The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Henry Winkler

Episode Date: May 3, 2022

Henry Winkler joins Andy Richter face to face to talk about booking Happy Days, life after Fonzie, not letting fame get to you, Barry on HBO, and more!

Hello everyone, it's Andy Richter and I am very excited today because for the first time in approximately 12 years I'm actually I actually am face-to-face with a guest, and what a guest. Very excited to be talking in the same room with Henry Winkler. I'm very happy to be here. I just have to tell you, I only have time for three questions. All right. There are three, but they do tend to go on a while. They're essay questions.

Ah! I didn't do well at those at all. Now, we, and like I said, we, this is, have you been doing press face-to-face with people? Just recently. Yeah. For three years, I've been doing it on Zoom. Yeah. And it is so great to be in the same space.

I think so too. And the thing that I like about it most is that I have become an expert at, I mean, it doesn't even take that much expertise, at noticing when you're talking to someone on Zoom and they're looking at their phone while they're talking to you. You can always tell. People think they're being sly. And sometimes I'm guilty of it. You think you're being sly, and sometimes I'm guilty of it. You think you're being sly, but everyone can tell. It's true. Yeah. I am so guilty of that, Andy.

I can't tell you. I know. It's, well, you know, it's like church. If you could have your phone in church. I once did jury duty, and at the time I had a BlackBerry, and I had a game, like a crossword sort of game on it. And I had to do it very secretly, but if they'd caught me and yelled at me, I would have said, I'm having to do this to stay awake. Sure.

Because jury duty is not – I mean, and this was a murder trial, honestly. It still was boring. Right. When I was there at the jury downtown for the picking, and the man was a mass murderer, and he turned around and looked at us in the jury box as we were being picked, and he looked right at me,

and I said, can I talk to the judge, please? That man knows who I am from television. He is going to seek me out and be in this room for murder number two. I have to go home now. Oh, yeah. See, this one, everybody told me, oh, they won't pick you.

You're on TV. You're famous. They had no problem picking me. And I just, and I went through the whole thing assuming, well, I guess they just, you know, because there's people, most people know me from the Conan O'Brien show, which means you have to be up at 1130. Yes. And a lot of people aren't. The crime is only, is usually an 1130, 1145 time slot. Yes. And a lot of people aren't. Well, crime is only, as usually, an 1130, 1145 time slot. Yes. The people, the accused all knew who I was.

No, but we went through, and it was a murder trial. It was a homicide trial. And we got to the end, and then you could kind of chat it up with the lawyers. Right. And they all came over and said, big fans. Big fans. So they knew that I was on TV, but they didn't care. What was it like in the jury room?

People, again, some of them knew who I was. Right. And a couple of people said, like, I know who you are, you know, kind of thing. But most of them waited until the end because we had been so instructed to. But what was the conversation like about the case? Oh, about the case? It was actually kind of frustrating. And I ended up, because when we adjourned as a jury, and this is not exact, this is people, this is a bonus content here, people.

You didn't expect this, my jury talk. No, it's interesting. But it was a guy, it was two guys that worked together at a pallet yard who, after they got off work, drank for about 18 to 20 hours at the pallet yard. And then they started kind of play fighting and then it would escalate. And then they started kind of play fighting and then it would escalate. Right. And there were a bunch of other people that came and went from the pallet yard and all the other people left. And at one point they were hitting each other with boards, a piece of scaffolding, and somebody got set on fire. And that's how the person died.

By mistake. Two days later. Well, and in the jury, the first thing, they put us in this room without any instructions as to how to actually, you know, the Roberts rules of order. And just, you know, being kind of a talker, there was a 30-second lull. And then I just said, I think the first step is we pick a foreman, like someone to be the foreman of the jury. Right. Four people went, you do it. I said, well, we have to vote. And they all just went, we vote for you.

All right. So I'm the foreman now. And I was amazed because this the person that did the murdering walked across the yard got a gas cap took the flow arrestor off of it right you know the thing that makes it flow more controlled so you don't splash gas everywhere took it off dumped it on the guy and then lit matches to light him so and and and the guy died a gruesome death and i told him flat I said, I want to give this guy an A plus in murder. Like you can't say that this was not, that he thought, well, I just want to mess the guy up. Yeah. You don't dump an entire gas can on somebody.

I just wanted his leg to be kind of like a little mangled. I wanted him to know, just to know I was upset. Yeah. For him to feel as hot as I was. Really? But there were people who were saying that it should be manslaughter. And I said, how is this manslaughter? This is an intentional homicide. And then there was a guy who really was pushing for second degree murder. He said, because, well, there was

elevated emotions. And I said, I think you'll find that's a hallmark of most homicides. I think that's, there are very few are cool, calm, and collected. And the thing that really did, and I kept pushing for first degree, which I guess the difference. And I found out this guy worked at Caltrans, which meant that he could have been on the jury for seven years and been paid the same. His job would not have been upset with him, with his government job. So I thought this guy is going to dig in his heels. So, okay, second degree murder. That's fine. And that's what we ended up handing down. Yeah, that's what we ended up yeah that's so he could get parole in well this was 2008 yeah 13 years he might yeah yeah in 13 years so 14 anybody's

holding a hose around you that is not garden that's right that's right you watch your ass well speaking of mean streets you you are from Manhattan originally. I am. You are a- 78th and Broadway. One of those rare, you know, people that come from somewhere else, and I speak for myself, when you meet born and bred Manhattan New Yorkers who are normal, normal, nice people, it seems such a shocking thing.

