Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Ep 27: Henry Winkler

Episode Date: October 9, 2018

Henry Winkler (Happy Days, Barry, Arrested Development) tells me about his parents escaping Nazi Germany during WWII with jewelry smuggled in chocolate, how uncool and nervous he was as a kid, and getting his big break in a repertory group at Yale. Henry discusses his amazing career - how he got cast at the Fonz, dating Shirley from Laverne & Shirley, and his new show with Bill Hader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. I got a little cold, Rob. Can you hear it? Yeah, I'm glad we're sharing food right now, too. Well, they're chicken wings. You can take them individually. It's not like we're sharing a burger. We're dipping in the same bowl, though. Today's guest is a friend of mine, more like a mentor, a father figure, if you will.

He's been through a lot in his life and a pretty dynamic career. Henry Winkler, you might know him as the Fonz. He's been in a lot of Sandler movies. He's got a great show called Barry. He just won an Emmy. Yep, it's on HBO. The show's killing it. I think if you ask anybody in the business who the nicest guy is, they will say Henry Winkler, nine times out of ten.

He's the guy. Well, they might say Jesus. In the industry? Is Jesus in the industry? Yeah. Inside of you is brought to you by our wonderful sponsor, ADT. Rob, I have ADT. It's a home security system.

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Let's get inside of Henry Winkler. It's my point of you. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum Was not recorded in front of a live studio audience We're with Henry Winkler, Henry Franklin, Delano Winkler. Yeah, well, not Delano, but I was named after the president. My parents escaped Nazi Germany.

They're immigrants. Yeah. If they didn't get to stay here, I wouldn't be here. That's true. Yeah. And I was named after the president at the time. Because they were proud of what he did. did he got us out of the war he got us right well also he was just like a thoughtful

calming wonderful man i think you're you're you're insinuating something not i'm not i'm not i'm not saying we don't have to get political henry i'm not we don't need to i'm not in but i could i could i could i could sense i was only talking about my namesake yes and your parents moved over here in 39 right they didn't move they escaped they escaped they immigrated to united states yes and then they had to keep asking the government for extensions that they got. The reason I know this is because I just found a box filled with papers from that time. And I just finished shooting the second season of Better Late Than Never. Wow. With Bill Shatner, George Foreman, Terry Bradshaw, and Jeff Dine. You went on tour. How was that? Our second season. First season was Asia. Right. Pretty great.

I had to eat pork vagina. That was, come again? Yeah, that was on the menu. We went into a yacotori restaurant, a famous for yucatore. Yucatore. Yacotori, a grilled meat. And I said, this is bumpy. What exactly am I eating?

And I called over the grandma who owned the establishment. Now, this year, she told me it was pork vagina. And this year, we went to Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, and Marrakesh. So I want to go back because I like to kind of get to know you. By the way, thank you for allowing me to be inside of you today, Henry. Well, here's the thing, Michael. You and I know each other a long time. I want to talk about that.

We don't know we see each other. We don't. But I have a great deal of affection for you. I feel the same way. Okay. I wrote that in my notes that I haven't looked at. And now we've spoken about it, and you can move on. Well, I, no, there's more of it.

Who listens to this? Do you know how old your audience is? Well, you know, I think a lot of them in the beginning are my fans or fans that just support me. And I hope. So they're in their 40s? Well, I'd say anywhere from 25 to 40, 30 to 45, 50. Yeah. But I'm hoping, you know, now we'll have 55 to 60.

72. We met on a show called the Justin Adler Project. Which started off. really funny and evolved and then or devolved into a less than oatmeal well what happened was it was a half hour drama it was a single cam which means there's one camera shot like a movie every week by the russo brothers right well they weren't even attached then right they weren't even directing they fired the creator on the show oh my god then they fired the writers yes or i guess he was the writer he was the writer and his wife and And his wife wrote at that time Arrested Development.

And she loved you and she put you on that show. Now, we had a great cast. We had John Michael Higgins. Yes, very funny. Very funny. We had Missy Pyle who came aboard. Very funny. Very funny people.

Yeah. And it was a lot of fun, but then it turned, it went from great to hell. It went from great to nothing. I've heard from millions of people, not millions. That's an exaggeration. But everyone says Henry Winkler is the nicest guy in the world. You've never seen him mad. He's the most generous.

I couldn't believe with all the hell we went through How you never freaked out, Henry You never flipped out We had a 24-hour pilot shoot Do you remember the last day? I do. You do. How could you forget that?

I do. There was a duck that was running around, right? Or a goose. Yeah. Yeah. See, here's the thing. How do you do it? Well, first of all, gratitude.

I love, I just love being alive. Number two, I like being alive on this particular planet. Good. number three i love my job i mean i love my job and if we get angry if we freak out you lose the big picture of trying to get this particular pilot or whatever it is on the air all this creative energy goes into what nothing because no one is going to listen to you yell anyway one but do you remember i got upset and you had to call me

down. Okay. And then you got calm and we continued. But I did lose it. And I remember, not lose it, but I remember just being told what to do in a certain way that I, maybe I felt like, you know, felt like the old days with my father yelling at me or it was condescending, whatever it was. Who did that? I did that. It was one of the Rousseau. You would never do that. And I remember you said, Michael, just breathe. It's okay. It's okay. It's going to pass. It's going to go. And somehow. And here we are. And we're, uh, on the radio on your podcast. You know, things can be better.

Really? And what did those guys end up doing the directors? I don't have any idea. Captain America's, blockbusters. Yeah, big, big. Yeah. Cute little guys. Shouldn't have fought with them.

They were. I liked one of them, I think. Yeah. I liked them both. Of course you did. But you used to send me. Hey, you know what? I'm not that crazy about them.

Yeah. It just dawned on me. Yeah. Why did they call you? You were a pleasure. I was nice. Yeah, I'm the ass. Yeah.

God. let me ask you yeah so you're you're i look good in tights do you look good in tights you did a lot of productions where you were in tights none one for my son max the director uh you got in tights how old were you when you got in tights i well this i was in my 40s because he was in school he was at u sc film school right and we were on the beach with uh a young actor named arman witsman you know arman i want to say i do i know the name white's very very very very funny yeah and uh i was playing uh some sort of uh older peter pan and i was in green tights in the middle of the beach were you concerned about your package in front well no you just

grin and bear it it's your son are you proud of it your package and your son of my particular package sure not the whole package but some of the package well i i like the whole package you do good yeah that particular part of my package right it's um It works very well. I've got three children. Yes. I've got five grandchildren. You know, it just keeps going. It's nice.

You were born in 45 at the end of the war. Yes, my parents came over here in 39. Right, I guess that's when the Nazis invaded Poland around that time, right? Yes. And I was born in New York City. And your father came over here and he smuggled in, I want to say smuggled, but he had these chocolates, but they were the family jewels. It was the only thing he had that was worth any money.

That is exactly right. His mother's jewelry and the jewelry he gave his wife, my mother. He encased them in chocolate, put them in the box of chocolate, put a ribbon around it. Did they look at the chocolates? Did they open the chocolates? They never opened the chocolates? They never opened the chocolate. No, they opened everything else. And how much money at that time you think was in that box? That's a good question. I don't know. But enough to do what with? Enough to pawn them and start his life in New York City. Right. Yeah. And would they, and would they? In five years, I guess it's 1944, he realizes, let's celebrate sweetheart. Your mother's name, Elsie? Ilsa. Ilsa, Anna Marie. Elsa, Anna Marie.

Yeah. And she, I guess, the war was going well. The Germans were starting to lose Stalin grad and all that. They were getting cold, you know, wintered out. And they decided to have sex. Yes. Right at the end of the war. And you were born right at the end of the war.

Let me tell you, that was, that was a long. Frustrating. That was frustrating for them. So I know you've talked about this ad naus. But like, I like to get inside of you. I like to talk about it because you talk open-like. Well, you know what's really interesting is one of the episodes of Better Late Than Never this year is my finding my roots in Berlin.

Really? Yeah. And you go there. I do. We went there. Bill Shatner, George Foreman, Terry Bradshaw, and Jeff Dye. Was it emotional? Well, I'll tell you that it was life-changing.

Life-changing. That's amazing. Yeah. Now, you didn't have a great relationship with your parents. I did not. I think this is a, this is, I remember we had lunch at Kate Manilini's. Ooh, doesn't exist anymore. Doesn't exist, but you love that place.

I like the sandwich. Yeah, that sandwich with the, what is it? What's in that? It had, mayonnaise, turkey, coastlaw, Russian dressing, I believe. Was it a jelly, a cranberry? It might have been a cranberry and no crust. Right. And there was a name for it.

And a pickle. There were those little pickles. What are little pickles called? Gerkens. Gherkins. Or, I want to say, Obijon, but that's a big word. That's a color.

Yeah. Could be. I don't know. Yeah. But I remember you opening up and I was, frankly, I didn't know you very well other than you were an icon and you were great to work with and you were supportive. But when I sat down with you, I started telling you about my family. Right.

I wasn't even, it was unbeknownst to me that you came from a dark sort of upbringing. Yeah. And I started telling you, you know. And I mean, like, you know, figuratively too. And not just literally at the apartment. was dark. It was. Yeah, I grew up in. Is that, are you serious? Yeah. It was dark. Dark. Bad area? No. Broadway and 78th. Right. New York City. Just lacking light. Just lacking light. Right.

Yeah. So you opened up and I started telling you, you know, I, you know, my dad's never really said, I love you. He was always like, you know, hard of me. And what's funny is, I don't know if I was dyslexic and maybe, who knows if I am a little. But I knew that I, I was colorblind as a kid. Right. And I did know it to late. later in life till like I was 15, 16 years old. So I was getting very bad grades, not all because of colorblindness. Yeah. But I remember in our class and these, people always thought I was stupid. Yeah. I remember being in Gus Derner sports in Indiana. But you know what?

That tragedy still goes on today. Sure. One out of five children have some sort of learning challenge. Yeah. That's why my partner and I write our children's books. Lynn? Yeah. We're writing the very last Hank Zipser right now.

Well, how many have you written? The 34th. Why is the 34th the last? Because we have decided with the publisher that it was time to move on. I find this fascinating how you didn't, your dyslexic growing up. Right. Your dad's called. I didn't know until I was 31.

I don't know. I mean, look, it's hard growing up in general and going to school and other kids. Yes, it is. Were you not a cool kid? No. At all. No. Where you picked up.

I had to wear an overcoat in August. in Manhattan with only window air conditioning you know those units if I called a girl I had to put on an overcoat because I shook so much what was that where did that stem from

lack of self-confidence do you think that you still have some of that today yes less I must say less I have finally now you know when they say youth is wasted on the young yeah they're not kidding I wish I knew then

What I know now. Sure. Yeah. Well, I came from a family where, you know, my dad was 1420 SATs, really smart. My mom was smart. What did you do? He was, I work in pharmaceuticals and he was a plant manager. My mom wrote articles. And I just remember, wrote articles about what? Like sports articles or articles that were happening, you know, things that were happening in the community in Indiana. Wow. But I just always felt my grades were bad. Right. I read that you used to celebrate when you got to see. Yeah. That's what I, I threw myself a party. That's what I would do. Yeah. I just felt... It was a very small party. I had one noise maker and a hat. It was the shaking. It was, I'm telling you.

But, you know, I just, I remember feeling like my brother's the smart one. My dad's closer to him. I'm the dumb one. My dad's teaching me math. Again, I read something, and the parallels were crazy. Your dad teaching you math. My dad could do calculus back and forth. My father spoke 11 languages.

Yeah, and why can't you do this? Why can't you do this? And I just never had a lot of confidence. So how did I become an actor? And I think it's because somebody, I got on stage, somehow I did it. And somebody said, hey. When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? You know, I was sort of forced to do a play in high school because I was in drama class.

See, I couldn't be in a play in a high school because my grades were so low. You had to have good grades getting. Yeah. Well, my grades weren't great either, but I was in drama. No, but I couldn't do extracurricular. But anyway, when did you know? So you were forced to do a play? Well, I was taking drama class, which was an easy A.

Right. You know, drama class. What do you do? You do nothing. The teacher does nothing. It's drama class. So she said, Michael, I'm not letting you take drama, unless you audition for a play.

Gotcha. I audition for Greece. I got the part. I was Vince Fontaine, the DJ. I was scared shitless to the point where I was in the DJ booth. And they go, Michael, you have to move towards the so people can see you. I was so nervous. And I remember after the play, somehow I got the confidence just to do it.

I'm telling you, I still remember the lines because I was so nervous. A popular kid the next day at school, I'm walking down the hallway, says, hey, you're really funny last night. And it was that moment I thought, no. not being me is better than being me. Huh. So that's, I think, why I started getting acting because I felt like people are accepting me

when I'm someone else. You know what is funny about that? Being me, being, you know, the straight guy is almost impossible for me. I am a character actor. I'm not a leading guy. That's hard to believe. It's true, though.

You just tell you it's true. It's not hyperbole. It just is true. You couldn't do it? No, I could not. I had to have. have a hook. You know, Sir Lawrence Olivier, he built a nose out of putty for the character before he could become the character. His nose came first, and then everything else came.

So he did that because he wasn't comfortable with himself? He wanted to be a character. No, I think that he did that. He found himself or he found the character through changing the look of his nose into a nose of the character. And that's the hook. That's his hook. When I went in on an audition for the Fonz, I changed my voice a little, changed my body. That was my hook. And I got the part.

That's incredible. Yeah. So you couldn't be yourself. I could not be myself. Still, almost today, it's hard to do it. I'm on a new show with Bill Hader for HBO called Barry. I love Bill Hader. I think he's one of the funniest guys in the world.

Well, he's a genius. Did you ever see as Keith Morrison from Dateline impression? I've seen it all. Oh, my God, he's a genius, yeah. Yeah, and you know, you had to find the hook to become the character. I think when I shaved my head for as Lex Luthor for Smallville, I was scared out of my mind. I was like, they're not going to take me seriously. I'm a goofball.

I'm just, I'm sort of. You shaved your head for the audition? No, I didn't. But when I got it, I thought they'd fire me. And when they shaved my head in the makeup trailer, I sort of felt like, I'm different right now. Right. I'm not me.

And that helped me play the part. Yeah. Help me play into it. It's amazing. You understand that. You know, there's a whole acting technique, Comedia del Arte, which is from Italy in the 1700s or maybe even earlier, where they put on a mask and you stand in front of the mirror with an exaggerated mask, not a rubber mask. Either it covers the top part of your face or the bottom part of your face. and you just silently stand in front of the mirror and all of a sudden your body changes a voice starts to come and the face forces you to become a character it's a great exercise for any young actor i have done that in school and then the hook the baldness the changing of the voice that's all the mask

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Michael Rosenbaum in the survey so they know I sent you. Don't wait. Download the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum. Rocket Money. What I'm trying to figure out is Henry Winkner, at this as this young kid in front of a girl wearing a trench coat shaking underneath scared on the phone on the phone not even in front of the girl that wow that's weird yeah not weird i mean that's just i was so nervous now how old are you at this point i am 15 16 was there any love in the family was there any affection was your mother affectionate well i loved our dog what was your dog's name a dervin a an iris setter that my mother gave away why did your mother give the dog she didn't like dogs Did it break your heart? It broke my heart. Yeah. How old were you?

