titled, "Being Henry: The Fonz …and Beyond."
He tells us that having a bronze statue of oneself can lead to touching encounters.
"I've been to Milwaukee many, many times as a public speaker or whatever the reason," Winkler said. "I walk up and visit the statue, and there's a couple taking selfies. And I said, 'Excuse me, would you like me to take that picture? And they went, 'Sure.' And then they went, 'Whoa.' I'm taking a picture of them with a statue of me."
To Winkler, the Bronze Fonz is a humbling example of how deeply the character of Fonzie has changed his life.
"How is it possible that someone who is told that he will never achieve, he will never meet his dream, that he will never be anything — all of a sudden, he is at the unveiling of a statue of a character he created in the character's hometown?... It's beyond words," he said.
Much of Winkler's low self-esteem as a youth is related to a learning disorder that kept him from doing well in school. He didn't find out he had the condition until he was 31 years old.
"I was severely dyslexic," he said. "I'm in the bottom 3 percent academically in the country. My parents had just come from Europe, and their education was everything. But education was a mountain I could not climb."
"They were dismayed, embarrassed, cruel and punitive about my grades. I think that dyslexia also has an emotional component because I could not figure out life or school. I felt like I was nowhere," Winkler continued.
Winkler turned his dyslexia into an advantage by overcoming its limitations. He said because of the condition, he found it necessary to improvise during his audition for "Happy Days."
"I went off script, because I'm so dyslexic that I cannot read, and do something else off the page. So, you memorize as quickly as you can. And I don't know why, but I changed my voice and immediately started talking to everybody in the room. And I was off," he recalled.
"Then we finished. I had six lines. I threw the script up in the air and sauntered out of the room. Two weeks later, on my birthday, they called and asked if I wanted to be in the show," Winkler said. "I said, 'If you let me show the other side of this guy, the emotional side.' They said yes. I said yes. And here I am sitting with you."
Winkler’s dyslexia also created an opportunity for him to become the co-author, with Lynn Oliver, of a series of children’s books called "Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever." These books hold a special place in Winkler’s heart.
"They are the story of my life as a dyslexic. When I write them with Lynn, I clearly remember what it was like to be 8 and a failure — trying so hard and unable to do anything. Hank has great friends who do not treat him in any way terribly. They love him," Winkler said. "They do not have dyslexia, and they understand him. Kids all over the world have asked me, 'How do you know me so well?' It is one of the great compliments of my whole life."
In recent years, Winkler has played the role of the infamous acting teacher, Gene Cousineau, on (HBO) Max’s hit series "Barry." We wanted to know if playing Gene had a role in changing his life.
"In so many ways. No. 1, it was a gift. No. 2, I don't know that I could have played Gene Cousineau seven years earlier," Winkler said. "I started therapy because I started getting lost. The first question I was asked was, 'Where is the you in all of your story and the pursuit of the you?' It allowed me to expand."
"The more you know about yourself, the more you know about all things. The more you know about all things, the richer your character becomes in every aspect of anybody's life," he said. "I will tell you that the comment, 'Oh my God, you are so incredibly beautifully complicated as Gene. I didn't know Gene was within you,' is giving me a vista."