Yeah, but remember, see, my mean streets were really only four blocks because then there was Zabar's. So that was the cutoff. You didn't go past Zabar's? No, you got Nova Locks. You come right down. That's good. Yeah.

That's good. It keeps it in the community. It's true. Yeah. That's good. It keeps it in the community. It's true. Yeah. We still, you know, on high holidays, my wife ships in the locks from Zabars. From Zabars. On Broadway. Yeah.

Because there is not a better locks. Yeah. We've gotten Russ and Daughters a lot. Very good. Yeah. Very good. They've gone hip, though. But you know what? It's still a lot. Very good. Yeah. Very good. They've gone hip, though. But you know what?

It's still good. She deserves it. The daughter of Russ is there. Oh, really? Oh, my God. Yeah. Just great. No, it really does make a difference.

It's really good stuff. And then right down the block is Katz's. Yeah. Wow. What a pastrami sandwich. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, What a pastrami sandwich. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

No, I do miss that aspect of New York. Although I do feel like even that has changed. You go back. I mean, there's still Barney Greengrass. Yes. That's right. And it's still the same. Right. And Katz's is still the same, but Russ and Daughters is different.

Sabar's is just larger. Yeah. Just bigger. They bought the block. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know. Yeah. That's a lot of locks. Zabar's is just larger Yeah, just bigger They bought the block Yeah, yeah, yeah You know Yeah That's a lot of locks

You sell a lot of locks You get the building It is Now you were Best cheeseburger in New York Is on 56th Street Or 57th At the Parker Meridian Hotel

In the lobby Oh, right Behind those velour curtains It's like a little burger speakeasy. The greatest cheeseburger, maybe in America. Yeah. Maybe in America. I had one years ago, and yeah, I do remember it being very good.

I never miss one. Yeah. Now, you were- I'm on Barry. No, I just wanted to say that that's kind of what I do now. Hey, everybody. He's on Barry. Yeah.

That's on HBO, 10 o'clock Sunday night. And you are getting- We can go on anywhere from there. You are getting very lauded on Barry. People are loving the work you're doing on Barry. But Andy, I said this before. I was 27 when I arrived here. Yeah.

And I got the Fonz. Yeah. I was 72 when I got Gene Cousineau on Barry. Uh-huh. Did I say it was on HBO? You did. Oh, yeah. I am amazed.

Yeah. It's amazing that at this moment in my life, I am having this good a time. Yeah. Now, I want to get there, but I do want to start in the beginning because the first question is, is where you come from? Right. I come from very short Germans. Very short Germans. That's where I come from. That's right. And you were raised Orthodox, but didn't keep kosher? No, I'm conservative. Conservative. Conservative Jewish in New York. My parents were co-founders, you know, founders of the temple that was between Broadway and Central Park West

on 66th Street. It no longer exists. My past is gone. And does that just happen sort of as the congregation ages out and people move on? You know what, that's exactly what happened. Yeah. The young people kind of were not drawn to it. And it just petered out. And I imagine a lot of people like you moved. So they're not going to go to the same temple. Well, I did.

If you live with my parents, you move. move i mean that's like a prerequisite yeah yes yes new jersey was not far enough i talked to barry sonnenfeld once and he said that he couldn't i was on a set kind of making fun of my mother and somebody said oh don't be so mean to your mother. And Barry overheard. He was directing the movie and said, let him go. You should always be able to say bad things about your mother. It's true. And his story was that when he went away to college, she cried and said that you'll never come home now that you're going to sleepaway school.

She called it sleepaway school. Okay. So I was eight. now that you're going to sleepaway school. She called it sleepaway school. Okay. So I was eight. I had a beautiful iris setter. And the dog's name was Dervin. And Dervin, if I jumped in the lake, would jump in with me to make sure I was fine,

my mother gave it away. Period. Why? What was her reasoning? What did she say about that? I think my mother, amongst other things except for Canasta, didn't like dogs. Wow. Yeah. And you were not consulted in any way?

I was never consulted about anything. About anything. Yeah. And what was your reaction? Were you able to voice that you were upset? As an adult, i now have dogs yeah and i have and a golden doodle and a labradoodle and my son max's idiosyncratic three-legged german shepherd who is on severe medicine wow yeah wow well. Wow. Well, you know the Germans.

They were a fraught bunch. Yeah. Yeah. Did you, did you, now your father was in the lumber business, correct? He was. He bought, he was the middleman. Yeah. He bought and sold lumber for the decks of ships, the stocks of guns, the you name it, a broom.

And he bought and sold wood from every country and wanted me to take over the business. And you had no interest. I didn't even like saying the word wood. The only wood I wanted was Hollywood. Yeah, yeah. But I was told that I would never get here because I was such a bad student. Well, now how does it work that you live in a household where your dog can be given away? Yes.

But you can make your own career choice? I couldn't. Did you just have to escape? They told me I was an idiot. Yeah. They said I was a dumber hunt. I was a dumb dog. Dumb dog, yeah.

You don't make your own career choice. What you do is, and this is the one thing I will pass on to your listening audience. If you have a sense of what you want, you do not listen. You go about your business. If you're honest with yourself and you believe you can do what you're thinking, what you're imagining, you don't listen to somebody else who said, oh, you know, that's too difficult. Oh, you shouldn't do that. You should take over the family business. You should shut up is what you should do. Yeah. Yeah. Well, was there a lot of conflict in your, you know, when you went away to college and cause you did study. I did. I got into one of 28 colleges

and that was Emerson. Thank God. Emerson in Boston. Very good school. Yeah. People love that school. But it's just one of the best small schools now in the country. Yeah. And then I don't know where I got the nerve. I went to Yale Drama School. They took me in. Ooh la la. Oh my God. Yeah. And then I'm here with you. Does getting into Yale Drama School mean anything to your parents Or is it just sort of a fancier way to fail? No, because it was drama school. It wasn't Yale. So they didn't quite get it. But here's the pan.

So everything I – when I school about slow motion, about falling, about stop time, I applied to that episode. My entire schooling came in to help me. Yeah. And he sort of did that stuff anyway, didn't he? He did. But he hadn't been trained as an actor.

No, but I want to tell you, whatever was going on in his head, I knew, uh-oh, I'm in the presence of greatness. Just don't get in his way. Right. That's what I knew. Right. Well, what happens between Yale and Fonzie? Okay. Because there was a movie, right?

There were you kind of- Awards of Flatbush. Yeah. Where you- Sly Stallone. Kind of a greaser character. Yes. And that probably-

That came out after- Oh, it did. Happy Days was on the air. It did. Okay. But was it shot prior to Happy Days? It was shot prior. Okay.

As a matter of fact, it was shot over a year's time. I made $2,000. Wow. And the day after the final principal photography, I got on American Airlines at 10 in the morning with Perry King and flew for one month to California. You mean flew to stay for a month? I had enough money for a month.

Yeah, yeah. But I did plays for free. I got really good at commercials. You know, I have to say I thank the Lord for commercials. Yeah. Because I was able to do all those plays for free at the St. Clement's church space in the basement. Yeah. Because I the basement. Yeah. Because I did commercials.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was it hard on a Yale drama school graduate to be doing commercials? Well, it was hard because I accepted the guilt of everybody else that went to Yale who said, how can you do that? Right. We're trained for the theater. Yeah.

Now their next question to me was, how do you get them? Right. And how much did you make? That's right. Because I literally supported myself. I rented an apartment from Louis Stadlin, who was a great character actor on Broadway at that time.

He played Groucho Marx. And I rented his apartment on West End Avenue, 72nd Street, West Side, $174 a week. Wow. How about that? I had a bedroom, a living room, a little eating area, and a kitchen. Wow. Thank you very much. A shared bathroom? No.

No. It was mine. Okay. People who came in, I sent to somebody else's apartment. But no. Yeah, yeah. Now, were those happy times? I mean, when you get...

In New York? Yeah. I mean, after you get... In New York? Yeah. I mean, after you get out of Yale, is there a long time before you're making your own living? A year and a half. Yeah.

I left Yale in 1971-ish, two-ish. In 1973, I go to California for one month. At the end of that month, I got the Fonz. So for me, it was a miracle.

And were the people aware of the Lord's? Had they seen dailies of the Lord's of Flatbush? Wow. So it's just a coincidence. And just changed my voice. Wow. For the audition. Yeah, yeah.

And was it between you and anybody else for Fonzie? Every person I ever saw on television was in that room waiting to go in. Wow. To meet the producers and Gary Marshall. Yeah. And did, I mean, did you just, what was in your mind to be the Fonz? I mean, because I had nothing in my mind. Yeah. Being a short Jew from New York, I was scared out of it.

Yeah. When I changed my voice, it changed everything. I slowed down. I relaxed. I ad-libbed. I just took over the room. Yeah. I walked out.

I threw the script in the air. And then, like, at the end of a week, they called and said, would you like to play the character? Wow. Were you aware at the time that this show was going to be? Because Happy Days was a spinoff of Love American Style, was it not? It was an episode on Love American Style. Ron Howard was in it. He was the star.

Tom Bosley was there. No, Tom Bosley was not there. It was another character actor, and the name escapes me as almost every name in my brain has gone now. Yes. But he was there. Marion was there. and the name escapes me as almost every name in my brain has gone now. But he was there. Marion was there. Anson Williams was there. And I think Aaron Moran was there in the Love American stuff.

Right. And the older brother was still there. Right. Chuck, I think. Yeah. Now, there were two Chucks. The first Chuck just left. He said, this is not for me.

And I think he now sells insurance somewhere in San Diego. The second Chuck, who unfortunately, bless his soul, just passed away, was there. But the Fonz became the older brother. Yeah. So they couldn't write for two older brothers. Right. So Chuck literally went upstairs and never came down again. Yeah, yeah. Wow.

He's still up there. Still up there. I was just thinking that for a long time we brought him food. Were you surprised by how big this thing, like, did you have any idea that it was going to be a big show or was it just like any other one that had a long shot? It had a lot. Now, remember, there were only three stages. When we were doing it, one camera, which is like making a movie. Yeah.

Took us three days to do an episode. Yeah. We were 48 and we were nearly canceled. Gary had the idea of doing it in front of an alive audience. Right. September 1975, we went on in front of a live audience. Boom. Wow. That was what it, otherwise we would have been off the air. Yeah. I mean, I was a kid. I was in grade school when the show was on. Yeah.

And I mean, I remember going to school and it was, was it Tuesdays or Thursdays? Tuesday night, eight o'clock. Tuesday night. Which is so funny because Barry is on Sunday night at 10 o'clock. At 10 o'clock. On HBO. You know what? But you can watch it whenever you want.

And an alarm goes off inside me that I have to mention the show every once in a while or I get a rash. Does your wife awakened at night when you sit bolt upright and go, Barry on HBO? I say her name first. I say, Stacy. Hit it. And she goes, Barry, 10 o'clock HBO. Now, please let me sleep. Please.

