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Fonzie was the culmination of a lifelong dream for Henry Winkler
"There's nothing I wanted more."
The topic of predetermination can split groups right down the middle, with opinions dividing otherwise like-minded individuals. Some folks believe that everything is mapped out ahead of time, and it's all we can do to fit the bill. Other people feel that, with autonomy and free will, we can forge any path we want for ourselves. If you do a job, was it because you wanted to do it, or because it was meant to be?
"It may sound dumb," Henry Winkler told author Linda Jacobs Altman, "But I think people were born to do certain things."
In Jacobs Altman's Henry Winkler: Born Actor, the TV superstar opens up about his childhood hopes and career beginnings. He even shares the starting point for his dream of being onscreen.
For Winkler, it all started with Rear Window. The Alfred Hitchcock classic, which starred Grace Kelly and James Stewart, instantly changed Winkler's life, providing him with meaning to chase for his whole professional life. The movie was nothing short of magic for this young viewer, as Winkler later recalled that he knew then he wanted to embody characters, become other people, and feel other feelings forever.
"I was born to be an actor," he said. "There's nothing I wanted more."
His dream life began gaining momentum around 1972 as Winkler secured bit roles on popular sitcoms. There he was in an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Then, he was a patient on The Bob Newhart Show. Next was Rhoda. But then, Winkler's life and American pop culture took the same turn as he stepped onto Happy Days as the leather-jacketed Fonz.
The world was taking notice of Winkler. Sure, his character had an instantly iconic look: slicked-back hair, devil-may-care posture, the most famous jacket in TV history. While the look drew viewers in, Winkler's nuanced performance made them fall in love. Fonzie wasn't a one-dimensional caricature of a nostalgic archetype. He was a human being, with wants and needs, who felt insecurities and masked them with confidence.
But, as the Fonz took hold of the world's attention, Winkler's growing popularity threatened to turn his lifelong dream into a nightmare.
In 1978, during the conversations that formed Jacobs Altman's book, Winkler expressed fears of being typecast as his most famous character. The fears were warranted. Winkler's face was everywhere: He adorned lunchboxes and t-shirts and record sleeves and just about anything else you could emblazon a person onto. But, Winkler was afraid he'd never not be Fonzie.
"I struggled too hard to become an actor to end up like that," Henry said. Luckily, with the benefit of hindsight, we can all see and enjoy the rest of his career, where Winkler played roles that couldn't be more different from the Fonz.
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