Breaking Bread with Tom Papa - Episode 235 - Henry Winkler

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Henry Winkler joins the Breaking Bread family and tells Tom he is still hungry. Winkler talks all things Happy Days and his starts in show biz as the Fonz and making magic with Ron Howard. He then shares how he broke out of his Fonz shaped mold and put his head down and got to work to start to make his dreams come true. Winkler gives Tom advice on picking your favorite kid, making a marriage last, and how to be cool. Henry Winkler would also really like it if Ryan Gosling played him in the biopic of his life.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I thought it was the police. And they knock on your door and you... And I was smoking. Yeah. Listening to Dan Fogelberg. Right. And I opened the door and I thought my life is now over. I'm now going to lose my job.

I'm going to be arrested. And I said, you are not smelling what you think you are. And they said, we're not here for that. We just want to meet the Fonz. It's breaking bread. Who's that? Enrico Caruso. Oh.

That's what I think. I think you're probably right. Oh, wow. So these are all Italian people. No. Klugman? I don't know. She lived in my neighborhood.

She did? And I just adored her. She was... Really? I had a correspondence with her, I think, on email. Wow. In the last years of her life. Really?

Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful. Jack was at the same studio I was at, at Paramount in the beginning. Oh, really? Really? So that was... I knew him, I knew his wife. I think she worked on...

Somehow she worked for Gary Marshall. His wife did. His wife did. So was that during odd couple days? That was during odd couple and the beginning of happy days. It's so funny that TV so... The reason show business works,

it's all so believable. Yeah. Like, just that Happy Days and Klugman's odd couple were both at Paramount in L.A. By the same guy. Still breaks my head. Because like, no, that was, yeah, no, you guys were where you were,

and they were in New York. It was amazing. And we were all on the same studio. And we were on, when we did it live, starting in 1975, we were on stage 19 where Lucy started the three camera concept. Oh, really. Because that whole section of Paramount was Desi Lou, where it was her part of the studio where she made all those incredible shows.

Oh, man, oh man. The history. I'm just, while we're talking, I'm having a freshly made cappuccino or whatever it's called. Thank you for being here. I read your book. You did. I read your book. Thank you for doing that.

Yeah. Even more than thanking me for being here. Yeah, I know. So I really, when I was baking your bread, I was so excited. I could tell my mom last night I'm baking bread for the Fonz. And she got all excited, of course. And but as I was doing it, I was like, you know, I'm always, you always have the thought of the person you're baking for when you're going to do,

which makes it a little more special. But also that I had read your book. I had it on my Kindle. Now, you're dyslexic. I am very dyslexic. And I have an eye issue. So reading is always, for both of us, a challenge. Still to this day.

And the Kindles kind of saved my life because I could read it in any light at any time anywhere. Also, I did it on audio so I could read it to you. I know, but I really wanted to read it for some reason. You know what's so amazing about you? Your voice was the audiobook as I was reading it. Your voice is so strong. Oh, wow. And the way that it comes through in your stories, I totally heard your voice the whole time.

Now, I want to tell you, I am so mushuga that I sometimes feel, no matter what I've accomplished, invisible. So that, you say my voice is that recognizable. Oh, yeah. I'm always, lately, because I'm getting older now, so it's, like, stupid. But for the longest time, when people recognize my voice, I was showing. shocked. Really? When they said, when I called them on the phone, they went, hi, Henry. Yeah. I went, you know who it? Wow. What's so, there's, there's so much to the book and your story that I want to get to,

that it's, it's kind of overwhelming. Like, I didn't even know where to start and where to go because there's so many things I want to hit. Sure. Pick one. I'm going to pick one. Your voice this is your voice. This is my voice. This is Henry. This is your voice. And your stuff early, your commercials, your Sanka commercials, you're Mary Tyler Moore, you're hanging out on Mike Douglas.

That was you, this very, this voice. This very voice. The Fonz was a totally different voice. The Fonz came out of my imagination at the moment. I was so frightened as a human being at that time that I had the gall to just go into that voice in the audition still amazes me. Do you think it was an intervention? I don't know.

Was it a strike of lightning? Because you could have been this very funny, comedic, Nebishi kind of a guy. Right. And then this creation comes up in the middle of it. Unbelievable. That is not really in line with what you did before or after. But you know what?

I have thought about that a million times. What would have happened to me as the actor if I did not do that show? Yeah. You would have been very successful. I don't know that. You would have. Because there's that thing. There's that thing.

The camera loved you. The people loved you. You were getting commercials. you were in, I mean, there's certain people show up on a camera and people want more of that person on that camera and you had it. So like, you would have been working. Thank you. You know, this level of Fonsie fame would have been a different thing, but I really do, but I really, when you, when I watch you, I'm like, because you did a Neil Simon play. I did with John Ritter, rest of the song. Right. You could have done, you would have been very funny.

Thanks. Your stories of like coming from this very strict family and parents and all of that, I see where the comedy comes from. They weren't just strict. They, I do. The thing about my parents is I accept everything except for they have a child who's got a problem. You've got to see there's something going on with your kid. and rather than figure it out,

just say, oh, if you sit at your desk long enough, you're going to get it and you, truly, I embarrass them because I didn't do well. Right. Is that personality or is that generational? I don't know what it is, but that is assholity. Because I know. I made a promise to myself and my wife.

I would be a different parent. Right. Completely. Yeah. Listen to my children no matter what they said. Can I say something horrible? Yes. They made you funny.

You know what, then I appreciate that. I really do. Like I see that when you hear your stories of being on the bus and going to school. Yes. You were funny. I was. And when you have a really strict, dominant presence in the house. Yes.

One way that we deal is this funny, energetic. I do, I said that. You know what I mean? I used humor to shade my embarrassment. Right. And not doing well, whatever I was thinking about myself. I used humor. That is true.

On that bus, I would have an imaginary horse. And I would, I would, Ask the horse to get off the seat in order to let somebody sit down. And how old are you? I am in the seventh grade, eighth grade. And you've already got your defense mechanism that is actually made Henry Winkler. Yes, and now I am trying to chisel that defense mechanism into dust in order to become a more complete. Henry Winkler.

Yeah. It's remarkable, and I kept thinking about it as you talk about the Chernobyl concrete around you that has just been layered from your life and being a kid. And so much of it is that early stuff. Isn't it remarkable? Or do you ever stop and think, as I was stopping and thinking while reading your book, we never really get over what happens when you're a kid? You have to fight really hard.

You have to be... I found you have to be courageous because you don't know how people are going to accept you if you change. Right. And you have to work through that and just beat through that. Yeah. If you had worked on it earlier, would you have been as funny?

I don't know, I don't know. But I will say that I do think about, I've wasted so much time protecting instead of just living. What do you mean? I spent so much time being worried, being feeling less than, all of that baggage. I will tell you that without that voice in the beginning, I found I was not as good an actor. I was stilted.

And now I'm getting to where I imagined I really wanted to be as a professional. Right. At 79. You're able to tap that depth more. Now. Because it was walled off. It was walled off.

Right. Yeah. Right. When you talk about not being satisfied and even during the height of your fame, the Fonzie fame, would you go home and close the door at night, even though the world was adoring you at that time? Were you still in a place of not content?

Completely. Did not understand, didn't believe, what other people were saying to me. Right. We'd like to thank the good people at Quince for sponsoring today's program. If you spend a lot of time cooking at home, it's time to elevate your game.

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Quince.com slash Papa. Isn't that crazy that the whole world is throwing a big Valentine your way? Right. And to me it was, at the time, it was just, like, it was good for me because I was working and I continued to work. As opposed to sitting in the middle of a warm tub, enjoying. Yeah. Does anyone do you think able to enjoy that? I don't know. I mean, it's such a weird question to ask really because it was so unique that level. I don't know that private part of somebody else.

Yeah. I wish I did, but I don't. All I know is I didn't. When you hear stories, it's very rare that people, you know what I mean? It's very rare when people are like cool with themselves. Right. Even when they're. Maybe George Clooney. Yeah, he seems happy. Maybe Brad Pitt.

Yeah, he seems. Brad Pitt just seems. And Ryan Gosling is just totally cool. People say, who would you want to play you as the Fonz? And I always go to Ryan. Yeah, that would be good. I never met him. That would be good.

But he just seems cooler than cool. How did you find cool? I mean, you define cool, but how did you find cool because you're this kid with the imaginary horse on the thing? Imagination. In, he was, the Fonz was everybody I wanted to be. And now I understand that cool is being authentically yourself. That is powerful and magnetic. Yeah.

And you don't, you almost do more by doing less. Oh my God, that is exactly right. I did too much. I would like some of those performances back. I would like to inhale them and do them again. Which ones? Heroes. Yeah.

The one and only. Uh-huh. You know, in the beginning of my career. Right, yeah. I did too much. Right. But as the Fons. I did just enough.

Yeah. I mean, so laid back. Yeah. And like, it was really, I mean, you were down to, like, you weren't even at times using words. Right. That's where Woe came from. Right. Horseback riding, my favorite sport.

But I also had incredible acting parts. I had Ron Howard, who is still like my relative. Yeah. And you was God? We just did the Emmys together, you know, a little while ago. And I'm telling you, our timing, our chemistry was as if it was 50 years ago. Wow. These family.

Yeah. Well, you guys just went. I mean, what a ride. Wow. That was really. Then he left? Yeah. Oh my God, I thought my life was over.

And Scott Veil at 12 was incredible. Yeah. Another natural hitter of hits. Yeah. It's amazing. And I couldn't tell if it was because I grew up on the show or... So it's almost like we're a part of the lead up to this scene of when he... when you say goodbye to...

That was for real. Yeah. When you teared up. The end of a 250-something episode when he comes back to say he's not coming back. Yeah. When I cried at the front door of the Cunningham's, I was really crying.

Yeah. I'm getting choked up thinking about it. I love him so much. Yeah. I really do. And we were invested. Like, we're really invested in it. Like, just reading that part.

It was like, We felt all of it because you were family with him as an actor. Right. We were part of your family. And it was like crazy. His family was from Oklahoma. Mine escaped Nazi Germany. He was, you know, in the movie since he was three.

Yeah. I came out here at 27. Yeah. And these two completely different human beings met in the middle. You know, I did a play when I, when I, I graduated from the drama school. I went to New York City. I did plays for free at the Manhattan Theater Club.

One of them was by Vertol Gombrovich, or I think I'm saying his name correctly. Sounds good. And the theme of it was, each character was like a priest, and their communication together was God. And I'm telling you that is what happened with Ron Howard and I. The communication between us created something much bigger. Beautiful. Yeah.

Beautiful. And we got to experience it. Like we feel it. You know, like when you have those moments like the end of in MASH, when he goes right, the whole nation is weakly. Absolutely. You're all a part of it. It really, in the creation of your character. Yes.

which is such a mind-bending thing as an actor and as a person. It kind of reminded me of like these athletes that win the Super Bowls and stuff and they get spit out at the end and they're 35. They're 36. Right. They've climbed Mount Everest. They did it all. They have all the riches and all of the fame.

But you still have the rest of your life to go after. And then that is the test. I found. I'm sitting in my office at Paramount. My lawyer said, you're going to be a producer. I said, that's crazy. I know nothing about the world of producing or business or finance. Yeah.

He said, you'll learn. And I had a crisis, an existential crisis. Yeah. I did not have a plan B. And that's when the rubber hits the road. that is when you have to, I don't know what you have to do, you have to just say,

I'm putting my head down and I am not going to let this stop me. Yeah, which is so crazy to be in a position where this is not going to stop me. And what you're saying is the thing that's not going to stop me is this beloved character that I wrote for 11 years and everybody loves. It's almost like you created Santa Claus

and everyone loves Santa Claus. And we want you to just be Santa Claus. And you have to say, I'm done with being Santa. Well, yeah. And I thought I was done with being Santa because I wouldn't get hired. Yeah. And the thing is that I was done at the moment. I couldn't get hired.

Right. Yeah. It's so bizarre. Yeah. So bizarre. Because you really just created this thing, like I said earlier. And had the most wonderful time. You know, people left.

They thought Ronnie left and wanted to be a director, and he became like a billion-dollar director. You know, some of the other kids wanted to leave, and they thought, oh, there's a bigger career out there for me. Yeah. And I just stayed and I just signed the dotted line until the end. It was so great. And had the most wonderful time doing it. Yeah. That's what I love.

It seems like in the book and just seeing you, it's, you do. You had to crack this and go do the second act and all that stuff. But it seems to me that you really are very fond of the funds. I love the fond. I love everybody there that I worked with. Yeah. They were, they are. Yeah.

The ones that are still alive, amazing people. Yeah. I miss Gary Marshall every day. He taught me so much about being a professional and a human being. in the profession. Oh, really? I thought you were going to lean on the comedy part of it. No, he was funnier than anybody.

Yeah. I had a problem. We called Gary from his office. I said, I don't know how to solve this joke. He tilted his head and 55 solutions fell off the top of it. Jerry Paris, our main director for all those years, same thing. Yeah. Never ever went dry.

Really? That's so insane. I was like a cracked desert. You know, when you see the land is just like little pellets of dirt. Yeah. I was dry. Jerry Paris was never. Never.