Enough already. But she's such a supportive person. Yeah, yeah. And how long? Well, I imagine Happy Days made a huge change in your life. Oh, my God. Happy Days made a huge change in your life. Oh, my God.

I went from Henry Winkler, a person on the earth, one of the billions, to you play the Fonz in 126 languages. Yeah. I'm telling you, it was shocking. Yeah. And you know what? This is what I know the human mind has nothing in it that prepares you

for fame it is not part of the human condition yeah it is completely artificial right and when you think about it it doesn't exist anywhere in nature

no you know no I have never met a deer who said, excuse me, Bambi. Yeah. Right this way, Bambi. We've got your table ready. Yeah, no. And you're on the menu. Was it hard on your psyche? Very hard.

Yeah. Was it hard on your psyche? Very hard. Yeah. It was hard to tack yourself to the floor. Yeah. I had to literally hold myself down with weights. And then I had a family.

I met Stacy. And then I had a son came as a gift with the marriage, Jed. How old was Jed? Jed was four. Oh, wow. And I was on a candle. I was a candle on his birthday cake the year before I met him. Wow. Then came Zoe and Max.

You mean Fonz was a candle. Yes. Wow. Yes. The character was a candle. Wow. And then the family keeps you pretty well grounded. But it is, if you listen to the way people treat you, because they think you are your imagination, you could be dead.

Did you worry about losing yourself? I mean, were there instances where you felt yourself kind of heading in that direction? The truth of the matter is I'm so dyslexic and there is an emotional component to that where you feel terrible about yourself that it couldn't possibly be true what these people are saying about me. Right. It was only practical. It was practical that I was earning a living. I now bought a house. I had food on the table.

I could send my children, give them good education. But that's it. Yeah. Because I imagine if you sort of, if you live in a situation that always feels a little bit beyond you like i'm all right i'll just kind of keep going along with it and fake it until i make it and then if you know it's probably pretty easy then when you get into a situation like that that just has to overload i mean i you know i got on television and i got to be known, but not like that. That show exploded.

Yes, it did. It was an extraordinary thing for everybody concerned. But no matter what the level is of your knowingness, of your being known-ness, it still turns your head 360 degrees. Yeah, yeah. And you have to remember, let other people think it, it is not true. Yes. That's very, very important.

Yeah. And it's like you said, you'll die. And that doesn't necessarily mean, I mean, it could mean actual mortality, but it also could mean just the death of a self that you had prior to this experience. And that you don't even, because I'm always leery of people, you know, friends of mine. Like I have friends that will do commercials with their spouse. do commercials with their spouse. And I've even said to them, doesn't it make you nervous to turn,

to commodify the one thing in your life that should be kept real and separate from all of this bullshit? What do they say? Yeah, we try. We're aware of it. You know, but the money is good. It's the money. You know, there's a famous lawyer, a music lawyer in New York who says, and I quote this every day in my mind,

it's not about the money. It's only about the money. And that is true. It's true. In this country, the population has been completely discarded for profit. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it is. But, I mean, you know, I always think, you know, I didn't invent this thing where it says you have to go and make this number, this pile of paper that has a number attached to it and that's what

allows you to trade it in for other things so you know i've never i never felt any i mean i try not to do anything too embarrassing but commercials and those kind of things like yeah you know but what do you what do you love to do that you would not be able to do if you didn't make some of that pile? Not worry is a big one. Just like, and, you know, and my children have had- How many? Two. I have a 21-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter.

Wow. And they both have gone to excellent schools. Right. I like to say my beach house is in their heads because of all the money. I'm going to steal that. Yeah. I'm going to save that. Please do.

And I hope it pays off. I mean, not even that they're big, huge successes, just that they're happy, well-informed, well-adjusted people that are equipped. I think the most important infrastructure in America is education and critical thinking. Yes, because there is a section of the population of our great country that has no ability to decipher. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, well, and they're not encouraged to either. No. Well, we're encouraged to be stupid.

Yeah. Because then we are like sheep. Yes. Yes. Well, and also I feel like everything has become pro-wrestling too, so it doesn't even. Yeah. What's actually being fought about.

I did that movie. The one and only. Oh, yeah, yeah. I was trained to be a wrestler. That's right. Yeah, yeah. We would shoot all day. Carl,

oh my God. Carl Reiner? Carl Reiner. Yeah. See what I said? I'm not kidding. It's all right. I'm not kidding.

It's okay. So embarrassing. Rest is fine. Carl directed it. Yeah. And we would shoot all day. And at night, I would train as a wrestler. Yeah, yeah. Any major injuries?

Any spinal compression or anything like that? I'm sure that there were head injuries along the way. Right, right. That are still evident today. Yeah, yeah. One of them is I have no idea who I'm in that there were head injuries along the way that are still evident today. One of them is I have no idea who I'm in this room with. Nobody does. The engineer, nobody does.

They all think I'm Jesse Plemons' brother or something. There you go. I knew you'd look familiar. Can't you tell my love's a-growing? Was there a point where Fonzie became too much for you? No. No, never? I'll tell you when it, yes, yes. I have an office now at Paramount. I have a great lawyer, Skip Brittenham III,

who said, you know, I'm going to get a company. I'm going to build a company for you. I said, but I can't do that. I don't understand that. He said, you'll learn. I'm sitting in my office. Happy Days is over. I cannot get hired as an actor.

He's wonderful. He's so funny. He was great as the Fonz. Was he great as the Fonz? But he was the Fonz. Yeah. Nobody. Yeah.

