Henry Winkler Says Trust Your Intuition Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close

Henry Winkler Says Trust Your Intuition

The Happy Days star on What I Know Now — and talking to your knees as you age

During the course of his career, Henry Winkler has won two Golden Globes and two Daytime Emmy Awards. Marc Royce Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. , , , Jeff Dye and I traveled for 40 days on a guy getaway for the new season of Better Late Than Never. We went to Morocco, parasailed in Spain and picnicked in a nude Munich park. Then we visited Berlin, where my parents were from. My Aunt Erna was smuggled out of Nazi Germany in 1939, alive, in a coffin with a spider plant at her feet. When I moved to Los Angeles from New York City in 1974 for Happy Days, I took a cutting with me. That plant is now gigantic and hangs outside our kitchen. It’s truly unbelievable, the tenacity of life.

Dealing with dyslexia

I was dyslexic and didn’t know it until I was 31. Couldn’t do math, spell or tell left from right — left was the elbow that stuck out the window while I drove. I was told I should write books for children about it. I thought, I can’t — I feel stupid. Then I thought, OK, I’m gonna try. My fourth-grade teacher, Miss Adolf, was very mean, and I portray her that way in Hank Zipzer, the World’s Greatest Underachiever, my series of books about a learning-challenged kid. My music teacher, Mr. Rock, told me, “You’re gonna be OK.” I’ve held on to that buoy for over 50 years.

The true story of the Fonz jumping the shark

My father kept nagging me to tell producer Garry Marshall I was a good waterskier; I taught waterskiing. I told Garry, “My father wants you to know I waterski.” Next thing, the Fonz is jumping the shark while on water skis. [The term “jumping the shark” became a popular term for the moment when a TV show peaks, runs out of ideas, tries lame new ideas that don’t fit the show, and begins to die — other examples are the musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy and the arrival of adorable kid Raven-Symone on The Cosby Show.] I did the skiing, but they’d never let me do the stunt [a stunt man did the risky shark-jump scene]. On Arrested Development, it was easy to do the shark-jump gag, because the shark was on the dock — I just jumped over it.

MacGyver your life

It was a very difficult time, 1984. Happy Days ended. I said, “There’s no way I can be a producer.” My attorney said, “You’ll learn.” The first thing we sold was the MacGyver television series. We shot 139 episodes between 1985 and 1992.

Go with your gut

Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Underneath everybody’s persona is a dear person. After Richard Gere left The Lords of Flatbush, I joined, and met Sly Stallone. Talks like a tough guy, but he is so dry and funny.

One roaring regret

I don’t like motorcycles. After the shot, I always crashed. They gave the Fonz a Triumph — I found out it was the very one Steve McQueen, my idol, jumped the fence on in The Great Escape. I walked by McQueen once in Beverly Hills, and to this day it so irritates me that I didn’t have the wherewithal to stop him and say, “I really love you so much.”

Persistence pays

If you know what you want, keep heading toward it and you will get there. Everyone turned down our Hank Zipzer TV show. We sold it to the BBC, and now to Universal Kids, so it has finally made it to America.

Knees Please

The worst thing about aging? Convincing my knees to straighten after a long sit. I have a chat with them. But if you make a life that gives you joy, you have no time to get old. — As told to Tim Appelo AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS