Henry Winkler’s career path almost led him in a very different direction.
The actor, who is best known for his starring role in Happy Days, appeared on the You Could Make This Beautiful podcast and opened up about his dyslexia and how he considered becoming a child psychologist.
“Being so dyslexic, whatever I could do, with the least amount of education [is what I wanted to do],” Winkler said. “I understand children. I’m able to listen, I think, to children. I’m interested in what they have to say and how they are. I marvel at their prowess in the universe.”
And with that, Winkler further explained that his family didn’t support his dream of becoming an actor.
“I had a dream that was unsupported — non-supported —until I figured out how to make it come true, at which time, my parents were completely on board,” he added during the podcast appearance.
Winkler added that their support came a little too late as he needed it most when he was starting out to due his dyslexia.
“I needed them to be on board when I was confused about everything. I am dyslexic; I’m in the bottom 3% academically in America. They were embarrassed,” he added. “I needed someone to go, ‘Oh there must be something going on here, whether you knew the title of the problem or not.’”
Henry Winkler Says His Son’s Dyslexia Diagnosis Led To A Breakthrough
In an interview with PEOPLE in October 2023, Winkler explained how he and his wife’s son, Jed, began to display cognitive issues at school. As a result, they took him to an occupational therapist who diagnosed him with dyslexia.
“In third grade he had to write a report and couldn’t do it,” Winkler explained. “I said to him everything that was said to me: ‘Go back to your room. You’re being lazy. Live up to your potential. You’re so verbal.’ I then had him tested and we read everything they said. I went, ‘Oh my God, Stacey, this is me. I have something with a name.'”
His other two children, Max and Zoe, were also diagnosed with learning disorders.
“My son Max said to me over the years, ‘Dad, you got to write a memoir. You’ve got so many stories.’ I said, ‘I’m dyslexic. I’m not writing a memoir.’ I dismissed it out of hand,” he said. “There are so many things that I have done now that I have dismissed out of hand and boom, they became a really important part of my life.”
In October 2023, Winkler also released his memoir Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond, where he was very open about his struggles with undiagnosed dyslexia.
Henry Winkler Created a Children Series ‘Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever‘ About His Experiences
Winkler co-authored the Hank Zipzer series with Lin Oliver, which was inspired by his childhood struggles with dyslexia. The two went on to publish 18 volumes of the children’s series.
Following the success of the books, a television series was created that ran from January 2014 to December 2016 on the CBBC channel.