And that's when I had psychic pain, the likes of which I have never experienced before because I had no plan B. I had just lived for 10 years, 10 years my plan A. Yeah. And I thought, will I do something that will be as impactful? I don't know what that is. I'm not being asked.

What do I do next? I have no idea. I'm over. I'm finished. Yeah. I'm that magic paper that you I'm over. I'm finished. Yeah. I'm that magic paper that you light on fire and goes poof. Yeah. And it's gone.

Yeah. That's when I started producing. Uh-huh. Which I didn't like, but you have to reinvent yourself. Right, right. And your kids are pretty young then at that time. That's when the Fonz, that was the moment the Fonz woke me up. Yeah, and became more of a burden than a...

One that I am so happy I had in my life. Of course. But I'm not viable anymore. Yeah, yeah. Was there regret attached to that? No. No. I never had regret that I did it. I only had sadness that I've stopped. Yeah. Yeah. And that you hadn't prepared yourself more. Never knew. Never knew to think about it. Right. Right. I thought I would beat the system. Yeah. How long did it take you before you found producing?

And what were those? Producing came quickly. Yeah. And the first show on the air, Ann Daniel, who was my executive at ABC, bought MacGyver in the room. Oh, wow. Wow.

I didn't know you produced MacGyver. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, I sold it in the 80-whatever. Wow. With the handsomest man on the planet, Richard Dean Anderson. Yeah. And then the wonderful MacGruber spinoff.

Absolutely. Have you been in any MacGruber stuff? Oh, that would be so great if you could. Yeah, yeah. He's great. Oh, it's so funny. I love MacGruber. Will, oh my God. could. Yeah, yeah. He's great. Oh, it's so funny. I love MacGruber. Oh, my God.

Yeah. What a talented. Amazing. Yeah. Extraordinarily twisted mind. Yeah, definitely. Wow. Yeah.

No, but my partner, John Rich, and I, that was the first show we sold. We also sold a half an hour comedy starring Jeff Tambor as a blind English professor, Mr. Sunshine. It was magnificent. And it only went for 13. Ah, yeah, yeah. Were you on these shows like every day, hands on? Hands on every day. Yeah, yeah.

Now, there were certain things I knew how to do. Read a script slowly because I wasn't good at reading. So I could help doctor. Editing. Casting. Talking to the network. Not being intimidated by that. And then there were other things that other people did,

which were the business things. And that you learned as you went along. But I never learned the business things really well. Yeah. I can't either. No. I just don't care. I don't care and I don't get it.

You can explain business things to me five times and 10 minutes later, I don't remember again. I don't remember again. But there is always somebody else who understands. Right. And God bless them. Yeah. Let them do it. Whenever there's, you know, writer's strike

and, you know, like the latest writer's strike, I had the issues explained to me at least three times and then realized the next day, I don't remember what exactly we're fighting over because it's all. The writer's strike of 1980? No, this, you know, the potential one that was coming around and then, and everybody had to fire their literary agents, you know, like just recently.

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I just I I feel in some ways that'm protecting my ability to just make jokes and be funny and have fun. But can I ask you a question? Do you think that it is actually known protection or that that's the way our brains work, that there are areas that don't get in. Yeah. You know, I have to say for maybe 20 years ago until then, and I'm 76 now, I was naive. Yeah.

And then there comes a moment when you can't be anymore. Yeah. So do you think that you are knowingly protecting yourself? I think so. I don't know if that in my mind there's some, you know, some sort of like supercomputer that's going, it's important to protect your childlike nature so you will avoid financial considerations. childlike nature, so you will avoid financial considerations. I think I have been lucky enough to be in a job where having fun is important and that protecting that, having fun, is the same way that you would protect the secret recipe of your barbecue sauce.

Right, or Coke. Yeah, or Coke or whatever. I know, no, I cannot become too much of a grown-up because I won't be able to do this, and I don't like being a grown-up anyway. Whereas if I had been, say I had, because another— Let me ask you a question. How did not being a grownup or not allowing yourself to be a grownup collide with your parenting? Or were they separated?

Compartmentalization. Right. There's, I believe, you know, there's a sort of a school of thought that is anti-compartmentalization. I think it's vital. I think that it is like a beneficial bacteria. Yes. Because there are some ways, especially working in show business,

where you have to keep them separate because one muddies the other. Right. And especially when one is very important. Right. Parenting, family. Very. is very important. Right. Parenting, family. Very. The most important.

And the other one is really pretty silly. Except important that you're keeping the first one. Exactly. I'm on Barry on HBO. HBO. 10 o'clock Sunday night. 10 o'clock on Sunday nights. But really, you can watch it on demand if you want to.

Yes. Yeah. You could. you can watch it on demand if you want to. Yes. Yeah. You could. You can watch it anytime you want. No, but I'm telling you, just to avoid the rash. I understand. Because I don't see any ointment on the desk here. No, just disinfecting wipes, and that would probably sting.

Sting. Yeah, that would hurt the rash. You don't want to do that. No. So anyway, Barry. Yes, Barry, Barry. No, just every once in a while I mention it. I understand.

Was there any time between the Fonz and his current, say, like Arrested Development where you got really antsy to act again? No, always. Always. Always. Always. I did so many jobs and then I realized, you know what? I'm doing too many. I'm going back to what I love. So I reduced a lot of my jobs. Now I am an actor. You mean you're producing jobs and other things.

I produce. I'm producing, but not as much. Not as much. And directing, almost not at all. Mm-hmm. Writing books for children. Mm-hmm. And acting. Yeah. Great.

Speaking publicly. Uh-huh. When did that happen? When did that change? The speaking? No, the... Oh. I know you. You've spoke for a number of years.