How old was I then? Ten. Did she understand how much this dog made to you? I don't think it mattered, and I don't think she understood. But be that as it may, we now have incredible dogs. Sure. Yeah. You have Irv, who I have known for many, many years.

You give me these random texts, Henry, where it's just, Michael, I'm thinking of you. Yeah. Irv, your brother Eric, love you, I hope you're well. Yeah. And it's enough to, when I see those.

And now I've met your sister. That's not my sister. It's my assistant. Oh, your assistant. Not my sister. That's my sister. I heard your sister.

Rob, that's my sister. Yeah. That was my assistant. Jessica's a lovely person. I met your sister. Yeah, my sister's in Indiana. She's getting married

for the fourth time. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. So you're this young. So your family is really screwed to the wall. Oh, Yeah. My mom is in her third marriage. My dad just divorced his second wife.

How? You're not married. Are you shocked that I'm not married? No, I'm not. I'm not shocked. Maybe that's one. However, I think if you ever decide that that is a route you want to go, I think that you are so filled with energy and life, I think it would be delightful. Do you think I'd be a good father? I do think you would be a good father. You are unbelievable with your dog. Yeah, I love my dog. And when you have a child, from the second before that child is born, you're you, kind of like, oh, my God, I'm scared out of my mind. The second that child is born, that comes out and you hear the cry, something unlocks in you that is indescribable.

It has no language. Unconditional, this is my life. That's it. It's no matter how frightening. it is you figure i can do this by the way i i look back and i you know what i have i believe in forgiveness i really do and i think the only way to move on is to forgive and i think you probably do you forgive i do you forgive i you know my dad was 18 when he married my mother who was 23 with two kids a five and a seven year old had me a year later he was a hippie he had no job right there was

i mean it was kind of hell and i can imagine having a child that young right and so a lot of things that he might have done wrong or his lack of affection or whatever there's certain things did you see him have affection for your mother at times i did really and i think there's that it became some passive aggression where it was like my mom always needed attention and uh aren't i great aren't i pretty and my dad it became sort of yeah you're beautiful yeah we all know you're great it became this weird dynamic and it got kind of ugly and uh and i also just i never confided in my family i never could go to them with the secret no i never did i never felt like I could trust them.

I just, if they're listening to this, I love you. I just couldn't trust you. No, no, no, right. Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen to the truth is the truth. The truth is the truth. Right. You've forgiven them.

Yeah, I have, I mean, I have forgiven them. Is there anybody outside your family you've forgiven? Uh, you know, I forgive Hans, uh, for, uh, rich roads for punching me in the face. You do. When was that? I kind of, I called him some bad names. That was in high school and he was at a, you know, he was mad because my dad called

his dad a fat ass. Right. And then he like, you know, followed me home after a basketball game. And I told him, I just, you know, I was always good with comebacks. Right. I was always the funny guy. Yes. So I was little and insecure.

Right. But when someone said something, I always popped him, right? With something. And everybody laughed and then he felt like they had a bunch of me in the face. He pumped me in the face. And my teeth were crooked. And then I ended up getting veneers. And that's what happened.

Gotcha. Long story longer. Do you know him? No, I don't even know what's going on with him. I haven't seen him since high school. He was a great hockey player. Terrific. So how did you, how the hell did he get in acting if you're like this insecure kid who can't even talk to a girl in a home?

I dreamt about being an actor every minute I was alive. Why? What did you see that said? I have no idea. If people were born to do something, I was born to try to be an actor. But nothing inside. Like, what did you have? I have no idea.

I'm telling you the honest truth. How did you know an actor existed? You saw movies. Yes. I went to the movies at the Beacon Theater, which is now on Broadway, and, you know, is a theater of live performances. like Carol Leifer was just there. Right.

And what movies do you remember Sing Sing? I love that movie. Oh, Comanche, Apache, a lot of Indian and cowboy movies. I noticed, yeah, sure. War films, Rose Over Tokyo, I think that was called. Right. Something like that. So, how old are you now?

You're going to start, you're going to try an audition for college? You apply to 28 colleges? I applied to a lot of colleges. And you got into two. I got into two. One of them I never heard. of since Park University in Missouri right if anybody has gone there right Michael let me know let me know yeah Barbara yeah Barbara can't you that I was just wondering

if there was a Barbara out there I bet there is Tiffany Barbara told me she'd be on the show by Barbara Eden did you ever did you ever date Barbara never she's a lot older than you I know I I I think I dated one actress oh Cindy Williams come on how old were you when you did it Cindy I was doing the Fonz she was phenomenal She was gorgeous. I remember having a crush in her. She is a wonderful. Laverne and Shirley? She's great. Yeah. Fantastic. I remember saying, oh, my God, this woman is beautiful. Yeah, she's a great actress. She's funny. Could do anything. Her talent is limitless, truly. And do you keep in touch? I have seen her over the years every once in a while. Is it weird? Never. Never weird. How long did you day? She's a warm person. How long? I would say less than a year. That's pretty amazing. A year or less. Were you in love? I liked her a lot. I don't know that I was capable at that time in my life of being in love. Right.

I think I was very closed off. If you thought of my center as a colonel, my emotional center, not to get heavy here, but is covered like Chernobyl with just tons of cement. I've spent since that time jack hammering the cement away. still to this day i think of myself as a block of swiss cheese and i'm filling in all of the holes in order to become cheddar i agree i feel this i feel the same one no i it's okay to be completely being a human being what it's the human condition i had i was on the plane last night coming home from dublin and i was i was uh doing one of those conventions no in dublin talking to some fans

and seeing them and signing and signing in dublin yeah it was amazing it was amazing oh my god i've never heard of that one yeah it's called the dublin comic con wow i did one in london so every once in i've done i'm very fortunate to be able to you know they send me all over to do these things uh so i'm very blessed i have to say i love comicans you do i do why is that i because i stand on the other side of the table i don't sit behind the table and then i look at each person that comes up and i look them in the these people are fans I exist because they watch agreed if they did not watch you and pay the money to go to the to the movies or come to the theater you wouldn't be on my podcast that's exactly right I wouldn't be driving the car I'm driving I wouldn't I would be

living in Pekoyma you know some people are like I don't understand these comic cons there's I like imagine you want to go to Cancun every year for a vacation because you want to go to Cancun You love Cancun. It's great. The fans come because these Comic-Conns are like... They're a vacation. What a great way to look at it. They...

And you know what? I was doing this before I had any fame. I was going to horror movie conventions and like, you know, trying to meet Robert England and all these... And then, who's a lovely guy? Yeah, he's like, I ended up doing a movie with him. There you go. I idolized you. Yes, a wonderful fellow.

So I know what it's like to be a fan. I am a fan. I am a fan. I am. I write letters to actors that... Wow me. Who wows you? Michelle Dockery, who was married in Downton Abbey.

Right. Is on a new show on TNT, maybe. And it is called Good Behavior. Last year was the first year. Incredible. John Totoro. Oh, I love John. And I wrote a letter.

John Lithgow in the Crown. What are you say in this letter? I say. Isn't it an elaborate letter? It's an elaborate letter. of what I see them doing in order to create this wonderfulness. And I say, I am moved by what you're doing. And did they ever respond?

Sometimes. Who's responded? John Lithgow wrote me back. What did he say? John Totoro wrote me back. Michelle Dockery wrote me back. Oh, did you ever see Goliath with Billy Bob Thornton? No.

It's on Amazon. Oh, I've heard of it, yes, but I haven't seen it. Well, there is, Mia, or Maya, is an actress, and she was in Venus and Fur on Broadway. And her performance was jaw-dropping. She has a long Greek name. I don't know the last name. I'm so sorry. That's okay.

I'm being disrespectful. Look it up. Look it up. I wrote her a letter. And she responded. No. That's okay. Maybe she didn't get it.

You know what? It's okay. I wrote the letter. You're doing it for you. You're not, I mean, for them to let the note. how you feel, but you're not doing it for reciprocation. I feel the need to write the middle letter. I never expect to get a respond.

Are you friends with anyone that you're actually a fan of? Like you were a fan before you met them and somehow you became friends? I mean, I was a fan of yours. Bill Hader. He thought he was hilarious. I thought he was a genius. And then to work with him, to stand next to him, to watch him, to watch him in between takes, to do scenes with him, to go with him.

Working with him is like water skiing on a lake at five in the afternoon when the water is glass-like. Why is that? Because that's who he is as a man, as a person, as an artist. Just very giving, very thoughtful, and very focused. And knows exactly what he wants. He and his partner, Alec Berg. They know exactly what they want, and they allow you in that structure to be free. and if they like your ad lib it's in you auditioned for yale drama school i did and you improvised

a shakespeareian come on i did i totally forgot it on the spot on the spot i just made it up and thought well i've screwed myself to and you made up lyrics or words a shakespearean word no not necessarily shakespearean words i was never i never in iambic pentameter I didn't make it up. So it wasn't like, by the hand on my arse. Yeah, whatever it was. I just launched and send his dog. And he walked his dog and he loved his dog.

And you committed. I committed. I did you. When you walked out, did you think for a second? Oh, yeah. I got this. No. You're like I'm effed.

They know that. I was so excited. 25 actors were asked into the program. 11 finished. And three were asked into the repertory theater. at Yale at the at the theater and I was one of those three how how does this nervous kid from high school want to be an actor and just auditions for there had to be something before that your answer you just said it wanted will if you know what you want without ambivalence if you dream it it is not a dream if you will it it is not a dream I feel like sometimes those dreams or those thoughts are convoluted with with something that makes me think am I doing this because I think it's probably good for me or the perception of other people will and so I think I this is a bad thing probably no what it's hard to tell you what it is it's not bad it's it seems normal

it's normal we are it's exhausting and it also is a roadblock I said without ambivalence I know that's what made me bring up this question that's right so if you remove those thoughts because they are actually not in any way making your life better or making you a better person, you are then hurtling toward your dream. What about doing too many things at once? I did that, and I cut them out. How do you do that? I decided what do I want most.

And then everything else gets cut out? Not everything. What do I want the most? What do you want the most? That's a question I have to really think through. Tell me now. I mean, personally or... No, professional.

Let's say professionally. Oh, man, that's, that's, that's, I, you know. What do you enjoy doing the most? You know, I think I, I, I really do love acting. Okay, there you go. Just stick with that. But I, I do love acting when it's the right freaking project. I'm not, I'm not like you or other actors who can, you're not, well, you do great work.

You do great jobs, but I, sometimes, wait around for the like the next great one instead of taking you do that not because you're being true to your art you do that because it protects you waiting around what does that do for you it frustrates you mostly you think to yourself you spend a lot of time thinking but i really want to work well oh that just doesn't seem right i talked myself out of and back into more jobs than I continue. I feel like I'm I feel like I'm talking to myself in a way like you're all the same well you're telling me things that I have experienced that I I feel like I get fear it's fear

we're all the same it's fear you want to be successful and you you know you get you get an offer for a job or you want you know you have an opportunity and I cite myself out I'm like no no no I can't the hundreds of thousands of people who are listening to you on this up podcast. Sure. It's absurd. A lot of them know exactly what we're talking about. And it doesn't matter whether it's acting or being a lawyer or being a great hairdresser or or what, I'll make up, whatever it is, we stop ourselves and rationalize, oh, well, it's okay. And then we don't have to face the music. I also, yeah, I think there's a lot of fear in there. I think there's a lot of fear I have a lot of fear.

I want to be, I think I drive myself crazy. Yes. To the point where sometimes I get ticks. Yes. Little ticks where I'm like, I want to be great at this. I'm playing music. I want to be great at this. Yes.

I want to be a great writer. I want to be. And I'm trying to do all these things. Yes. And if there's anything but greatness, I feel like a failure. Right. And it's not true. And that's effed.

That's right. That's not true. You went through a lot of that. I still go through it. I still go through it. I get a job and I think to myself. Can I do this? Can I do this?

I can't act. What am I doing? I forgot how to act. And I'm petrified. I went and auditioned for Bill Hater to do his show. I love this part. Were you nervous? Out of my mind.

Did you tell him? I think afterwards. But when I got in that room, because of his generosity, and the generosity of Sherry Thomas, the casting person and then Alec Berg came in and Sherry's partner came in and they were so supportive that I soared isn't that something when someone who that but I almost wet myself in the hallway you could have easily bombed as opposed to they weren't as they didn't embrace you that's right oh my God I did an audition for a movie and I was so bad it was for

the casting people who did night shift i have known them that long i almost gave up the profession on that uh afternoon when i left that when was this i would have to say let's say within the last five years you went in there and you crumbled i crumbled you something happened did you walk did you know that clammy feeling you get i anxious i don't remember any of that i crumbled did you go to your car do you remember i sat almost almost did you call your wife life? No. How do you deal with it? Bill Shatner had an office in that same complex. His assistant came out and said, Mr. Shatner would like to say hello to you. I said, I'm not in the mood. Mr. Shatner would like, just come in for a minute, would like to say hello to you. I don't know him

that well. I went in, I told him what happened, and he literally talked me back to life. What did he say? What did William Shatner say to Henry Winkler? In the grand scheme of things, It's just fine. Ultimately, it's like, this is life. You're going to fail. You know, my therapist says that to me. Michael, you just need to fail. Right.

I go, listen, when I do stand-up comedy, I wanted to try it. So I did six months. I threw up. Yeah. I would throw up before I went out. You have more courage than I do. That's a really difficult job. It was the hardest in the world.

And he looks at me and says, great. I go, what do you mean great? I threw up. I feel like shit. Yeah. I'm actually, I have explosive diarrhea. Not to be too graphic. No, but you were.

But I was, like, graphic. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was very graphic. I shouldn't have said explosive or diarrhea. It wasn't necessary. Well, one of the other. Yes.

But the point is, I was just, I was so nervous. And then I went out and afterwards I felt great. And I don't understand why I, if I feel great on stage and I feel great after, why do I have to feel like shit before? I experienced that. I public speak all over the country. And I would get nervous and think, oh, my God, this particular crowd is going to be the one that doesn't want to hear a word I say.

They're not interested in what I have to say. And I would do this every one, every speech, and it was as organic the 50th time as it was the first time. Until one day I said to myself, who the hell do you think you are? You know what you're doing and you know what you're going to say. And you know you get laughs. So just shut up and do the speech.

I never look back. How long did that take you? And how old were you when that moment? Oh, I was. Let me tell you that I was in my 50s. Well, you just finally said, fuck it. Yeah. I'm not going to let this get the best of me.

I know what I'm doing. That it's a lie to let it get the best of me because the fact is I am successful at it, the people enjoy what I say. So what is this other thing? Do you think you need to be scared to be good? And I went, no, I don't. And I literally.

turned the light switch back on at that moment, walked up on the stage and gave the speech. And you've never looked back. You ripped the rearview mirror off. You're done with that. I'm done with that. Still acting. I still get scared.

You still get scared. What year was it when your first break was what? Being asked from as a student into the repertory company at Yale, that was a break. That was one of three people. That was big. I made $173 a week. I was there for a year and a half.

I then got a $10 raise, and I went to the arena. That's like $18. Yes. I went to the arena stage in Washington, a great repertory theater. Within three weeks, I was fired. James Woods, Michael Tucker, Jill Ikenberry, Stephen Collins, Chris Guest, and Maureen Anderman, All in the Cast. moon children was the play and you were fired i was fired i cried all the way back driving all the way back to new york i thought who is going to hire an actor who has been fired and how old are you

i am now 22 i i would have jumped off a roof at 22 i would have jumped off a roof i would have jumped off a roof i did commercials i um earned a good living doing commercials for television everybody would say, you know, I don't know how you could do commercials. It goes against our aesthetic grain. Then the next question was, how do you get them? Because I worked in front of a camera. I made a living. I didn't have to be a waiter at night.

I could do plays for free. Right. It was amazing. Especially nowadays. Everybody's doing commercials. Everybody wants to do commercials, campaigns, whatever. TV. Right.

So then. I want to get to happy days and we're going to go through it. I then got on a plane in 1973, September 18th, 2.45 in the afternoon. I landed in Los Angeles. Two weeks later, I auditioned for Happy Days. What'd you wear the audition? I don't remember. Was it a leather jacket?

No, it was not. I didn't have a leather jacket. I just had hair down to my shoulders. Did you have a, did you do the voice? I did the voice. So you went in there with long hair and an attitude. And you acted cool. You were going against the grain.

I had six lines. What were they? I don't know. I think it was he next time, Richie, let me do the talk. I think that was one of them. Wow. Yeah. And I walked out of the room.

I forgot about it. So that's done. I didn't know. I was called back. I re-auditioned, but this time they dressed me as the Fonz. They plucked my unibre. which was painful because wow we did i have a lot of brown i have back hair yeah back hair yeah no kidding it's a jewish thing i think yeah i well i don't you don't have back here no

so it's not a jewish thing well you know what it might be a jewish thing on your side maybe do you know your jeans yeah my dad has some hair on his back i think if i didn't trim it the first time it wouldn't be as bad yeah it comes like like uh like a beard yeah like a beard yeah so you got call back they dress you like the fonds they dress me as the fons they put on makeup they did my hair right did you read with anybody uh pasquale a guy named pasquan right uh i did it again and uh this time i did it from michael eisner and barry diller uh they were both at a bc they went on to run paramont and then michael eisner went on to run disney and barry diller went on to run the world this wasn't for a lead role either this was for a

For six lines. This was for a one episode? No. A recurring. A recurring. Which means if you did 12 episodes, you were in seven. So you're doing happy days. And this is years before you got married.

This is 73, 74? Yes. When you're on television, people don't know you. They think you're the character. Share called me up on the phone and invited me to her famous roller skating parties that she would have in the 70s. Right. And I spoke like Henry, and she said, Ah, you're not the Fonds.

Come on. You're a good actor. I said, thank you. Did you go to the roller skating party? I didn't because, out of fear, I thought, oh, my God, I will be very nervous in front of all those celebrities. I feel the same way around celebrities a lot of times. I'm friends with people, but I always feel like I don't belong.

Yeah. You know who I love meeting music stars. who's your favorite uh i love uh bruno mars i love lord fantastic well you're modern you're more current than i am i love see ya i couldn't get past the 90s i love um mumford and son wow and gmpt you know who i love uh um uh do you know fun yes yeah jug jack antonoff what's the big fun song we are young tonight yeah something like that something like that yeah Well, Jack Antonoff wrote a lot of those songs. Right.

And now he has a whole thing called Bleachers. It's a one-man band, actually. Wow. And he's on tour. Do you like 70 Southern Rock mixed in with 90s? Like who? That's just kind of what our band plays, The Sandwich. Oh, the sandwich.

We're called The Sandwich. I'll buy the sandwich. Well, I mean, we have nothing to buy. Oh. So name some people that you like. I mean, I'm like an oldie. I like, you know, the Carol Kings of Carly. Simons, the Joni Mitchell's, the Doors, the Hendricks into like Pearl Jam and

the wallflowers and Bob Dylan and all like all over the, from the 60s to like Little Anthony and the Imperials. I like Little Anthony in the Imperials. So all over. And every once in all, I'll hear a song today that I'll like. Del Shannon. Del Shannon. My little runaway.

Yeah. Yeah. As I walk alone, I wonder. I listened to that on my Emerson Clock Radio in 19. 5960 in my room in Manhattan wow yeah he felt alive gray plastic i love that song were you lying in your bed just looking up dreams of becoming something it touched me it did yeah so anyway you had fun did a girl ever ask a weird thing like hey will you wear the jacket everybody asks me if i have the jacket will i wear the jacket i'm talking about during sex henry oh no no no no hey will you put on this will you

put on the accent will you give me a thumbs up will you do something anywhere I'm sure. I don't remember. Did you probably do it? Did you probably give in? I don't know. You know, at the time, I wanted to separate myself. Of course. So I didn't realize that this was a craziness in me. But I would say to everybody, you know, I'm not the Fonz. I'm Henry. Rather than just shutting up.

Yeah. I think there's something to that. Eventually, you said, what am I doing? You know what? Yes. Better than being called, hey, asshole, right? Right. That's what it is. It was stupid. But how many seasons you do?

You did 10? 10. And when did you become top billing? I think maybe season four. Now, that was a negotiation. Your agent said, I want him top billing. No, my lawyer. Most of my lawyer, yeah.

Where the other cast members upset? Skip Brittenham the third. Well, let me just say that I never, I never flaunted any of that. Yeah, you don't seem like a guy who would flaunt. No. Ron Howard was the star of the show And I always treated him in that way And he was like my younger brother

Right So there's no ego No one ever said anything Chachi didn't walk in one day and say Hey all of a sudden this guy's the top And nothing like that was ever said Or they never said it to my face Right

And it was a good family Like a good you guys all got along We played softball together All over the world I remember that I remember seeing that We played charades on Sunday, Saturday nights.

You, you actually hung out. Yeah. I didn't hang out with the cast. We were a really tight family. That's amazing. Yeah. And there was no real problems on set, no arguments. No.

It was just that simple. The only argument was, this is not working. I need, I need to redo the scene. Brian Levant, could you rewrite? Right. Yeah. Babelou Mandel. And they were fine like that.

Fine with that. They were not only fine, they rewrote it brilliantly. This is such a blast. Yeah, me too. Are you having fun? I'm getting tired. Are you getting tired? We'll wrap this up.

We've talked a lot. What are you most proud of? The books. Hank Zipser, the world's greatest underachiever, and the second series, Here's Hank. And do you write the books with Lynn Oliver? I just left there. We are writing the very last Here's Hank ever. And we've almost finished chapter six.

And this is the last one. The last one. These are just some quick questions. Go ahead. From fans. Truly? This is it. Yeah, these are.

I looked online. Okay. My sister did. Yeah. I mean, my assistant. Brandon McCarty, 13. You could just this quick. You've been asked.

Go ahead. How difficult was it for you to shed his bad boy sex symbol persona for a dramatic and full-out comedy roles? You never shed. a memorable role it just doesn't happen what you do is you embrace it and you go on and if you are good at what you do if you train uh to be good at what you do and you just keep putting one foot in front of the other eventually you just all of a sudden build another segment of your reputation old school underscore pappy was that really your ass on water boy or was it a stand in it was a stand in you would not show your ass no it's not that it's uh his

ass was tighter than mine he was in the lighting he was on the lighting crew you wanted a tighter ass they wanted a tighter they wanted a tighter they wanted i bet your ass is just fine i always consider you a mentor yeah someone who i met someone who's kept in touch like you said we don't see each other right we don't talk all the time right i i but we just had a great we absolutely flowing conversation I really did. And I remember one time I regret this. I have a lot of regrets in life and I'm trying to stop that. But you asked me to go fly fishing with you. Yeah. And I couldn't go. Right. And I felt like that was no, that was fly fishing. That was salmon fishing north of Vancouver. Because one of the greatest things about being a celebrity, honest to God, is that I don't have to stand online to go into a watch a movie. Number two. What do you mean? You don't have to stand in line. I can buy a ticket. And I can buy a ticket. And I can say to the manager, could I come inside and I will wait quietly. You don't have to worry. I'll

sit in my seat while they clean around me, but I will take a lot of pictures outside. Now, so that's number one. Number two is that I have been asked in the past to go on these fly fishing adventures where they outfit you. They fly you to New Zealand or to Montana. You can take your son. You can take your wife and you fly fish for 10 days. Do you think you'll ever ask me again to go fishing with you? No. Never. Well, I'm not asked. You're not asked anymore. No. That's what kind of warrant, run its course. Well, it just, I haven't been asked. Maybe it'll come again. I love you, Henry. I really appreciate you, allow me to be inside of you today. I just want to say, if you're going to do, if anybody out there, if the million or so people

that are listening are they're going to be on this podcast get a really good map because this house is hard to find let's not give the address no oh by the way is it weird that I'm going to ask you to sign my Fonz doll no I that would be a pleasure really yeah you won't get mad is not at all and he's wearing

his um a garage uniform yeah it's the only one I have I bought it years ago his jumpsuit Yeah. I like that. You're a man. You're a good man, Henry. Can I call you for advice any time? Keep it to a minimum. Minimal. Thank you for allowing me to be inside of you, Henry.

Thank you for asking me to be on. I really, really enjoyed this. Me too. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Oh, man. Believe has the podcast to enhance your football experience.

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