Never. Always had a solution. Jeez. Your story is so great in that I grew up in New Jersey. Where? Bergen County. You know it well. Cliff Lake, Park Ridge.

Sure. And growing up as a kid and looking over, I could see the Empire State building through the trees from my bedroom. Right, right, right. And just thinking about, like, one day getting into New York and doing it. Always being a stand-up comic or... Yeah, an actor or a stand-up comedian. Wow. And, you know, when I was seventh grade is when it clicked in that I wanted to be a comedian.

Yeah. You made all your friends laugh? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And my dad was strict, not as... What did he do? He was a salesman of communications, early communications kind of stuff.

Pencils. Abacus. No, but I was kind of like shuffling around the house like, ha, ha, ha, ha, like keeping the light. Did you make him laugh? Or was it a tough cell? He was tough. I could make him laugh. One time I made him laugh more than anything was when I drank sour milk at the table.

I came in and I sat down and chunks. and I spit it out. He laughed harder than I ever saw him laugh. All the times I was trying to like it. He really loved that kind of stuff. Yeah. He loved your humiliation or the surprise of it? I don't know, probably a little above.

He wasn't as, he was very strict. And probably he was a loving guy. Yeah. I get along with him great. But at that time, he's just a big strong, you know, monolith. Right. And I'm doing all that kind of stuff. But you're seeing New York.

Are you the only child? I'm the oldest of three. Oldest of three. Two younger sisters. And always seeing New York through the trees, I was like, when I get there, and all of the stuff I would read and think about, you lived that life. You know what? I was there and dreamt of being there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, of, oh my gosh. Yeah. Working as a professional. You know what? I went to a private school, which didn't help. I was in the bottom 3% of the class. But at lunch, when we were juniors and seniors, we could go to Central Park. And you would watch the Broadway League play softball show against show. And I held on that, on that metal fence, on that chain link fence, like in a cartoon.

dreaming of being on that field one day. Yeah, yeah. And then with the Neil Simon play and John Ritter, I made it. Amazing. Oh, I have the ball. I have the softball. Really?

From the first game in 2000. Jeez. Isn't it amazing? Just that little seed gets in there. And you're not even thinking that the softball is part of it when you start going through it and getting all your way. Like, oh my God. To finally get there.

To get there. It's amazing. But I love that, that's, reading the story, it was just like the quintessential New York rise and theater was important. Theater was important. And Yale, like that you even crack that was crazy. That I got in. And then studying and then coming to L.A. and getting into TV.

And coming here for one month. I only had enough money for a month. Then I had to get back on the plane. and fly back to New York. And at the end of the month is when I got the call for Happy Days. It's so charmed. The idea that when you talk in, you went to the casting office before you even had a place to live. No, I was staying with Stephanie Axelrod in her apartment is no bigger than this office of yours.

I'm honest to God. Except that there was a door that led to the tiniest hallway that led to the bathroom. And I slept in that hallway on the couch, pillows of her fold-out bed. One month. One month. God. Amazing. Amazing.

I love the story of you going into getting the Mary Tyler Moore show. That was amazing, too. I love when you talked about just walking in and like you walked into something that was humming. Like it was professional and they were the top of the top. They were the friends of their time. Yeah. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was the most popular sitcom on television at the time, I believe. God.

And I went in and the man said, well, I don't have a script. I only have one line. And I emptied the glass of pencils on his desk, picked up a pencil. clang the glass and said the line to him, you know, don't, don't bother yourself when you get a moment, if you could just pass the song. And I had the job. I had four lines. God.

And it's just you're standing with these people. Oh, my God. I love that. At one point you said, because I have this whenever I get an acting gig, when you're trying, you're in a scene and you're trying not to think that I'm in a scene with this famous person. The worst. The worst. I mean, that's how, that's how separated I was from the reality of my job. All I was thinking is Schlep is standing here with all these stars as opposed to just do your work. I know. Just say the lines. You know, there's human nature, isn't it? I guess. I mean, I did a thing and I was

with Michael Douglas and the whole time in the scene when I would see, if I ever see it, I just know I'm thinking. I'm in a scene with Michael Douglas. I understand. I get it. I get it. Yeah. It's so crazy. But you had such a way about you.

It was like that scene, that dinner party, I watched it on YouTube. And you're so good. Thanks. So natural. I mean, even though you're, you know what I mean? Like, even though you're in your head you're saying you were walled up and. I'm not kidding. I wore my own clothes.

Did you really? I did. I wore my own suit. It was perfect. And a very wide tie at that time. In the 70s, you could use your tie for a tablecloth. That's how wide it was. I was shot to see it and what I wear today.

Yeah. That was so great. Explain what's beautiful about your book is that you're telling this story, which we all have different degrees of familiarity with it. Can I just say, now I'm a producer, my book is coming out in paperback, in the beginning of October. Oh, wow.

Yeah. That's quick. Yeah. It's very popular. Thank you. But I don't know about popular, but I'd like to sell a book or two. I'm not kidding.

I really would. I don't have any idea how many I sold in the hardcover. But I'm figuring if you didn't want to carry on a plane, the hard back. It is like so heavy. You can now get it in paper back in October. Well, I'm going to double down on the sale. because as an avid reader who now is using the Kindle,

so I could see and read more quickly, I do buy the book in addition to, I'll do it on the Kindle, which all of you should do. I'm now going to call the publisher, and I'm going to say we sold one. And then, no, you sold two. Two? Yeah, because I do it on the Kindle.

I pay for that. Right. Then when I'm done, if I like it, I want it as the trophy. On the bookcase, I buy the copy to put it on the wall. If you had it, I would sign it. We'll meet again. Yeah.

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, for sure. That will be our third time. Yeah. But really, our second. Yeah, exactly. First time we were in Montreal at the Comedy Festival.

Oh, my gosh. And you and I were both going to do an interview with separate radio people. Right. And we met then. Yeah. Yeah, it was very special. And also, I know that you are really good friends with Jerry Seinfeld. Yes.

And his daughter called me up. Oh, right. And said, would you be in my short? That's right. And I said, yes, I would. And because talking to her, I got a sense that she knew exactly what she wanted, which an actor needs from a director. So I thought, you know what?

I have time. I got to do this. Beautiful. And your son is a director. My son is in a director. Right now, in New York City, it is the, The premiere, it is, you know, the screening of a show he did about the Menendez brothers. Oh, the one on Netflix?

Mm-hmm. Oh. And then he did another show in, he works a lot for Ryan Murphy. Okay. Thank God. Yeah. And, but he ran the American Horror Stories, which comes out around, um, Halloween.

Yeah. And he, my son hired me as an actor. Beautiful. And I was on the set. Yeah. I said, hey, could I get a cup of coffee while we're rehearsing? And the crew brought me a paper cup of coffee with Daddy Winkler. My heart flew out of my body.

That has to be a... Oh, my goodness. I mean, when you set out to be a better dad, to be a great... Great dad. Yeah. And then up to that moment. Great guy. That's amazing.

I have three great children. I have six and five sixths of a seventh grandchild. Oh, wow. The little girl is coming in December. Oh, mazel tough. Thank you. Who's your favorite of all the kids? I can't tell you.

I have one, but I've never revealed that because it would hurt the feelings. of the other. Do they know? No, I don't think so. No. You do a good job. Yeah. But I do write the ones I don't like.

I write them cards more often. Can you explain in the book that you have this moment. Yes. When you are, I'm not sure what age you were. I think you're young. It was kind of like a revelation when you saw the world with this clarity of that we're all, you talk about it,

it's almost like a, like a beam of light, that you saw the world that we're all different people. Right. Am I making sense? Yes, we're all different and exactly the same. Right. And that we should be so polarized is beyond me. It is beyond me.

me at this moment because no matter what you have in your life or what you don't have, what you want basically is the same. And if that is true, how could we, just because someone has another point of view, dislike them so much. Yeah. Why do you think it is? I'm not sure. I think that's where God has, uh, God has, uh,

wasn't looking a few times. He created bacon. What was he thinking? Bacon is so bad for you and yet so delicious. Yeah. That is the metaphor of life. Yeah. But really, I mean, come on.

Yeah, that is really. You know, and then turkey bacon, what is that? Really, they shouldn't even sell that. It's just mean. Oh, my God. You're not fooling anybody. You're going to have a BLT. Give me a bacon.

Do you still eat that sandwich that you mentioned in the book, the Friday gun? Yes, I do. You do. But my favorite sandwich is coming up. It is the day, the night of, and the next day, the turkey sandwich on Wonderbread. They post- Thanksgiving. Oh, my God. I have so many in such a short amount of time.

We literally make another turkey in order for me to have my sandwich. I've done the same thing. Oh, my God. And I don't have it for a year. And I am now salivating, thinking about the Wonderbread mayonnaise turkey, freshly cut off the bird. Cranberry sauce out of a can. Ocean spray, don't give me those berries.

A little stuffing fried both sides. Fried. Oh, my Lord. Fried and then on the... On the sandwich. The rest is cold. The rest is cold. Oh, Lord.

Doesn't soak through the bread. What? The fried stuffing doesn't soak through the bread. Don't care. Don't care. Because I eat it so fast, it doesn't have time. It only comes through like the bottom layer. Never gets...

Oh, Lord. Give me. And then if there is any cream spinach left over on the side. Yeah. We're going to call that the winkler. I'm happy to hear how you like the bread that I baked for you. Well, it's beautiful. It's sitting in the middle of the table.

Are people going to see this interview or just hear it? They'll see it. Oh, they're going to, so then you see the bread. Yeah. Yeah, I don't have to describe it. But behind you is one of those cakes, those Italian, the Panitone cake. Now, my wife eats it from the bottom and eats the inside and leaves the crust. So she could leave it on the plate and you would be surprised, cutting into nothing.

She just leaves it as a decoration. loves the fruit. And I'm telling you, a fresh pentatone is. So good. Oh, my goodness. My wife made me get rid of one, or she tried. Same box kind of a thing. It's been in my dining room since December.

Oh. And I keep saying, we're going to get to it. Yeah. And she checked the expiration date on it. It was July. Yes. And I said, I don't believe it. And she put-

Well, are exploration dates like for real? No, I don't think so. Or do they want you to buy new? That's what I'm thinking. Now, it's the milk I would listen to the date. Yeah. Unless you want to make my father laugh. Yes, right.

But aside from that, maybe eggs. Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. But mustard goes way beyond the date. Way beyond. I've never had bad mustard. Never.

No. Do you have a German taste buds? profile? You know what? No, not really, but I do love Spetzel. I do, I love like a great, you know, roast with Spetschel, or a veal. A veal cutlet with Spetzel. Did your mom cook? No. She made a cake that never rose. It was always like, you know, a seven-layer cake. This was like half a layer. And then she would put frosting on it. Any good? No.

No. The description of your household. Yes. After you go and visit some friends, I think where you discovered this sandwich. Oh, Jimmy Norton. I went to Jimmy Norton's house. Right. He won a Tony for, I forget what the play was.

I mean, but I forget everything. Yeah. But he won a Tony. He was in my class at Yale. Mm-hmm. And I drove up to his house in Connecticut and helped decorate the tree when his children were young. Right. And his first wife was alive, Pamela, who was just a wonderful human being.

Right. Now I'm driving back. I am filled with Christmas. I am a Jew that is covered in mistletoe. And I'm driving back to New York. I park the car. I'm walking through the street. I smell the trees.

It is, you know, the Christmas trees that are for sale against the Grand Union, right? The supermarket. Yep. I walk into my house and it is like the outside world doesn't exist. There is nothing in it but heavy furniture and landmines if you say the wrong thing in front of your parents. Yeah. You describe that in the book as severe. Severe.

Severe. The furniture was severe. You did not pull up a chair and have a conversation. You yelled from chair to chair. You couldn't move the furniture. Heavy. Heavy. Yeah.

So what was dinner time like in that house when you were a kid? Dyer time was all I remember is you did not sit in my father's chair. did not sit in it. And you know what? I had the same thing. I asked for nothing except that nobody sat in my chair. And then I realized

you are being who you are trying not to be and finally anybody can sit in my chair. Ah, yeah. So do you remember the meals? Do I remember the meal, tongue with baked beans and mustard? Okay.

That's German. Roast beef. Mm-hmm. With mashed potatoes and current jelly. And to this day, I have current jelly with Spencer Roast. What's Spencer Roast? It is a beautiful version of a roast. Oh, okay.

Well, that's good. So this is all German sounding. I guess, I guess. Right? I guess. I worked in Germany on a lumber mill. My father wanted me to take over his business, and exporting wood.

Thank God that didn't work out. Oh my goodness. Can you believe? It would have been horrible. Really? Yeah. The whole world would have been different. Yeah.

It's like one of those time travel things. What would have happened? If I took over the family business. There'd be no happy days. I can't believe happy days almost got canceled. There would be no furniture because I wouldn't have sold a stick of wood, not a matchstick. Oh my God. It was pretty interesting the way your father provided, but it sounded like he was scraping by.

He was always scraping by. I didn't know it until I heard a conversation with a friend of his in our living room on the phone. And he was almost, maybe he was in tears, begging this man, Carl, to loan him more money. Because it seemed like you had a house outside the city. We lived above our means. We did. Yeah.

You know, and I don't have a second home for that reason. Even if I could afford it, it was so, it stymied me. So I have such an idiosyncratic relationship with money. Right. You're scared of.

I'm scared of having none. Right. Yeah, yeah, y'all. So even though things on the surface look cool, you had a sense as a kid, this isn't cool. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and then my bormitza, I was given bonds, you know, savings bonds.

I was given cash. Right. I think I made a total of $378 I had in my bank account. And maybe a year later or two years later, My father asked me how much I made and said, I need this money. And I said, oh, okay, when will you pay me back? And he said, I'm your father. I've given you everything.

I do not pay you back. And I thought to myself, I really don't like this fella. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, just that he has the German accent makes it so much worse. Oh, I'm telling you. everything he said was horrible and sounded even more horrible because of the accent. That's true.

Even if he said, I love you. Yeah, I don't remember that. Never. I don't remember hearing those words. Right. Now, the same young, my youngest son, Max, who the director, the first movie he made ceremony, which was really good starring Uma Thurman. He went to Irma Thurman's apartment and sold her to be in the movie.

Yeah. She trusted this young kid. Yeah. It was great. It was great. Similar to you with Jerry's daughter. Yeah. But it's, you know what, that's true.

Right. Yeah, I heard it on the phone. I heard Ms. Seinfeld. And feeling like, oh, she knows what she's doing. Yeah. Or she really, yeah. And I want to do this. But anyway, so Max, I did press with Max for, for his first movie to help him.

because I was a celebrity. Right. And you do that. Yeah. And he said in an interview, the biggest problem he had growing up was that we loved him too much. Oh.

And I said, Max, I got to tell you, I will do it exactly the same way again. We'll not change it one minute. Sorry. Yeah. He was loved too much. Can I ask you some life advice? Anything.

I've often thought, and I'm asking you, Is it possible? Is it possible? You watch grandparents love their grandchildren. Yes. In this unconditional just love bomb way. Yes.

There's only, it's just... You know, some grandchildren are trying. Some of them are. And you see them each as individuals. And you deal with each human being differently. Can you go at your own children with the same kind of just grandparent's Love bomb. No.

And I'll tell you why. You can love them at the very core of your relationship with them. But you're with them 24 hours a day. They are sometimes very rude. They are sometimes very mean. Uh-huh. They say mean things that slice and dice you. Yeah.

They, you are worried. You are worried. We put LoJack in our children's cars and told them that we were doing it, but needed to know when you got really worried where exactly they are. They say library, the car says the viper room. Yeah. But unconditionally, you can love them, but they can make you insane. So you have too much work to do as a parent.

You have a lot of work to do. in order to be that all-encompassing in isn't that adorable. Right. Joe, our producer, he is a little one. How old? 18 months? Oh, my goodness. Congratulations.

Thank you. You have to write down a boy or a girl. Boy. Boy. Boy. You have to write down his name, address, and zip code and his age. And give it to me because our newest children's book is coming out. October 13th.

I would love that. What number is this? This is 40. 40 children's books. And it's called Detective Duck. It is volume 2. Nice. And it's about a little duckling

who dreams about being a detective. And her best friend, the salamander, Sal, says you can do anything you want. And she solves a major problem in each book. Can I say something weird?

You're going to write that down for me. Yeah, we're going to write that down. I don't want to wait. He just got out of the crib first time starting to climb out. My granddaughter has like a tent situation. Yeah. I've heard about the tent. I guess that's what they do now. It's fun. They think it's a little house.

And I want to tell you, it's so scary when they get out of that crib. It is. I would tent that boy in. I would use planking. I'm not kidding. On the Amazon has tents. Yeah. That's right.

You just reminded me of that. I forgot we did that with our daughter. How old is she now? I have two. But this one was, the one is 22, and the one I'm talking about is 19. Just out of my book range.

Yeah. Except, of course, for my memoir. Yeah. I have to send them and sign them. Yeah, absolutely. We do a third. thing on this program called Uncomfortable Moment. Was that all the advice

you were going to ask? Yeah, I just wanted to... Just that one thing. Just the one. Well, I'll have more as we go on, but... How about... Because I always think... Yeah. You know, why can't you as a parent just love the kids, like your grandma loved you, but... It's totally different. Yeah. The relationship is different. You love them deeply at the base of it. Yeah.

But you also see how really creepy they can be as humans. But let me, here's the thing. When they're mean, when they cut you, that's the hardest part. But my advice to young parents is, my real advice, is a herd child is a powerful child. Right. That you stop no matter what is going on and listen to what. what it is they're trying to say, even if you're late for a meeting, it's only like 45 seconds more.

Right. And they go, oh, my God, that's, I, oh, what I say is important. Yeah. That's it. That's it. I'm telling you it would change the course of history. Yeah. Okay.

So, I was traveling around. I was doing a lot of things. I was on the road going heavy for two weeks when I came home. My family was home. and it's time to cook. And that's fine. I have stuff in the pantry. I'm ready to go.

But because I was on the road, I had no bread. I know. My house with no bread. It seems unusual. But it's true. I was on the road. And then I remembered, wait a minute, my good friends at Wild Grain have packed my freezer with stuff.

So I went running through there like a little raccoon. And I found bread. wassants, these little crescent rolls, a lot of nice little items. I was like, oh, it was, I could just completely calm down because I knew I'm making pasta. I had these new little pasta shells and I was going to make sauce with them,

but you really need bread. And there was a loaf of bread from wild grain in my freezer. It was a three or four cheese bread, which I was very excited about, a little worried because my wife is off cheese right now. put it in the oven frozen and preheated it to like 400. And in 20 minutes, as I'm making all this stuff, I had a fresh baked loaf of bread. Like quality bread, really great bread.

This is what you get at Wild Green. I love the people at Wild Green. They really, really nailed it. I wish they, we should partner actually. You should send my bread to people. I will figure it out later. But they're such a great, great company. Wild grain is the first ever bake from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads,

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Really quality stuff. Please go. And for a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box, plus free cuisants in every box when you go to wildgrain.com slash Papa to start your subscription. description. You hoied me. Free croissants in every box. That's great. And $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com slash papa. That's wildgrain.com slash p a p a pa, or just use the promo code Papa PAPA at checkout. I can't thank you enough. Wild grain for being a part of this program. It is a perfect fit. And I truly like the sponsor. Back to the show. Our researchers, uh, go through and do some background stuff on our guests.

And you have this amazing Emmy award-winning character on Barry. Yes. So good, so fantastic. I got Happy Days when I was 27. I got Barry at 72. Just changed, flip the number. Amazing. Amazing.

That should happen in my life. And you know, my lucky number is nine. Oh, that's a good number. Seven and two. That's a really good number. Two and seven. I thought it was because you had grown as a man and as an actor. Absolutely.

I could not have done that character earlier. Right. But our researcher said that the only reason you got the role was because you let Bill where the original. leather jacket. But you know what? That's a lie because it's in the Smithsonian and they would not give it back. So

that's a lie. Do you think Bill listens to this podcast? He might. Could you call me back, Bill? How cool it's in the Smithsonian. So cool. So cool. 1980.

Yeah. So why couldn't you not have played that role? Because it was so dense. It was... Alec Berg and Bill Hader put together a writing room and they themselves are brilliant writers. Yeah.

And it was so thick with nuance. I could not have access to that character as the bowl of jello that I was younger. How much younger? A few years before I got the role. Really? Yeah. Because I had just started therapy, and my therapist unlocked a lot of me.

And I'm still, I saw myself as Swiss cheese. And I was trying to become a block of cheddar with no holes. Right. But you're a very skilled actor. You studied? I studied. You, a great improviser. But all of that doesn't matter if you cannot access your very emotionality.

You're the very emotion of who you are. Right. When that is locked away and separated from your life, you're missing a gigantic piece of being a professional. Is it the, is that the difference? between great actors and good actors? There are actors, Anthony Hopkins. He's touched by God or something. Yeah.

Because he understands the humanness of living. And then is able to easily translate it into whoever he's playing. James Stewart. Oh my goodness. Yeah. They almost vibrate with how connected they are, right? To the human condition.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my goodness. Can you fake that? No. You cannot fake it. Well, there goes my acting career. No, I'm telling you, I, it's true. Yeah.

You cannot fake it. You can't fake it. No. How do you conjure it up in time for an audition that you have to do by three o'clock? You don't. You go in and you are totally open to what comes through you. If you are not open, you will be stilted. And I, in an audition, I could access my imagination.

In my life, I was afraid to. So what I've learned is, you know, I went to auditions and I would sit in those metal chairs against the wall waiting to be called. And young actors would say, you're Henry Winkler. What are you doing here? And I would say, I'm trying to get a job, you? Because you've got to present yourself. You know, if you can go to a live audition, do not choose the tape route.

Yeah. Well, that's kind of the problem now is everybody just accepts on tape. Yeah. The walking into the room is like... Oh, very important. Yeah, but it's like gone now. It's almost gone, yeah. It's a bummer.

Yeah. What was the most exciting part of the skill of acting? Like, what do you enjoy the most of that? Knowing that you are connected to not only the material, but the person on the, who you're acting with. Like Ron and I would do a scene. and you just knew that there was something bigger and it was like a drug.

Right. That connection in Barry, when you're being interrogated in the... Oh, my God. That is such a great... Bill Hader was not only a great director, a great writer, or is, but he's a wonderful acting partner,

very generous. Yeah. And he is so unflappable when he's working. Yeah. Oh my God. It was really like a privilege to be part of that show. Right. At what point did you start with the 40 children's books?

When I couldn't get hired after the Broadway play in New York with John Ritter, came back to L.A., could not get hired, went to Alan Berger, who is, now at CAA. But he was a manager. He was my agent at ICM that no longer exists. Then he became a manager at a big firm. And I said, Alan, I don't know what to do. I need help.

He said, why don't you write books for children about your dyslexia? I said, well, I can't do that, Alan, because I'm dyslexic. I can't read. I can't type. I, you know, he said, I'm going to introduce you to Lynn Oliver. We met for lunch at a restaurant that doesn't exist at the, at Gower and Sunset. Bad food. But great meeting. Not a great part of town. No, great meeting. Yeah. And we hatched right then and there, Hank Zipzer, wrote up a proposal. I called at ICM. There was a, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, My agent still, Esther Newberg, who was powerful.

She was the agent for everybody. And I said, oh, I have a children's book. I don't do children's books. I said, I understand Esther, but there's always a first. I don't do children's books. Would you just look at the proposal? All right. She sent it to five publishers.

Three said no. One said maybe. and the one said yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's got to be a pretty great feeling knowing. Penguin Putnam. Knowing that you could actually tell little kids who are dealing with this thing that you had no answer for when you were a kid?

I didn't know. Yeah. I didn't write with a purpose. I wrote to fill time. Right. And it became like a second profession. Right. But I wrote because I knew how those children feel at seven and eight when everybody around them is doing great and they cannot figure it out.

Yeah. And they think, you know, their self-image is sinking to the bottom of the ocean. And I tell parents, your kid is not being difficult on purpose. Right. There is different wiring going on. Like my parents grounded me for 12 years during school. And then I found out I wasn't doing well because it's hereditary. And the people who were grounding me gave it to me.

My children are dyslexic. Are they? Yeah. And each one of them, you know, no one is going to ask your kid how they did in English. Right. You know, but they are going to know if they are a good human being and if they're capable at the job they're applying for. Right. That they, the boss will know.

Yeah, yeah. Do you like junk food? I love junk food. I love pink's hot dogs. Oh, yeah. I love the window cheeseburger. Yep. I love Joe's pizza and Moza, you know.

Nancy Silverton makes up pizza. She would be very angry if we did not say clearly, that is not junk food. That is not junk food. She would be too kill us both. I'm just killing pizza. Yeah. Yeah.

Like, whoa, is she good. She was the originator of L.A. bakery, that bread. Yeah. She made the desserts for Wolfgang Puck's first restaurant. She's amazing. Yeah. We do a thing on this program. Okay, another thing.

where we taste a junk food that we've seen out on the shelves. I don't know if you're a Cheez-It fan. I am, but I've never heard of grooves. Me neither. So you just went and bought this? Well, because the things that intrigue me in the junk food, the Cheez-A-Poot people are going a little nuts. Well, you know what it is.

I'll tell you exactly what it is. I know exactly what it is. What is it? Maybe Cheez-Its was falling off, so they had to make it new and improved, and they put grooves on the same cracker. It says bold cheddar. Okay.

Groves. I've taken now, I have four of them in my hand. I'm eating the first one. Okay. This will be it. The first bite was kind of exciting. You're like, this might be something. By the time you're done chewing.

Yeah, no. There's no taste at all. Boo. No, you know what? These might be great with. bourzan cheese out of that little aluminum.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not impressed. No, I'm a cheese at fan. Yeah. That's sad. Cheese it's sad are much don't need a groove. Can I give you some speed names? Yes. Robin Williams.

Oh my God, a genius. When he, what I first met him, shy? came onto the set at the end of like we were almost going to shoot and no one would do this part. Hello. Playing the alien. Hello. Mork?

Hello. Very quiet. And then he picked up a script. And then I realized you just better stay out of his way because you're never going to stand toe to toe with this energy. That quick. That young. That young. That young, that one line out of his mouth.

Jeez. I said, do you want to rumble? He started singing West Side Story. And I thought, okay, I'm not even in the same zip code with this man. Jeez. And never really was his friend, but it was always incredibly tender no matter when I met him in his career. Right. Didn't you tell him not that... Oh, that was crazy.

Don't... That is the stupid, Henry. Now, this guy has so much energy. Yeah. He would do stand-up at night and do a sitcom. And I said, do you know, doing a sitcom takes so much energy and so much concentration. I would not do the stand-up at night. And that was the moment when I realized Henry.

Shut up. Just stop it. Phyllis Diller. Phyllis Diller. Up on the wall. Was funny. A great painter. Lived in my neighborhood.

Warm. And that character that she created was delicious. Isn't it interesting how we can create characters that way? Unbelievable. That's how she got her humor out. Making another person. Right. Which is what you did.

Yes. But, you know, all those people, those monologists, they didn't just tell a joke. They told life stories. Yeah. I directed, I was just fishing in Idaho and we went to dinner at Jimmy Kimmel's wonderful lodge. Right. And Billy Crystal and his daughter, she was celebrating a birthday. and she wanted to go fishing with her dad.

And I directed Billy Crystal in a movie with Alan King called Memories of Me. Right. And Alan King, they told stories that were mesmerizing. And Billy Crystal is as funny as you think he is instantaneous. If he gets an idea in his head and goes on a tear right. than in there, you can't breathe. Yeah. We want him on this program.

I adore him. He's hard to get to. He's hard. He's hard. He's hard to get to. Man, when he did stand up on S&L early, Oh. At that time, we could get to him.

Yeah. And we would call him after a show and just say, oh, my God, it was amazing. Yeah. Sylvester Stallone. is a philosopher, brilliant, great writer. I called him. I have only watched two episodes this year, but I would call him last year after Tulsa King

and say, you know what, you are like a fine wine. Yeah. You have just opened a delicious bottle. I thought he was great in that show. Or it is great. Yeah. I mean, you guys crossed past super early. Yes, we did.

And, yeah, he's an amazing guy. Amazing that he writes everything that he, like, in that package. And how many, how many series of films did he create? Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. Amazing. Rocky.

First blood. Yeah, Rambo. Expendables. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, he creates. He's no joke. He is no joke.

Yeah. And so smart. Neil Simon. Genius would sit in the back of the theater, knew every line to every play he ever did, would sit during rehearsal and would correct you in a letter if you went awry. In a letter. In a letter. I have letters that he wrote me longhand during the rehearsal of the dinner party.

Really? Oh, my goodness. And if you put a the in the wrong place, you let you know. If the audience coughed, he would write a scene during rehearsal that night. You would put it in in the afternoon and perform it the next night,

and he wrote the cough out. He would not let the audience have enough time to cough. God. Yeah. He said, rest of his soul, Mary Tyler Moore did his next play. And he, I believe, the legend goes, he walked into the dressing room on opening night. He said, what are you doing to my play?

And she said, what? What are you doing to my play? You're doing this, this, and this. She put on her hat, walked out the door, and he never saw her again. No. And the understudy took over. Really? Oh.

Battle of Titans. Yeah. Jeez. Anyone you meet that kind of blew you away that took your knees out a little bit? Well, I love meeting people I watch on television or listen to. You know, I just wrote Jelly Roll a fan letter. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

So great. Didn't write back. It's unbelievable. Do you think Jelly listens? Mr. Roll. Mr. Jolly listens. I'm sure he listens. Yeah?

Yeah. Could you let me know? Yeah. Mr. Jollyroll? But, you know, you have to write letters. I love writing letters. Do you still write letters to people? I do.

There's to people. Brandy Carlisle. I adore her. Yeah. Talent. Louis Cabaldi, I'd like to meet him. Who would you rather meet Louis Cabaldi or Jelly Roll? Oh, that's a good one.

That's a good one because they're both very emotional. I don't know. But I have to, I've seen Brandy Carlisle in concert twice. And I need to hug her before. I leave the venue to go home. I need to tell her. And so I'm able to go, they let me come backstage.

I mean, the other personalities and her friends are there. Yeah. But I wait my turn and I give her a hug. And she loves fly fishing also. Oh, really? Big fly fisher person. How long have you been fly fishing?

Since 1988, 86. How'd you get into it? Skip Brittenham, the third, my lawyer. Okay. took us fishing down the Smith River in Montana. Oh. And no pun intended, I was hooked.

Yeah. And your wife, Stacey? Great fisherperson. Never show pictures of her fish because they're always bigger. It must be the pheromones or something that a woman has in that boat and she's fishing. Such a nice, sorry to interrupt, but such a nice part of the book. is your wife, Stacey. Yeah.

Has a voice in the book. Yeah, which you never see. You always hear like the one side. Scary. But then you gave her. Scary. And then in the audio, she recorded her parts of the book.

And she's never done it before. A season pro. Did you, were you surprised by some of the things that she wrote just about looking at you and thinking about you? No, because I hear about it. You've heard about it. She's very, very clear.

Very clear about how she feels. 45 years? 46. 46. May 5 will be 47. Wow. All right. Life advice.

Life advice. The center of your relationship with anybody is the ear, not the heart, not the mind. It does not matter what you meant. It matters that you're aware of how it landed. Oh, oh boy. My life advice. Everything else you figure out. That one's going to take a while for me.

Yeah. As a comedian. Sure. The idea that you don't get what I thought, what I said. Or censor yourself. Yeah. Yeah. Because you don't know what's going to be funny.

Yeah. But I'm saying with my wife. All right. I understand. Yeah. Believe me. It's the ear. How many times I've said,

I'm joking. Right. Didn't matter. Right. Didn't matter. And how do you adjust? I move. Quickly.

Separate homes. No. You adjust and you go, okay. And then you wait a little while. Do you know what? I got great advice. That argument, that rage, that seems to be coming at you, like an entire platoon. is Alka-Seltzer.

It's bubbling. It's bubbling. It's seltzering. Uh-uh. And then... It goes away. It goes away. Right.

Just ride it out. But you did not hear that from me. This is such a treat. I've had the most wonderful time and I get a loaf of bread. Yeah. You get to bring home bread. I would like to thank you very, very much, Tom. not only for this conversation,

but, and I mean this in the nicest way, you can keep the box of grooves. We give them to Joey. Anything we don't like, he takes home. Yeah. You know what I understand that? I really do. On his salary that, you know,

I had, in the beginning of my career, I had a sandwich, a tuna sandwich, an ambrosia salad from a deli, Greenberg's, Greenblatt. Oh, I loved Greenblatt. On Sunset Boulevard, doesn't exist anymore. I know, next to the Laugh Factory. But that's what I had in my half a refrigerator, in my wet bar, in my first apartment. Wow.

For years. The best. Yeah. You eat half, save the rest for the next meal, yeah. Have to. Can't afford a second sandwich. I love that deli. That was a great.

spot. Great tuna. Oh, yeah, don't drink. You don't drink wine. No, I had boxes of ammendean wine, white and red, for guests if anybody ever came over to my apartment. Right. No one ever did. You smoked weed. Well, it says it in the book. I'm not talking out of turn. Yes, I already said it. Yeah. Yes, I did. I smoked marijuana. Do you still? I don't because it now has the reverse effect. I got high and it was fun on, you know, recreationally, when I wasn't driving. And then I was, I couldn't find that same high. And so I stopped.

Yeah, I know. It always seems, now that it's legal and it's everywhere and you smell it, I'm like, oh, that'd be fun. And then I try it. I'm like, when's this going to be over? Yeah, really. Right? Right. Right.

There's a great story when the cops came to your door when you were becoming famous. Oh, was it the FBI? Yeah. I thought it was the police. And they knock on your door and you... And I was smoking. Yeah. Listening to Dan Fogelberg.

Right. And I opened the door and I thought my life is now over. I'm now going to lose my job. I'm going to be arrested. And I said, you are not smelling what you think you are. And they said, we're not here for that. We just want to meet the Fonz. I said, thank the Lord.

RBC Training Ground has discovered potential in over 20,000 Canadian athletes and counting. Your story could be next. If you've got the drive, they'll help you find your path to the Olympics. Let's see what you've got. Sign up for free at rbc trainingground.ca. Such a great moment when you win the Emmy. Yes. For Barry.

Yes. and the places on their feet like that. Yeah, I did not. I was so out of my mind, out of body. I didn't notice that until I watched it back. When I walked up on the stage to receive the award, I saw the two stars of the crown. And I started talking to them about how great the second season is.

And they looked at me like I was mad. And then I turned around and I had 39 seconds left in order to make that speech. It was a great speech. Thank you. It really was. Thank you. Forty years in the making. Yeah.

But for me, as a fan, the coolest thing was knowing that they all feel the same way that I felt, which was just so grateful and happy. And like we said, you made us part of your family. Yeah. And that they were on their feet like that was. It was just an expression of all the work that you did. When I finally could experience it, it was amazing. So great.

I mean, winning was incredible. Yeah. If you listen very closely, you can hear the announcer say, this is Mr. Winkler's one thousandth nomination, his first win. Final question. Yeah. Emmy, your just life journey. when we were talking earlier about how you have all these accomplishments

and you're shutting the door and feeling like it's not enough, it hasn't really satisfied you. At this point, are you satisfied? At this point, I am very happy and I dream at any moment of the day about winning a Tony. Going back to Broadway. The first one, the first show I did, 1973, just before I came out to Hollywood, closed in one night.

The second one with John Ritter in 2000, ran for nine months. Right. The third one was during Sandy, the hurricane. Oh, yeah. So it was called The Performers. We were the pick-to-click, and we closed in seven nights. So I would like to make that right. And if I was to win an award,

Yeah. That would be the one I would love to win. Second final question. Yeah. The first final question made me sad that it was almost over, but there's another question. Yeah. You're obviously still hungry. You want to go on Broadway?

You're always working. I was thinking of getting a turkey sandwich after the interview. You got a couple months. I'm still hungry. You're still hungry. You're still hungry. Do you have a clear vision of the accomplishments satisfy you and you've kind of done enough? Like you feel like...

I don't think I've done enough. I love my job. And I can still do it. And as long as the switch is still on is still up, I am hungry. I love doing what I do. But what's the difference between being hungry and really just wanting to work as an actor and continue with your craft

and being emotionally satisfied, which you didn't get even at the height of being fonds? I don't have an answer to that question. Are you different, though? I am different now because I enjoy my work even more because I have access to a part of me that was completely behind a door. Right, right.

So I'm getting to being the actor I dreamt of being in my bed when I was eight. Right. And now I am 79 and just getting there. Yeah. It's amazing how much life informs the artist. Barry completely was a revelation. Yeah. One more final question.

Yes. Do you think you're cool? I don't think of myself as cool. You're cool. I don't think of myself as cool. I think I look really good in a cable-knit cashmere sweater. You do. Yeah.

And that is your... Like my uniform. That's somewhat of your essence. And back to the Sankha days and playing this guy. Oh, Nebish guy on a first date. But there's a, there I bring a fishing illustration. There's a river that runs through you that is cool. Thank you.

Really. But I do not. Because you knew there was the Fonz, personally. I knew there was the Fons. And I know this sweet, sweet Henry guy who everyone says is so adorable and such a nice person. And it's true. But there's also a river of cool in there. I'm grateful.

Yeah. I'm grateful. And, but I honest to God, without any self-deprecation, I never have thought of myself or think of myself as cool. Yeah. I always think I'm on a race. When I was in high school, I was friends with Bill Murray, Murphy, Bill Murphy and Harvey Joel Meyer. Uh-huh. And it was like I was always chasing.

after them. No, no, no. I'm much better now after the summer. I'm cooler. I'm better. And I never quite felt like I was in the group. Right. I am still chasing to be in the group.

Honest to God. I know what you mean. It's like crazy. Yeah. And I admit that and I look at myself, and I think, that is crazy, Henry. You know, grow the fuck up. We never do.

No. I don't think we do. No, but I'd love to. Yeah. I don't know if anyone, I don't know if anyone masters it. No. I think you get your little hang-ups on your young and you just kind of ride them out. Maybe Ryan Gosling.

Yeah. When you see me, do you think cool? I think funny. I think funny. Now, I'm sitting here talking. talking to you, I think cool because you are, you seem to be so in touch. And being authentic is cool. God, I wish I was cool.

Yeah. You're the best. This was a dream. This was wonderful. This was really great. Thank you. Enjoy the bread. I wish, you know what, when we get closer to Thanksgiving, I'll drop off another bread just

so you, I know it's not going to be the Wonderbread sandwich. No, I'll have it separate. Would you put it on that? Would you put the turkey on that? No. It's got to be wonderbread. They still make it? I will eat yours with delicious slabs of butter.

Yeah, toast it with butter. You're done. A little smoker's jelly? Oh, yeah. Strawberry? Yeah. Yeah, no, it will not go to waste. All right.

Thank you so much. Thank you. We got it, Joe.