25. No, I meant... But I've only been on Barry for three seasons. Three seasons. Well, yes, of course. It's only a three-season show. Did I say it was on HBO? HBO, I believe you said it was Sundays at 10?

Yeah. Yeah. Nine Central. Nine Central. No one from Central Time Zone listens to this. Is that true? Yeah, I know. I'm not very popular in the Midwest.

They know me. They're too familiar with me. Well, I'm going to go to the Midwest. I'm going to Idaho. Oh, really? And I'm going to Iowa. Well, that's the West, I would call it. Iowa?

Iowa. That's Midwest, definitely. And I'm going to mention that they have to get on the stick. Yeah, yeah. The three questions. So what is question two? Question two is where are you going? Oh, now?

No, but no, no, no. Wait till we get to it. We got to, you know. Wait a minute. Oh, where am I going? Yeah. Providence, Rhode Island. It's not so much in a concrete sense.

It's sort of a metaphorical sense. I'm very concrete. No, what I wanted a lot of pebbles in my brain what I wanted to know was what

was there was there a a coincidence of your children becoming old enough to be on their own to you going back

to acting no no no I did that I never or going back to it more. I just, I loved it.

I wanted to do it. I couldn't do it. I never stopped trying. I think of myself as mercury so that I can get through the smallest hole to the other side of the fence because i want to be there yeah i want to be doing this yeah yeah would you want uh say a show like barry yes would you want that to be as like would you want to live through the fonz again ever? If I got the Fonz now, yes. Just like that level of fame. Say there's another show comes on that becomes the biggest thing in the world.

I'm with my very small children. People want my socks without ever taking off my shoes. And I have to say, to stay calm with my children, you know what? I'm just in the middle of a conversation with my son. I can't stop at this moment. Do you think you could understand that? And I thank you. Yeah. Now, that takes a lot of energy away from being in mid-sentence with your son or daughter. Yeah. Yeah, no, that's, you have to, I mean, I learned that too.

You have to say, I'm with my kids. Yeah. Sorry, I can't do a selfie. That's the paparazzi. Yeah. You could say, shoot me, I'll stand over here. Do not shoot my children. Right.

And they would listen. Yeah. Now. Well, there's a law against it now too. Yeah. There's a law against it too. So they've steered clear of it. You know, I, you, what you just, you just.

Was that because of Kristen Bell? Yes. Yeah. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard sort of spearheaded that movement. But before that. Yeah. No, they just. No, I missed it.

Vicious. I missed the window because when I was doing it in 1973, 74, 75, and they listened. Yeah. But after that, whoa. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Did, you demonstrated it in the little sort of scene that you played for us just here of your very considerate, calm, polite way of dealing with

someone being intrusive and taking advantage of you. You have a reputation as being, well, one of the nicest people in Hollywood, just as sort of a shorthand. And I've heard that for years. Yeah. Has that ever bitten you in the ass? Never. Do you ever feel like people have taken advantage of you because you're nice? No. I've had wonderful people around me, and I have hopefully matured a little so I can see it coming. But I don't think of myself as nice. I think of myself as grateful. I'm just grateful.

Yeah. And I really understand that I'm only half the circle. And the audience is the other half of the circle. And I will not go around if we're not there together. Yeah. But at some point, you had to learn to say no. Oh, that was hard. You know?

That was hard. Yeah. I still have a problem with that. And when did you have to start learning that? Because especially as an actor, you can't say no to a director. You can't say no to a role. You can't say no to an audition. Right.

To an early call time. It's yes, yes, yes. Yeah. You know, and there's always a reason to say yes. In my mind, I know that person. That person knows somebody I know, so I'll do it for them. Or whatever it is. Or sometimes it's like, oh, wow, I haven't seen you, Andy Richter, in a very long time.

I would love to be here talking to you. Yeah. You know? I see. And sometimes, yeah, I'll do it. And I've learned I don't need to do it at all. Yeah, right, right, right. Well, that's good because, yeah, I found saying no to things

and not being a jerk about it or anything, but just being like, you know. And they go, okay, who's next? Right, exactly. Well, and I always feel too, whenever you ask something, it's a binary. There's yes or there's no. So, when you ask someone something and if someone asks me something and I say no, I don't feel, I'm like, well, what, Why did you ask me? Why didn't you just tell me if you thought I was just going to say yes? So, you know, but I mean, at this point, I'd ask me for anything. People, I'd spend too much time at home. I'm ready to get out of the house.

Are your children out of the house? My daughter, 16, and she and she is with my ex-wife and I. Splits time between the two of us. But my son has his own apartment, which is still here. He lives here in town and goes to USC. Wonderful. I don't see him. So he brings home his laundry? Not to my house.

Mom's got the better laundry machines. But I won't see him for two weeks. And I'll say, hey, come on, I'd like to see you. You know, I am in college. I say, yeah, I know, but you live 20 minutes away. I ought to be able to see him more than once every two weeks. Right. And listen, just, you know what, it's so lovely that you're paying for college. So just can, you know, I'm talking to your son. paying for college. So just can, you know,

I'm talking to your son. You know, you could just give me a crumb. I know, I know. But they come home again. Yeah, they do. If you keep your hand open, the bird will always come to feed. Yeah, yeah.

And you got to leave the seed there too. Yeah, you do. Well, sometimes I eat it because my stomach is growling. And you love millet. That's for sure i'm ground my own everybody says about henry winkler man that guy loves his millet um well now that we we mentioned it the second question i mean you've honestly you've got barry i don't know if you've we haven't

really talked about it much uh it's on hbo it's on hbo Sundays at 10. You know what? It speaks for itself. 9 Central. It sure does. When you watch it, I promise you, if you've never watched it, there are eight episodes in the first season, eight episodes in the second, and then you get to the third. I know it will surprise you. Oh, good. It will be like an opening, a present. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, good. It will be like an opening, a present. Yeah, yeah. And this third season, it went from semi-dark chocolate to I bought a miner's cap.

Because I could not see it coming. Oh, my God. Oh, that's great. The twisted mind of Alec Berg and Bill Hader. Yeah, yeah. Did the character that you play, forgive me, I can't remember the character's name. His name is Gene Cousineau. He is the acting teacher of Barry.

Yes. On Barry. On Barry, who is a actor and hitman. Barry. Yes, Barry. First day hitman. Right. Walks through a door following a mark.

Yeah. And it happens to be an acting class. Yeah. Taught by you. I'm the teacher. Yeah. But that mark doesn't have his acting partner with him. So he pulls Barry, his supposed assassin, on stage with him and makes him do the scene. Now, come on. Who thinks of that? It's wonderful. Yeah. On stage with him and makes him do the scene.

Yeah. Now, come on. Who thinks of that? It's wonderful, yeah. Now, that character. Yes. Which one? Barry Cousineau.

No, Gene Cousineau. Gene Cousineau. On Barry. Is he based on anyone in particular? He is. He's based on about 14 of my teachers. Uh-huh. And there was a teacher here in L.A.

And I looked him up online. I kind of dressed like him a little bit. Yeah. But the story I heard, he might have been a good teacher. Yeah. Apparently was mean to his students. Because, you know, you've got to break them down in order to build them up again. And I guess there's no other way except for being mean.

Yeah, yeah. But here's the thing. Now, I'm not sure because I never took the class. You're an acting student. You're a barista. You work hard during the day. Do I buy food? Do I take my acting lesson?

Mm-hmm. I think he asked his students to buy his own personal art that he would make this teacher. Wow. Like visual art, like drawings. Like paintings. Wow. That says everything you need to know about that particular teacher. Yeah, yeah.

And then I love, I've only taught five times in my life. And you mash it all together and out comes Gene Cousineau, the souffle. Because he's not a very nice person. No. Yeah. He means well. Yeah. Is that where you find like a connection into him?

Because I imagine it would be hard to play somebody that you disliked, you know. Well, Bill Hader, one of the co-creators, he tells the story of I turned to him during working for the camera, you know, rehearsing for the camera on a scene. And I said, wait a minute, am I playing an asshole? He went, yeah. Yeah. I went, oh, okay. So we combined Henry and the asshole. Yeah, yeah.

All of a sudden he became a moose, a chocolate moose of Gene Cousineau. Of Gene Cousineau. Well, Barry, I hopefully will go on for a few more seasons. Yeah, I hope so too. I do ask Bill at the beginning of every season, am I dead? Did you kill me yet? Did you kill me?

He said, no, no, no. I think you're alive. That's a close one. Well, beyond being able to be on Barry, HBO, Sundays at 10, what's next for you? Do you, you know, is there some mountain you haven't climbed? Well, I'd like to, honestly, I'd like to win a Tony on Broadway. Oh, wow. Of all the awards in the world, I'd like to win a Tony on Broadway.

I've been on Broadway three times. Yeah. The first night, the first one, I closed in one night. The second one with John Ritter, rest his soul, my good friend, we ran for nine months. Oh, nice. Yeah. The third one, Sandy the Storm came in and closed the show down after seven performances. Wow.

The performers. And never opened back up. And never opened back up again. And I love that play. Yeah. It was the Academy Award night of the porn industry. Oh, yeah. And I was the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow. That's fantastic. Chuck Wood. That's fantastic, yeah. I actually went to those once when I was doing a remote for the Conan show. Yeah. Because they coincide with the thing that I found so compelling was that,

Because they coincide with the thing that I found so compelling was that, and this was years ago, that they coincided with the Consumer Electronics Show. Yes. So you had in the front this glitzy, here's the newest, at that time, like cell phone that probably only weighed three pounds or something. And there it is. That's the glitzy front. But the fact is that something like 70 to 80% of the home video business at that point was porn. Right. So then in a completely different area.

Right. Coinciding. Of that convention center. Of that convention center. No, it was because the one was in the convention center and the other was like in the Aladdin, which they've sent blown up. But that's where all the porn stuff was, all the different, all the things.

Virtually everything that we shot on camera had to be blurred out. Right. Every device, everything they were selling. So I just really, I just love that even like, you know, our home entertainment's proudest moment, it's still basically about jerking off. And how? Yeah. And that's not a segue, but how wonderful is your friend Conan? Oh, he's.

The tallest human being on the earth. It was the jerking off that I, that's what keyed you on him. Yeah. He's great. Yeah, he's great. I just saw him. He just had a birthday dinner just recently. Wow.

I got to see him. Yeah. I wasn't invited. No, no. It was a very small. You know what? It was his birthday dinner. I wasn't invited so no no it was a very small you know what it was his birthday dinner i hope it was small and it was a small group yeah and it was just it was maybe 10 or 12 people oh my god yeah 14 would have killed him yeah probably you know he doesn't have a job no yeah no but but he uh he just invited invited mostly just like some of us from work. Like it was so obvious that what he's really missing is the camaraderie.

And it's absolutely true. You know, most people, given their druthers, you said, who do you want to hang out with? They would say really funny people. Right. We did that every day. Right. For decades. Yes.

