Henry Winkler Reveals the Secret to His Success and the Advice He Gives to Young People (Exclusive)
Henry Winkler Reveals the Secret to His Success and the Advice He Gives to Young People (Exclusive)
Tommy McArdleFri, April 17, 2026 at 2:46 PM UTC
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Henry Winkler at Normal premiere on April 15, 2026Credit: Araya Doheny/FilmMagic -
Henry Winkler tells PEOPLE the three words behind his decades of success in Hollywood and shares the advice he likes to give young people
Winkler costars with his friend Bob Odenkirk in Odenkirk's new action movie Normal
Normal is in theaters April 17
Henry Winkler is sharing some of the secrets behind his more than 50 years of success in Hollywood.
"Luck, will, preparation," Winkler, 80, tells PEOPLE recently, while chatting about his new action movie Normal.
"I thought to myself when I was younger, 'You better go to drama school and figure out what the fundamentals are so that no matter what happens when that door opens, you're prepared to walk through it,' " he says.
Winkler grew up in New York and studied acting; he graduated from Boston's Emerson College in 1967 and earned a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1970.
From there, his professional career quickly took off — Winkler made his onscreen debut in two 1972 episodes of the series Another World and found fame when he began playing Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli in Happy Days in 1974.
With dozens of memorable movie and television performances over the decades, Winkler is returning to Emerson to deliver a commencement address to the school's graduating class on May 9.
The Barry star already knows what words of wisdom he will share with the school's graduates next month.
"The major piece of advice is: your head knows some things, your stomach knows everything," he says. "You have prepared yourself. The outside world is scary. It is not as scary as you think it is. Once you get out there, you go, 'Ah, I can do this.' "
Even more than five decades into his acting career, Winkler is still breaking new ground. In Normal, he portrays the mayor of the titular Midwestern town, who eventually comes into conflict with Bob Odenkirk's character Ulysses, a sheriff hired to serve the town temporarily.
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The performance marks a rare foray into a villainous role for Winkler, better known for protagonist roles and witty supporting performances across his career.
Henry Winkler in NormalCredit: Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
Winkler says he and his wife Stacey Weitzman "are lovely friends" with Odenkirk, 63, and his wife Naomi: the two men first met years ago in New York City when they crossed paths for interviews on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
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"We've had pasta together. I've been to his Broadway play," Winkler says. "So Bob Odenkirk calls me up and he said, 'I'm writing this action-adventure Normal. It's my story. Will you come and be in it?' And I didn't have to read a script. I didn't ask who the character was. Bob asks, I go."
Henry Winkler at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Normal' on April 15, 2026Credit: Olivia Wong/WireImage
Winkler is still not considering retirement, even after turning 80 in October.
"It never occurred to me [to retire] because I am so happy in my house with Stacey and our children and our grandchildren, and I am so happy when I am working," he says.
"When I'm doing what I dreamed of doing, and I still get to do it. I still get to be at the table. That is an amazement to me," he continued. "I am not kidding. I don't take it for granted. I go, 'Oh my God, this is just wonderful.' "
Normal is in theaters April 17.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
