Henry Winkler’s journey to success was not an easy one. As a child, he struggled badly in school and was often called lazy or stupid by his parents, who expected him to do better academically. The criticism and punishment affected his confidence, even though Winkler felt he was doing everything he could. Decades later, he would finally discover the reason behind his difficulties.

Despite his struggles, Winkler graduated from Yale with an MFA and pursued acting. Reading scripts remained challenging, so he developed his own ways of learning them. He explained that he could quickly memorize much of a script, while improvising the parts he could not read easily. Even after becoming Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on Happy Days, he said table reads were extremely difficult and often left him embarrassed.

The turning point came when Winkler’s stepson was tested for a learning disability. Winkler realized that he might have the same condition and was eventually diagnosed with dyslexia at age 31. He later recalled that books had always frightened him and that he had never read one before his diagnosis. He was also angry that years of punishment had been based on something he could not understand at the time.

Instead of allowing the diagnosis to define him, Winkler turned his experience into something positive. He co-created the Hank Zipzer children’s book series about a boy with dyslexia and regularly responds to letters from young readers. Winkler has since received numerous acting awards and written many books himself. He has said that, outside his family, his books are among the accomplishments he is most proud of. ❤️