We got to hang out with not just funny people, but like world-class funny people. Absolutely. So completely spoiled us. And he himself is one of those people. One of the most big-brained comedy people I've ever known. Yeah. Just endless, endless, endless. Yes.

Sometimes too much, honestly. Sometimes, yeah, our relationship would be, honestly, I'm not kidding, it would be like, could you just calm down? Just sit down for a minute and be quiet. Just give us a breather. Please, honey, I know you need it, but just relax. You know? But he was a moderator for one of our

talkbacks. For Barry? For Barry. Oh, cool. Yeah, he knew everything about the show. He knows. He is as much a student as he is for barry for barry oh cool yeah yeah yeah everything about the show yeah he know he's a he is as much a student as he is a teacher that's for sure i'm working with his um team coco company uh-huh as am i that's this is a team coco podcast yeah yeah yeah you can't you can't say what you're doing with them oh it is we're trying to sell an animated version of the trilogy of Alien Superstar. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Oh, cool. Through Coco. Awesome. Yeah. Oh, my God. It's so good. Well, good.

I've kept you here plenty long enough. How long? It's been about an hour. Is that true? Yeah, about an hour. It went very fast. Oh, good. I am actually very happy

to hear that. Oh, my God. So the final question is, it's the what have you learned? Like what is, what's the, I know it's a big one, but you know,

you knew this ahead of time. You could have prepared. I know I never knew. Oh, you never knew? They did not tell me what the three questions were. It's not a well-run operation. I never even heard

the first question. It's not a, it's where do you never even heard the first question. It's not. It's where do you come from? Yeah. Where are you going? Where are you going? And what have you learned? What have I learned?

Okay, so I have said what I've learned before, but I'm going to say it now. Please do. One, you are powerful and you don't know what you can accomplish until you put one foot in front of the other. I did not know I could do some of the things I'm doing until I just tried. Two, be honest about what it is you want to do, and there is no other time to do it

except for right this minute. There is no, I'm too tired, I'm too old, it's passed me by, I can't get to it, I'll get to it. You do it now, and you will be shocked at what happens. And three, do not be afraid of your imagination or what is outside

because mostly without listening to the news or whatever, mostly there is only wonderfulness in this country, America. That's, well, that's all wonderful stuff that, you know, I certainly, you know, I certainly could heed a lot of that advice. But I honestly, that advice, to be frank. But honestly, there are other things, but that is what I have learned. Do you always do a good job of living up to those? Yeah.

But I want to. You try. And if you want to, you will eventually do it. Yeah. I had a friend that was a practicing Buddhist and I said, I don't quite understand this whole thing about trying really hard not to try. Yes. You know, that whole, you know, allow yourself to be open, but work really, work a lot on not working at it. Right. And I said, I had, and he said, well, the point, it's not, you know, it's not the point of succeeding. It's the point of

just doing it. Right. There's, you're never going to point of succeeding. It's the point of just doing it. You're never going to get to it. That's another great lesson. You're just going to keep trying it. Andy, that is a great lesson. The journey, the process is so much fun, not just what you think success is at the end of the road. Right. Yeah, because the end of the road is when they put you in the ground.

That is so true. So you got to, I always want to keep it an open-ended process. Do you know something I don't? No, I don't. Okay, fine. I'm not, you know, I just assume that, I don't know what your burial plans are. Okay, fine.

Well, actually, I mean, I'm not going into the ground. I'm getting dumped. It's written, it's in a legal document. I getting dumped into water is that true oh yeah i do i think it's silly to wish just your whole being yep burn me up you know if the kid burn you yeah yeah cremated cremated and dumped into the ocean because i think it's silly to waste real estate on dead people i just wrote a codicil and i don't want to waste money because I bought a plot many years ago, but I just wrote a codicil for my will. I want to be buried with my trout fishing rod. Nice.

In sneakers because you don't know how far it is from the gate to your particular cloud. Precise. And there's steps, apparently. Sometimes it's depicted as there's a lot of steps. And a highway. Yeah. A highway to heaven. Right. Really comfortable sneakers.

A $20 bill in my pocket because there might be a concession stand. Really? And I don't want to, like, borrow. No, no. You don't want to be owing anybody in the afterlife. No. No. And a very comfortable, one of my comfortable cashmere sweaters.

Nice. I have very colorful sweaters. Because I don't want to just walk around in white. Right. In the robe. Give me a nice yellow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Give me an orange.

You don't have to worry about being too hot. No. Not up there. No. Give me an orange. You don't have to worry about being too hot. No. Not up there. No. Perfectly climated. Absolutely. And it's so high, it could be cool. It might be.

At night, you know. I'm sure there's a breeze. Well, Henry Winkler, thank you so much for spending this time with me. I really appreciate it. I did. I loved being here. And I'm so happy that you were the first person I got to talk to face-to-face after a long time underwater at home. Yeah. A long time on Zoom.

Yep. And thank all of you. What an invention. You didn't know anything about it until pandemic happened. And you became an expert. Everybody knows exactly what it is now. It's really amazing. But you were thanking the audience and they interrupted you.

That's okay. Can I just say, I hope everybody that is listening is healthy. That's it. See you next week. Bye. I've got a big, big love for you. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco and Earwolf production. It is produced by Elaine Gerbig, engineered by Marina Pais, and talent produced by Galitza Hayek.

The associate producer is Jen Samples, supervising producer Aaron Blair, and executive producers Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson and Cody Fisher at Earwolf. Make sure to rate and review The Three Questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts.