Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 29. Henry Winkler

Episode Date: December 15, 2014

Manhattan-born Henry Winkler overcame a difficult childhood to carve out a memorable acting career that would see him work with everyone from Gene Kelly to Katherine Hepburn and portray one of TV's most indelible characters, Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli. Gilbert and Frank dialed up Henry at his L.A. home to talk about his struggles with dyslexia, the genius of a young Robin Williams and Henry's enduring friendships with Ron Howard and John Ritter. Also: Henry helps discover Marlee Matlin, meets John (and Julian) Lennon and explains the mysterious disappearance of Chuck Cunningham. PLUS: Fonzie parts the Red Sea! Sly Stallone paints his windows black! Henry turns down "Grease"! And Gilbert "sings" the "Lords of Flatbush" theme! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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are streaming June 27, only on Disney+. Today's show is brought to you by GoDaddy.com. Visit GoDaddy.com. Visit GoDaddy.com and enter promo code Gilbert149 to get your $1.49.com today. Go Daddy! It's go time! time. Hi, this is Gilbert Godfrey, and this is is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. I'm here with my co-host Frank Santopadre, and our guest today is a celebrated actor, director, and producer. He's been in hit movies like Night Shift and The Waterboy, and hit movies like Night Shift and The Waterboy.

Worked with everyone from Katharine Hepburn to Harrison Ford, and played one of the most iconic characters in television history, author the Fonz Fonzarelli. He's also our only guest to have his very own statue. Welcome, Henry Winkler. Wow, I cannot wait to meet this guy. What a wonderful introduction. Yes, it sounds like it should be followed by, and he passed away in his Hollywood home.

Well, you know what? That's so funny because I was thinking trumpets, but hey, I was thinking fanfare. Now, Henry. Yes. I think we've met. You and I have met many times because I was lucky enough with Michael Leavitt to produce two years of Hollywood Squares. And we found that your humor, your wit, we didn't have a square large enough to house it. So we had to add on footage in order to have you on the show. Am I right?

Yes, I remember. Do you remember the timber we brought in, the nails, the hammers? And you did it yourself. I did it myself. I wore work gloves. The first and only time. First and only time a Jew ever knew how to do carpentry. It's absolutely true.

Yes. Now, it's funny because I grew up watching Hollywood Squares. And I remember I started to get like that cynical way of looking at it and I would think like oh this is a show for celebrities at the bottom of their career and how pathetic and then when I got the show I thought wow this is so much fun we didn't we have fun and not only that, but also we made sure that we were catered well so that we ate well. That was important to me. I

actually produced the show only for the breakfast burrito. The food was great on that show. Yeah. The first year, Wolfgang Puck did it. Oh, yeah. And not out of his airport pizza places, either.

Was Gilbert fun, or was he difficult on the squares? would look at the lineup we had and would fight over being on a show that Gilbert was on because Gilbert wrote his own stuff, his own answers, and was incredibly funny. And here's the thing. You don't have to take my word for it. If you find the shows, and they've got to be online somewhere,

that he did, you will see that I'm right. And our mutual friend, Michael Lev did, you will see that I'm right. And our mutual friend, Michael Leavitt, who you just mentioned, said to ask you about Carol Channing. Is there a Carol Channing story? There might be, but it's only in his head. Carol Channing came on, and I remember her only being charming. Oh, he implied that she dozed off in her square.

That's so possible. And, you know, there were other guests who would check for split ends in their hair. When you called on them, we zoomed in, and they were nowhere in the building. They were checking their hair. And didn't you play practical jokes on Bergeron? We did. There was an April Fool's joke where we hired contestants from hell. And to this day, Tom said it is the best get that he's ever had played on him.

He didn't know what was going on, and the guests were yelling at each other, and they were going to beat each other up over him, and it was fantastic. Now, you actually, I think, discovered Marlee Matlin. Well, Marlee Matlin, I went to play softball with the Happy Days ball team. We got to Chicago, and I was invited to come to a school for hearing-impaired students. And it was like an after-school, you know, where they spent time doing arts and crafts or plays, dancing, singing, whatever it was. And this young lady came out and performed. She was 12.

Marlee Matlin was 12. And I started to cry, not because, oh, isn't this sad? Here is a girl who can't hear, and she's dancing. I cried because here was a 12-year-old who was so talented that the floor of the stage caught on fire because she had so much heat. And she came up to you and said she wanted to be an actress. That's right. I went backstage. I had to meet her. She came up and said, I need to do what you do.

Her mother said, please tell her she's deaf. She can't be an actress. And I said, Madam, I'm the wrong guy. From what I just saw, from that performance on that stage, I think this young lady can do pretty much anything she sets her mind to. And then when she went on to win the Academy Award for Children of a Lesser God, and a lot of people then were saying, well, she's deaf, she played a deaf girl, that's it for her. Yes.

And she fell into a depression yes and then she came and uh asked if she could stay for the weekend um she didn't know where to go and she stayed for two and a half years and then got married in our backyard wow so she became like our second daughter. She now has just two beautiful daughters, three beautiful sons. And she worked with Gilbert Gottfried. And she worked with Gilbert Gottfried. But you know what? It's like a rite of passage. If in your career you do not work with Gilbert Gottfried. You're pretty much finished by 42. I mean, can you imagine? I'm still standing. I'm here. My partner and I have just written our 29th novel, and it's all at Gilbert's feet. He's inspired so many, Henry. Now, I guess one of the reasons you are supportive of her as you're supportive of of so many people was now you had or you have dyslexia.

Yes, I do. And I had no support when I was growing up. And what I would do, I would lie in bed at night, honest to God, and I would think to myself, hmm, I'm going to be a different parent. I'm going to be a different kind of viewer of other people. different kind of viewer of other people. And so it is, I want kids to know how much power they have inside them. I was told I would never achieve.

I'm sitting here in my house talking to you, having wonderful memories of us working together, and everyone should know all things are possible. And I heard your support system did not come at all from your parents. Well, they escaped Nazi Germany. They came to America. I was very fortunate. My sister and I, we had good educations, although I couldn't really benefit because it was so hard for me to learn. But they never looked at us as people. And I made the decision when I was a parent, I would see the little people in front of me if we had children. And now, years ago, dyslexia, like autism, was looked upon as, oh, well, that guy's a

retard. That's right. Yeah. And now, you know, what happens is that, listen, a child is born, they come out, and they are who they are. If you're very quiet and you watch a child develop, they will tell you exactly who they are. Not everybody is great at school. But that doesn't mean that that human being who is not doing well in geometry

is not going to be an incredible eye doctor, architect, dancer. I was horrible in school. Really? And now I'm the best eye doctor there is. You know what? I'm going to come to you because I need a new prescription. Henry, we should point out that you're from right here in New York City. You grew up on the Upper West Side.

I did. And you went to the McBurney School, which is no longer here, on 63rd Street. Yes, so you've brought up that I have no history. Is that what you're saying? They just wiped it out. We just wanted to brag on you being a New Yorker. Yes, I'm 78th and Broadway. And you were the class clown, weren't you?

I was the class clown. Broadway. And you were the class clown, weren't you? I was the class clown. Now you know that kids who are disruptive, unless they are psychotic, don't do it because they wake up in the morning and they think, oh, I'm going to be like a pain in your ass today. They do it because they are covering their inability in a subject here and a subject there. Interesting. Were you a class clown, Gilbert? I don't, I see, I always thought that class clowns were the ones who became the guys that come up to me after the show and say, I'm the funniest guy at my job. Oh, right, right, right.

I always love the question, when they look you right in the face, people you don't know they go, who am I? I go, I don't know. I didn't know when you asked me. I don't know now. And now, because you asked me the question, I really don't want to know who you are. Now, also, what was it that your parents used to call you? Oh, dummerhund, which means dumb dog.

Because they were so supportive. It's so funny that even from German Jews, something said in German is so horrible sounding. It really is. Isn't it? It horrible sounding. It really is. Isn't it? It's amazing. It's amazing. They would, listen, they would sit down, they would tell me to sit down for dinner.

And it, you know, it sounded like a death sentence. Can you say sit down for dinner in German? Let's see. Let's see. Yeah. dinner in German? Let's see. Let's see. Yeah.

Put the auf dem Tisch mit your tush in the chair. Wow. Fluent. I can picture

I pictured you in a total SS uniform when you said that. Can I just tell you I polished my boots before I came on the show. So, Henry, you're in McBurney School. You're having all this anxiety about grades and learning problems.

How did you decide, and was there a catalyst? How did you decide you wanted to be an actor? No, all during the journey since I was seven, I knew that if people were born to do something, I was born to try and be an actor. And I get to live my dream. It's the most amazing thing. Our newest novel came out on Friday, as a matter of fact.

Oh, I see. Tell the audience what your novels are about. Okay. There are 18 called Hank Zipser, The World's Greatest Underachiever, and they're the story of my life as a dyslexic. There will be eight. There will be eight. Here's Hank, which are second graders, brand new readers for the reluctant reader.

And there are four ghost buddies, which is a whole other set of comedies where the ghost sounds just like the Fonz. I don't know how that happened. But the newest one, Hank Zitzer loves to make lists. He makes lists about everything. And so we took the best lists in all of the novels and then added six or seven in each category.

And so it's called My Book of Pickles. Whoops, I mean lists. Now, you also, I heard, talked a boy out of committing suicide. That was when we were shooting the show Happy Days. I got a lot of calls on the set. And a policeman called me from Indiana I believe

and he said I've got a kid on the ledge and he will only talk to you and I don't know and I have to say that if I think about it now I was crazy and I said yeah sure

I'll talk to him but here it is if it was true I was crazy. And I said, yeah, sure, I'll talk to him. But here it is. If it was true, I mean, if this kid was really suicidal, I now had this kid's hand in my life. I had no business talking to this child, not being not a trained therapist, but I talked to him, and he wanted to be an actor. And I asked him how old he was. And I told him that, you know, 12 years after his age was when I got the funds.

It was plenty of time for him to figure out what he was going to do with his life. Could he please go back inside and let's finish this conversation did you talk to him as the funds no i talked to him as henry um i know i did not talk to him as the farms that did not occur to me it just seemed so life and death i i wasn't i didn't think about using fantasy. Now, someone else who I've worked with and was also very fond of, he actually started with you on your show, and that's Robin Williams. Oh, my goodness. That, Gilbert, that was an amazing moment. Because, excuse me, we rehearsed Happy Days from 9 o'clock in the morning on Monday and shot the show 7 o'clock Friday night in front of a live audience.

So it's Wednesday now. We don't have an actor to play this alien in the script. Wednesday afternoon, they bring down a young man who I don't think has ever done television before. He picks up the script and out comes Robin Williams' version of whatever is on the page. And you knew instantly you were in the presence of greatness. And that's where Mork and Mindy stem from.

Yes, that's right. stem from. Yes, that's right. His character was so successful in the one appearance on Happy Days that Gary developed a show for him using that character.

With Pam Dauber as Mindy. Is it true, Henry, that Al Molinaro suggested Robin that he knew him from an improv class? Do you know what? Actually, I have never heard that fact. Or if I did, it's faded from my memory. I don't know that to be true. It may not be true, but that's what I heard.

He was brought down by the casting director, Bobby Hoffman, who cast all 10 years, knew everybody in town. That's how I met him. I never heard that it was Al Molinaro's suggestion. But Al was great. He knew his stuff, but I never heard that. Now, I read a story that when your parents were escaping Nazi Germany, that your father brought, he had some diamonds with him.

Well, he had the family jewelry. He had a pocket watch that belonged to his great-grandfather. He had some of the bracelets that belonged to his mother. And in order to get it out of Germany, he bought a box of chocolate, he melted the chocolate, and then he poured it over each piece of jewelry, put it back in the box, and put the box under his arm. So when the Nazis said, hey, we're going to check your luggage, are you taking anything out of Germany? You're only going for five weeks on a business trip.

He said, go right ahead. And I got that pocket watch that came out of Germany encased in chocolate on my bar mitzvah. I still have it today. Oh, my God. You still have it today. Oh my God. Gilbert, you did some deep research. Yeah. Anything to do with the Nazis. So Henry, we've talked a little bit about

Happy Days, actually a lot, but going back, I'm still trying to make the connection of how you decided to become an actor. You went to Yale Drama School. Yes, but I, oh listen, I made no connection. That's the thing. Was there something that inspired you?

No, certainly, certainly I have thought about this. I am so sorry. I had a cup of coffee, and so it's you, me, Gilbert, and a frog. But anyway. Could that be our next TV show? I swear to God. You, me, Gilbert, and a frog. Brought to you by Amazon Prime.

He's been a parrot. But, you know, I have never. It is not like a moment that I thought, ooh, I'd like to try that. I have... It was infused in me, oh, I've got to do that. I don't know what the trigger point was. No particularly galvanizing moment or...

No. No inspiration, no movie, no TV show. Well, the inspirations were all over the place I mean when I was growing up Alistair Sims there were Humphrey Bogart there were these incredible actors who just made it so so easy and I oh, I wanted to be them. And then, of course, it took me a long time to get into that kind of comfort zone

that those men knew already so early. And was your first job in TV on a game show? My first job was I was paid $10 as a contestant on a show that I have completely forgotten the name of.

All right, we're going to dig that out. Yes. Now, another person both of us have worked with and both were very fond of and who I worked with in two Problem Child movies, among other things, was John Ritter. I did a TV movie, a Broadway show, animation. I guest started with him. We went out to dinner. I watched his children grow up.

He was an incredible guy. I miss him every day. I really do. He would carry this black satchel with him made out of leather. And in it, he had three books that he was reading simultaneously, newspapers he never got to, and loose change in that bag to pay for his mortgage and he would cart that thing around with him he was always in the middle of reading something and i i remember the last time i saw john ritter we bumped into each other was It was actually backstage at Hollywood Squares. Oh, yeah. And I just remember that the last moment he saw me and his face lit up.

As everybody's does. I mean, that's just true. He put his arms out and he goes, hey, buddy. And we gave each other a hug. And that's the last I remember. Yeah. I was on his show, Eight Simple Rules. He asked me to be a guest star.

And it was four o'clock in the afternoon. And he said, wow, I feel I have to get some water. I'm not feeling well. And I said, oh, okay, why'd you do that? I'm going to memorize my line so I don't stink up the place. And that was literally the last time I saw him. 11 o'clock I got a phone call at home saying we lost John. It was surreal. And I heard you kept asking because you didn't believe you heard it. It's really true. I kept saying, no, no, no, what did you just say? What did you just say? What did you just say?

It would not sink in that in the afternoon, I was just enjoying my friend. And then in the evening, his family lost a husband and a father. And the world lost a master. And we lost our friend. And you then testified for Amy Yazbeck, his wife. That is true. They asked me to come to court about what happened or what I saw happen. Oh, my God.

It was amazing. But we did Broadway for nine months together, and he was just funny. He would say the same joke. Like, he would put his hand on his hip and go, I'm here all week. Enjoy the veal. Or whatever it was, but he would

do it seven times a day. And the seventh time was as funny as the first time. You know what I mean? He never... He was just an amazing fellow. Gilbert and I were talking about that TV movie you mentioned, Henry,

where you played a heavy. Well, he killed me. He had to kill me in order to get me out of his life. We both know that movie, and you played a stalker. Yes, I did. I completely terrorized his family. Did you want to play more heavies because you were good at it? Well, you know what?

I love my job, so I get to do, like, tomorrow I'm going to do parks and recreation again. You know, I just am so grateful that I am still standing and still doing what I love to do. I think the first time I saw you speaking about, you do so many sitcoms, I think the first time I remember you was on the Mary Tyler Moore show. That was my very, very first job. As Rhoda's friend who had just been fired. Do you remember your line? Yes, please pass the salt.

Because it was one of Mary's famous dinner parties, and then Rutter brings you at the last minute, and they don't have enough room for you at the table, so you get to sit at your own little table. They didn't have enough veal or loft. That's right. Yeah, that's a famous episode. And then I saw you on the Newhart show where you played the ex-con, Miles Lasko.

Well, I'll tell you why. They were the Mary Tyler Moore show moore show grant tinker who was the the mastermind and mary there was a lot he was married to mary tyler moore um at the time the they were so wonderful to me that i was asked to work five times for that company while, even after I had gotten the fund. So I did the Paul Sand pilot where I first met Penny Marshall. She was one of the stars of that show. It was, that was an amazing company.

If you, if they thought that you did a great job, they really took good care of you. Now, I heard when they were casting the funds, they wanted some really big strapping guy. Yes. All they got was a guy because that I fit. But I wasn't Italian. I wasn't big. I wasn't big. I wasn't strapping.

And I think about it all the time. I went in to the audition. I did what my imagination told me to do. If that didn't happen, if I didn't get that, what would have happened in my life? Where would I be now? What would have happened in my life? Where would I be now? What would have become of my journey? No matter where I

go in the world, people are extraordinary to me because I played that character. They like Arrested Development. They like The Waterboy. They like Scream. to me because I played that character. They like Arrested Development. They like The Waterboy.

They like Scream. Now in England, Hank Zips are the world's greatest underachiever. He's on the BBC. We're doing our second season. But man, oh man, the Fonz just is like a gift from God or something. I don't know. It just fell in my lap out of the heaven. And it's funny for people who are too young to remember that. People forget what a monster hit Happy Days was.

Yeah. And you were the Beatles. Well, it certainly took me by surprise. I had no idea that that kind of response was going to happen. It was amazing. We were in Dallas, and Ron Howard, Donnie Most, and Anson Williams and I were making an appearance in a parking lot of the Neiman Marcus. 25,000 people came to see us in a parking lot. And our car was on the other side of those people.

And I used the character for one of the first times ever only off the show. And I said, all right, now listen, you're going to part like the Red Sea and we're going to walk to our car. And they did.

And I can't. I can't. I know that. I can't use profanity, but some little girl said, oh, you're so cool. And some little girl said, oh, he's short. And I went, hey, up yours. I'm not short. Oh, you're cool. And then they parted.

We got into the car and drove away. It was like rubbing the belly of a frog. You know, you're putting them to sleep. It was amazing. Amazing moment in my life. And it's funny because I mentioned the Beatles and you mentioned Anson Williams. I mentioned the Beatles, and you mentioned Anson Williams. And a short while ago, I don't know, about a year or so ago, I was talking to Anson Williams on the phone.

Yes. And he sent me a photo, and it was like a photo of the cast and crew of Happy Days. And I looked and said, oh, that's nice. And he goes, no, look closely. And I looked, and John Lennon. Yes. And his son, Junior.

That's a great picture. You can find it online. It's a great photo. I'm still not in leather yet, so it was at the very beginning of the show. Oh, you're wearing the windbreaker. I'm wearing the windbreaker. show. Oh, you're wearing the windbreaker. I'm wearing the windbreaker. And he, John Lennon, was so shy. And I didn't know how to break the ice with him. And finally, I mentioned his solo album. And there is a song on it, which is like a primal scream, called Mother.

And I started to talk to him about the music, and he opened like a flower. It was amazing. And then now little Julian is nine years old. Ten years later, I get a knock on my door at my office on the Paramount lot where I'm producing MacGyver. And all of a sudden, a man stands there and he says, I don't know if you remember me. I'm Julian. I said, Julian, I will never forget you. That's great.

Now, go ahead. I'm sorry. No, no, no. I'm just going to say at that time he had a hit show and there was a show on television called Solid Gold and he was the guest on Solid Gold. Tell us just a little bit more about auditioning for the part

when they first called you. Did you say something like, if I could infuse this guy with real emotion? No. Well, when they called me and said, hey, would you like to play the part? I said, look, he can't be one note. He's got to be an emotional guy. He's kind of a loner. If you let me show the emotion, it will be my pleasure to play him.

And did Sly Stallone, who you had worked with on The Lords of Flatbush, influence the character at all? Well, Sly was an amazing guy, because at the time that we did Lords of Flatbush, Sly was not cut, you know, he was not like this sculpted body. He was a little doughier. But he was funny, witty, a great writer. He painted his windows black in a walk-up apartment on Lexington Avenue. There was no elevator.

With his first wife and his bull-mastiff dog. And I was influenced by him because he had such a fabulous imagination. And when he got to California, he drove out here. His car broke down on Sunset Boulevard, and he called me, and I went and picked him up, his wife and his dog, and took them to the rented apartment they had somewhere in north of Sunset in Hollywood. Now, I saw Lords of Flatbush in a theater. Yes.

With, unbelievably, the totally unknown Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone. Right. And do you remember the theme song? Yeah, written by Joel Brooks, right? And, yeah, when Perry King was riding his motorcycle after he broke up with Susan... Susan Blakely. Susan Gorgeous Blakely, and they sang that song.

Hey, hey, what do you say? Looks like it's gonna be a very fine day. My girl is with me today. Looks like some real fine things are coming my way. Just hanging out with nothing to do. Lucky, lucky me that I brought it to you. Looking so good.

Looking so fine. I wonder, wonder, wonder can I make you mine? Bow, bow, bow, bow, bow. Do you know that that is exactly the way I remember it? Henry, when was the last time you sang it? Are you telling me that you sang it on the record? Yes.

That was him. You know, if I didn't love you before, that's amazing to me. I'm going to break out the vinyl and listen to that again. People forget my musical career. Well, I'm never going to forget that rendition of that pathetic song again. Oh, and I have to ask you too. It's become part

of the English language and that's the term jump the shark. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I'm the only actor in the universe who's jumped the shark twice. Once on Happy Days and once on Arrested Development. Oh, that's right. That's right.

Now, jump the shark now means you pass the point of no return. That's right. And so describe that episode of Happy Days. My father, because I was a water ski instructor at camp, you know, I was a camp counselor as one of my jobs. And he said, oh, tell the producers

you water ski. I said, no, I don't think I'm going to do that. No, no, no, this is very good. Tell them you water ski. This is a good thing. Your dad was Hans Conrad. I was thinking Scrooge McDuck. One of the two. Yeah, I think that Scrooge McDuck was lovelier.

But the thing is that I went to the producers and I said, my father wants me to tell you I water ski. And all of a sudden we were in California and they were going to have me jump the shark. and all of a sudden we were in California and they were going to have me jump the shark. John Hine was with his roommate, I believe, at Michigan University. Well, the University of Michigan. Not the Spartans, the other guys,

the blue and the yellow. Oh, the Wolverines? Yeah, the Wolverines. And he's sitting there and came up with this phrase in college and turned the phrase into an industry. And he now does a radio show on Sirius Radio. And I went to do it like two years ago. We sat down for an hour and had a wonderful time.

So you become the symbol of people and shows that have gone on and went to that point where it's where they went too long. Yeah. Yeah. Except we were a hit for the next five years anyway. That's number one. And number two, every time they mention Jump the Shark, they show a picture of me in water skis. And as I like to say, I had great legs at that time.

So I just don't care. You mentioned the windbreaker, Henry. Yes. We have to talk about it, that the network did not want you to wear a leather jacket. I mean, people know this story. But what I didn't know in doing the research was that the compromise Gary Marshall made with the network was that you could wear the leather jacket if you were on the motorcycle, but you hate motorcycles. That's right. I do not ride a motorcycle. I still don't know how to ride a motorcycle. That was all acting. But the fact is that Gary had a meeting with ABC.

They came to a compromise and said, okay, I would wear leather if I was in a scene with my motorcycle. There were no cell phones at that time. Gary left ABC, went down to the lobby, used the pay phone, called the writers' room at Paramount Studios of Happy Days, and said, never write a scene for the Fonz without his bike. Because he hated the windbreaker. Because he wanted him to wear leather, and ABC thought I would be associated with crime. Yeah, the windbreaker looked ridiculous. D.C. thought I would be associated with crime.

Yeah, the windbreaker looked ridiculous. Yes, it was really hard to be cool in a jacket where the collar flopped. You know, it's really true. And just a little bit more about auditioning for the part, Henry. A couple of things. You got the part on your birthday, or you auditioned on your birthday? No, no, no. I got the part on my birthday. or you auditioned on your birthday?

No, no, no. I got the part on my birthday. They called me on October 30th, 1973 and said, would you like to play this part? Wow. And we're talking to Mickey Dolenz tomorrow. Yes. Well, he's a lovely man.

Yes, we're looking forward to it. I watched him before I ever got to Hollywood. I saw him do that incredible show, The Monkees. And wasn't he, do I have this incorrect too? Hollywood, I saw him do that incredible show, The Monkees. And wasn't he, do I have this incorrect too, or wasn't he? No, I believe that he was there and was auditioning also. For Fonzie?

Absolutely. And I heard they thought at that point they had decided against the big guy, and they thought he'd be taller than the other cast members. I don't know that. I was never told that. The story I heard is they were looking for somebody who was 6'2". Well, they were looking for Paul LaMatte. Oh, Paul LaMatte, sure.

Melvin and Howard. But the story that I hear is that when you left the room, they said, that guy auditions like he's 6'2". Wow, that's lovely. Thanks. And when you were at the height of your Fonzie fame... I was still 5'6 1⁄2". And by the way, our mutual friend Tom Leopold says he auditioned for the part of Fonzie, too. Oh, Tom. Tom, is he still writing and performing?

Yes, he's a close friend of Gilbert's and mine, and we're going to interview him for the show. But he said, tell Henry. Yeah, we'll give him my warmest regards. We will. Apparently he auditioned for Fonzie, which I didn't know. Yeah. A lot of people did.

And so you were offered the part in Grease. Yes, I was. Yes, I was. The producer came on the set of Happy Days and said, we would like you to do this movie. And I thought to myself, like an idiot, well, I've just done The Fonz. I don't want to play the same guy. I don't want to be typecast. And I turned it down. I went home and had a soda. John Travolta went home and bought a plane. and had a soda, John Travolta went home and bought a plane. How many times over the years have you kicked yourself? Never once.

No? No, it was the decision I made, and I live with it, you know. And John was unbelievable in it. Do you know Travolta? Yes, we've met a few times over the years. It was like those two characters were the two top cool guys.

Right, that's right. Danny and Fonzie? Yeah, they tried to build a conflict between us that never existed. I once called him on the set and I said, you're not saying this in the press, are you?

Because I'm not saying this in the press. He said, no, I'm not saying it. So we just let it go wherever it went. I wanted to ask Henry about what we talked about before, about the original Happy Days pilot. But you weren't in the original pilot that Gary Marshall... No, the original pilot was an episode of another show. Right.

You know, the other show, Love American Style, was made up of vignettes, and one of the vignettes was the Happy Days family. Yeah, Love and the Happy Days. Mm-hmm. Also, when people talk about Happy Days, it seems like they make it like, well, American graffiti came out and that's what gave them the idea.

But it was different than that, wasn't it? You know what? I think that Gary always had the idea to create something like this from, you know, it's basically the kids and the environment he grew up in, except that it was in the Bronx, not in Milwaukee. And was Fonzie based on a real guy from Gary Marshall? I think so. I think it was. And they had filmed this.

You know, Gary Marshall's real name is Maciarelli. Sure. Yeah, and they filmed the Happy Days pilot way before American Graffiti. I heard. You know what? I think that's true. Because as we were working,

I went to the premiere of that movie. So I think that's true yeah yeah there was a pilot called new family in town and it wasn't tom bosley as the dad it was no no no it was another wonderful actor who is no longer with us now i also during the years of happy days because fonzie was so influential influential, they did two episodes. One episode, you get a library card. Yes, that's true. Oh, yes.

And what happened after you... What happened was that I sent one line to Richie. I said, hey, look at this. You can get a library card for free. And you could meet chicks there. And the registration for library cards in America went up 500% within weeks. And where did the civil rights episode come from, that wonderful episode? That came, that was the same thing.

The sit-in where we went down south and I sat in at the counter. It just came from what the writers thought was an important part of the history of the time the show took place in. And there was another episode where Fonzie gets glasses. There was another episode where Fonzie gets glasses. Yes, and that was, you know, the obstetricians of... Obstetrician, is that right? Optician? Optometrist?

The optometrist. Oh, my God. It's a optometrist in a whole other area. It's a whole other area that you don't see well. Oh, my God. Yes, right. My doctors wrote us, wrote Gary, and said, look, would you make it cool to wear glasses? So the Fonz did. I went to the hospital to have my tonsils removed.

And then there was one episode where the Fonz cried over Richie in the hospital. And I made a deal with God. If God made Richie better, then I would be more something. And I started to cry in that episode, and that was because there was a home for delinquent kids up in Massachusetts, I believe, that wrote a letter saying, look, these kids love the Fonz, but they won't show any emotion.

Could you do an episode where the Fonz does so they see that it's cool to do that? Wow. And Gilbert and I were talking, Henry, about what happened when the ratings started to slip a bit and Fred Silverman decided that maybe they should change the name of the show. Yeah, well, they wanted to change the show,

and they wanted to give me my own show. They wanted to call it Fonzie's Happy Days. And then they wanted me to spin off and do Fonzie's own show. And I said, first of all, I will not allow the name to be changed because that would be so disrespectful to everybody I've been working with for the last seven years. Number two, why would I want to do my own show if the Fonz lives and dies with these people?

And I believe that the success was based on my relationship with those incredible people that I shared the show with. Interesting. And some of our listeners and our fans on Facebook, and you've been asked this a hundred times, I'm sure, but someone has said, did Fonzie kill Chuck so he could move into the garage? No, you know what happened? The Fonz became the older brother, and they couldn't write two older brothers, so they wrote Chuck out. And didn't Chuck just go to his room one day? Yes, he walked upstairs and never came down. Great TV history.

He, like, slipped into another dimension. Although, I had to ask one question. Go ahead. to another dimension. Although, I had to ask one question. Go ahead. Other than the fact

that you think Pinky Tuscadero is a cunt. Well, you know what? I would never use that particular word, but yes,

it is true. I did not like her. Ah, good. I didn't think she was a good actress. I just didn't like the entire personage.

Oh, good. And so, but you know, there she is, and she's there for however many episodes, and so you make the best of it. But there are very few people

I didn't get along with. You know, your job as an actor is to make it work. That's in essence, you make the script work, you make your relationship with the director, with the other cast members, with the clothing, with the everything, you make it work. And I just, I mean, you know, I really understand if you've got nothing nice to say, don make it work. And I just, I mean, I, you know, you're, I really understand if you've got nothing nice to say, don't say it. So I, I will stop there. Okay. And for the record, I never liked you. No, you know, and I'm, I'm okay with that as long. I'm not kidding. I mean, because it's really, um, uh, Gilbert, I am, uh, I'm using you as long as we mention the books um i

will i will stand the stink of being on the phone with you henry let's you know i'm very i'm very comfortable i've got a nose clip on my nose. Perfect. Oh, I wanted to ask you, I once heard you tell us... Another question. Yes, another question. How many questions do you have? Is this the way this goes? Pretty much. You ask questions. Oh, my God.

Go ahead. Now, you were at some event. Yeah. I forget what it was. That is so specific. Yes. I remember it. No, no, no, really. I remember it now like it was fucking yesterday.

I think you were wearing a tie. Yes. Anyway. Yes, that now is a down. But you said someone came up to you. Yeah. And I think asked for an autograph. Yes.

And you didn't want to give them an autograph because then it would create a mob thing of everything. Yes, yes. And then the guy told you that he was a prisoner of war. Do you remember this? I'll tell you where I met a prisoner of war was I met one of the men. His first name was Terry. And at the first inaugural for Bill Clinton, I met one of the men who was held in Iran for over 400 days.

for over 400 days. And not only did I give him my autograph, but I had my picture taken with him that I still have on my wall as a reminder of the human spirit to this day in my office. But I heard you said... You're going to try and make a negative out of it? No, no. You're going to try and put me down?

No, I just don't. That I was so respectful to this man who had a bag over his head for 400 days. Who didn't have a mattress. You're going to make something crap out of this? I just wanted

a title this episode. Henry Winkler hates veterans. No. No. No, I heard. I am so deeply appreciative. You know, when I meet veterans, no matter where, and these young men and women who walk through the airports when I'm traveling and want to take a picture with me, I just feel so honored.

me. I just feel so honored. Well, the story I'd heard is he was a prisoner of war, and he told you that he and the other prisoners of war were like, I think they were like acting out Happy Days episodes. That was this gentleman

from Iran. He was an American, and they were during the Carter administration into the Reagan administration, they were, as a matter of fact, that incident started Nightline. Ted Koppel came on and for every day they were captured, gave us an update of what was going on, and that started the program Nightline. And those men, and I believe there were women too,

it was unbelievable to me, unbelievable, that this guy had the backbone, the wherewithal, the fortitude, the spirit of living to survive that. And it's unbelievable to me that Gilbert actually had his facts straight. You know what? I always trust Gigi. Henry, let's talk a little bit about the movies. You know, I call him Gigi, and that's actually how the title of the movie came about. I was yelling across the lot at MGM.

I said, Gigi. And they went, oh, my God, a musical. Good trivia. Let's talk about one of my favorite movies that you're in, the one and only, written by the great Steve Gordon, the late great Steve Gordon. Do you know that I read that script and it made me weep? Because not only was it funny, but he understood the human condition so well

that it was really a dramedy. And we made, I was directed by the great Carl Reiner, and we made a comedy. And a lot of that emotion that I saw, that I understood, that made my hair stand up on the back of my neck, was left out. But I learned to wrestle at night night and we shot during the day. So as soon as we finished our day of shooting, I would go, uh, and wrestle with Jean LaBelle, who was a, a professional wrestler and teacher. And was your, was your character loosely based

on gorgeous George? Yes, it was. Yes, it was. And, you know, I used to watch that when I was younger, and I used to watch all those guys, Haystacks, Calhoun. Oh, sure. Bruno Sammartino. Oh, my God, I met Bruno. I met Bruno, and the only other Bruno that I adore is Bruno Mars. Uh-huh. What about Bruno Kirby? He's never wrestled. Was it a tough part, because you kind of played He's never wrestled. Was it a tough part because you kind of played a Schmendrick? Was it a difficult part

to play? No, no, because you know why? I'm closer to the Schmendrick than I am to anything else. No, no, no, really. It's just the truth and I can't hide it.

I am very Schmendrick. And we should point out that it was written by, to our listeners, it was written by the late Steve Gordon who wrote and directed Arthur. Yes. He was just an amazing talent. But he had a bad heart

and never stopped eating three or four cheeseburgers at a sitting. Wow. And eventually it just killed him. Yeah. And speaking of a great Schmendrick part. Yes. Was Night Shift. One of my favorite movies.

Honest to God. I think it still holds up. Ronnie said to me. Ron. I should call him Ronnie. He's an adult. Ronnie said to me. Ron Howard.

Ron Howard was going to direct his first major studio film. He had done TV films. He had done Roger Corman movies. And now he was going to do his first. This was his dream, to direct, to be a director, which I think he accomplished. I'm not sure. No, it's a fun thing. And he said to me, oh, it's a fun thing. And he

said to me, oh, you can play either part. And I thought, oh, no kidding. Okay. So Billy Blaze was kind of like the Fonz. So I think I'm going to choose Chuck in the movie, Chuck Lemley, who is like

Richie. I think I'll play Richie. And he said, okay. And then we went about casting the other part. Met every young actor in Hollywood. He asked me to be part of the casting process to read with the other character. I did. It was my honor.

And one of the last people to come in the room after days, days and days, Michael Keaton. Within 30 seconds of opening his mouth, Ron looked at me, smiled, nodded, and that was that. You just stopped your audition and started filming. And I had heard when Ron Howard said he wanted to be a director, you said to him, because you had so much faith in him, that if he wanted to be a brain surgeon, you would be his first patient. And that's honest to the truth.

We were standing backstage waiting to make an entrance on Happy Days. And he said to me, he said, you know, I really want to be a director. What do you think? And I said, Ron, I know in my heart, if you decided to be a brain surgeon, I would be online to be your first patient. Because this kid, who is 10 years younger than I am, so I'm now 27 when I get the part. I meet him, he's 18, just 18. And we worked together for seven years

before he went on to direct full time. And he is the wisest, most together guy I think I've ever met in my life. And is it so strange that when they talk about child stars, and most of them wind up like, you know, junkies or criminals, how Ron Howard turned out? Well, I'll tell you, his dad, his mom and his dad, both actors, were the first people who left the farm in Oklahoma. They drove to New York, and Rance was in plays on Broadway. I don't know about Gene, his mom, but I know that Rance was...

Mr. Roberts, as a matter of fact, I think he was in Mr. Roberts on Broadway. They then decide to drive across the country to see if they can be in the movies. They do. They have two boys. And they never let the boys misbehave they never let the the boys think that they were more important than the job and it is that family dynamic that family strength. They kept both Ron and Clint just from falling off the dark edge. And in Night Shift,

I know there's online, they say there is, they show one scene from Night shift on the internet right uh where they say the scene that made night shift great yes and it was the scene of you talking to a explaining to shelly long uh how you always had the hots for her the minute you met her. Right. In the bathtub? Yeah, right before the bathtub.

You're in the kitchen and you're freezing. She stands up on a chair in order to get something out of the cabinet. She's only in panties. Yeah. And then later on, she says you're decent

because she built a uh you got a tombstone for your father yes and she said you're decent you did this whole uh monologue about how how you you finally revealed to her how you felt about her all this time. Wow, I didn't know that. Yeah. Well, I know your movies. Well, I think you're slipping, Henry. Yeah. No, no, no. Listen, I'm just proud that I remember I was in it. But I do not remember

I do not remember that monologue. Interesting. Yeah, because you were saying the first time I saw you my eyes had heart I remember that monologue. Interesting. Yeah, because you were saying, the first time I saw you, my eyes had heart attacks. Yeah. Well, you know what that is. The two men wrote Night Shift.

They are gods to the comedy world. Lowell Gans and Babalu Mandel. I once worked in the very first thing I ever filmed was a pilot written by Lowell Gans and Babalu Mandel, and this was a piece

of shit. Well, they hadn't met their stride yet. Because they ran Happy Days, Lowell Gans ran Happy Days, I think for about seven years. And if I had a problem, and I would say to him on Wednesday night, you know, this whole moment doesn't work. I don't know how to get there.

I can't make it come alive. Thursday morning, there would be a rewrite. That was like it fell from heaven. And that was Lowell and his team. We should point out they wrote many other wonderful things, like Parenthood. Oh, and City Slickers. And City Slickers, and I believe the screenplay for Splash, did they not? Splash.

Yeah. Oh, I mean, it just goes on and on and on. Now, do you have any... I heard Laverne and Shirley were a nightmare. No, that's not true. They started as a guest couple

on our show. I dated one, and Richie dated Shirley. I dated Laverne and the girls were so incredible together you know one of the great acting partners of my life was Ron Howard we could do a three-page scene we could memorize it, improvise it, and shoot it in 20 minutes, three times. And these young ladies, they were so connected in their humor and so yin and yang. They were so the opposite of each other.

And then they went on to do their own show, and they each had an opinion. That is true. But what came out was some of the best slapstick comedy since Lucy. Honest to God. Great physical comedians, both of them. Great physical comedians, and they worked together like bread and butter. Now, you also worked with someone.

It's funny. I will tell you that the Laverne and Shirley set was right next door. Their soundstage was right next door to our soundstage, 19, on Paramount Lot. And during the summer, we would suffer because somehow Laverne and Shirley got all the air conditioning. Honest to God, you would have to wear a parka

when you went on their set. And we literally rehearsed in bathing suits on ours. Now, you worked in a movie with Catherine Hepburn. Yes. That was One Christmas.

It was a short story, a novella, by Capote. And it was an amazing experience. Now, the real truth is that at that time, Catherine's memory was going, and her ability was a little less than up to snuff. a little less than Up to Snuff.

But for the most part, she was the dynamic, powerful woman we had come to know in the movies and the stage. And I would do scenes with her. Sometimes I would have to hold up the lines in front of my face for her, and I would act up hold up the lines in front of my face for her, and I would act up and over the cardboard. And sometimes she was right there, and my knees went to jelly because all I kept thinking about, there's that voice,

there is that woman that I adore. And it was really a great experience. We did it in Wilmington, North Carolina. Yeah. Go ahead, Gilbert.

Oh, yeah. One of the weird jobs that I had when I was struggling to make it as a comic. Yes. Was working the concessions in the Broadway theaters. No kidding. And and one of the plays was called A Matter of Gravity with Catherine Hepburn and Chris Reeves, totally unknown Chris Reeves. And Hepburn would come before the show and talk to us all the time. Wow. Wow.

That says a lot about who she is, who she was. Was it a constant kind of pinch-me moment, Henry, where you're a kid from the Upper West Side, you've got a reading disability, you decide you will yourself to be an actor, and a couple of years later, here you are with Katharine Hepburn. I'm telling you that I live by two words, tenacity and gratitude.

Tenacity gets you where you want to go, and the gratitude doesn't allow you to be angry along the journey. And to appreciate, to be in the moment. You know how they always say, very Eastern, but live in the moment. Don't look in front of you. Don't look behind you. Be present. Be present. Be present. I want to say that there is a lot of validity to finally getting there,

to live in that moment so that you appreciate what you are looking at in front of you, who you're talking to on the phone, what show you're watching, what movie you're at, talking to on the phone, what show you're watching, what movie you're at, what rose is on the vine right directly in front of your eyes. I'm telling you, it is so simple and so fulfilling and powerful at the same time as a way to live. Well, I have to pay you a compliment, if you'll allow me. When you visited us at the Joy Behar show, the entire staff and Joy and everybody talked for days about how you made eye contact with everybody,

how you asked everybody's name, how you were basically the most present celebrity we'd ever had on the show. Out of 400 or 500 shows. It was palpable. We talked about it for quite a while. Oh, wow. Out of 400 or 500 shows. I mean, it was palpable. Yeah. We talked about it for quite a while.

Well, thanks for letting me know. See, here's the difference between you and me. I'm still having arguments with people that I was angry at when I was five. You know what? You know what? You just give me, write down a list of names. I'll go visit them.

See, I think some of them might be dead. You know what? I'll find them. And Henry, after Happy Days, you got into producing. Well, I got into producing as a matter of need. You know, the worst thing happened. I, since I was, let's say, seven years old, wanted to be an actor. And I knew what I wanted.

And I woke up every morning with that in mind. And it burned me. It burned my skin with desire. And I'm so not joking, I can't even begin to tell you. So now from seven until 1983, I'm eating through brick. I'm living my dream. I'm focused. I'm eating through brick. I'm living my dream. I'm focused. I'm directed. And then happy days is over. And I literally forgot about what next. I didn't have a plan B.

I didn't have a plan C. And I sat in my office at Paramount and I was almost so inert, so empty, so having no idea what to do. And I want to tell you, if you don't know what you want, it is painful. It is psychically painful. And I sat in my office, I sat in my chair, I was smart enough to think, okay, I don't know what's coming next. Don't force the issue. Don't do anything. Just sit here. And my lawyer, Skip Rittenham III, said, you know what, you'll produce. I said, I have no idea how to produce. Not only that, I'm dyslexic.

I'm stupid. I don't know anything about business. He said, you'll learn. And that's when I started to produce and then we, the honest truth is, in a job I wasn't particularly fond of, if you put all of the episodes back to back, I've produced 19 years of on-air television. Wow. That's a lot of material. How did MacGyver come about? Jonas, who went on to run our company and then went on to run, I think, Warner Brothers,

came to us and said, I have an idea about a fix-it man. He's a shortcut man. The guy, when the police don't come, when the fire people don't come, when the FBI doesn't come, you call MacGyver. And he will take care of it. And we took it to ABC. We took it to ABC. And I sold it in the room with my partner at the time, John Rich, who was a very good comedy director.

Now, I... Oh. Yeah. No, no, no. That's it i i heard that john rich said because you're such a supportive person that during the auditions you would go up to every actor and go that was wonderful that was a great performance thank you thank. Thank you. And finally, John Rich said to you, stop saying that. You're building up their hopes for nothing.

Yeah, but, you know, that was him. And I knew what it was like to be in that room. And I didn't always say to them, oh, that was the best performance ever. What I said was, you know what? Thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate that you came in and thank you for what you gave us. That's what I really said. And I knew what it was like to audition. Oh, it's horrible. It's horrible. It is your nerves, your fear. The other people, they are sometimes cold as ice.

You pick that up and it drives you deeper into your hole. And if you're going to find somebody, if I need to find an actor, why not be supportive and make that human being, man or woman or child, feel comfortable in the room and let them give us their best.

And then you find what you need. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with that? Because with auditions, you do go in there and then when you leave, you feel totally worthless. Yeah, I do it still. I sit in those rooms. I sit in those chairs against the wall, waiting to go in to meet the director and the producer

and the casting people. You know, because if you want a job, sometimes they don't trust. They want to see what you look like. They want to see you can still do it. The executives are young. They don't trust. Just because you were a star once doesn't mean you can do it again.

I sat in those chairs. I went in. I was petrified. But I wanted the job, so I pushed myself and blurted out whatever came into my imagination. And, Henry, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, when you first saw MacGruber on Starry Night Live, did you laugh? I did. I absolutely

did. And you know what? I still laugh when I see the reruns. And Will Fort is a good acquaintance of mine. And it is so much fun to watch that. Do you know? It's a fun show, MacGygyver the actor who played macgyver's boss yes i i think i had heard that he had gone blind he was going blind he had a um a progressively uh disintegrating condition condition in his eye.

But he was so incredible that until he could no longer work, he was very much a part of our family. Yeah, so when he was already blind, you were still using him. Yes, that's right. That's exactly right. Because the actor, the greatness of the actor didn't go anywhere. And what was his name again? Do you remember?

Was it Dana Elkar? What? Exactly. Exactly. Mr. Elkar was just an amazing guy. We had a wonderful bunch of people. And Richard Dean Anderson, you could not have asked for a more cooperative cheerleader, let's go get him star if you paid somebody

we did it was a fun show and Henry tell us how Arrested Development we did 144 episodes of MacGyver it was great tell us how Arrested Development came into your life I got a call

to do an episode for Arrested Development came into your life. I got a call to do an episode for Arrested Development. And, you know, Jeff Tambor and Will Arnett and Jason Bateman and Portia and everybody was there. And I went. I got out of my car, and the first person I met was Michael Serra, who was 15 at the time with his mom, his beautiful mom from Canada. I love it. And I shook hands with Michael, and I thought to myself, okay, I've just met a kid who will be able to do anything he wants to do in this business. able to do anything he wants to do in this business. You know how you know that it just comes off people like a volcano?

Sure. You know? And then I stayed for four years playing a lawyer who has no idea what his sexuality is. Barry Sucker Corn. Did you base the character on anyone? No, I didn't. sucker corn. Did you base the character on anyone? No, I didn't. In that case, you have a creator like Mitch Hurwitz, and you just listen. You know, you ad lib, you go, you try. Sometimes he laughs, sometimes it's in. But if he says, no, no, no, no, Say this. Try this now. Go do this now.

And you just do it. You don't question. Now, you worked with one of my favorite comedians, Alan King. I directed Alan King in a movie. We started, was it 1988? 19, maybe it was earlier? 1986, I don't remember. Whatever the stock market crashed.

It was that morning. And let me tell you, I had an actor on my hand who could not concentrate because he was watching his money fall into dust. But I think he gave one of the best performances he's ever done. It's called Memories of Me. It was written by Eric Roth and Billy Crystal. It starred Billy Crystal and Alan King as a father and son. And I think it still holds up.

And Alan King's character is a... He's a lifelong movie extra. Yes. Yeah. And he is the king of the extras. He is in charge. He is the mayor of all the extras in Hollywood, and his son is a surgeon, and they are estranged,

and they come back together to try and piece their relationship back together just before tragedy strikes. That's a good film. Thanks. And Alan King gives a good performance. Oh, my God. For a guy who wasn't an actor, really. I mean, he's in the Sidney Lumet picture,

Just Tell Me What You Want, with Ali McGraw, but he wasn't really known as an actor. No, and he really worked hard. I only had one argument with him in that movie. He went for an audition

in the movie. So he was going to get his first speaking part. He was going for his first lines instead of being just background. And he wanted to wear what Alan King would have worn to the audition. I love that. to the audition. I love that. And he came in a blue blazer with a silk scarf coming out

of the square pocket and a tie, and he was to the nines. And I said, Alan, we cannot do this scene with you dressed like that. Those clothes are not in your character's closet.

You don't have the money as an extra to wear Gucci like that. And it took me 20 minutes of respectful dialogue, of conversing with him, to get him into the costume that the designer had picked for him and then he went to audition and that's that scene is i think golden you know i just realized something that i guess to produce hollywood squares you have to be dyslexic because I heard Whoopi Goldberg said she was also dyslexic. Yes, she is. And she was the center square for many, many years. And then there was a sea change.

They made a change and they brought Michael Levitt and me in. And I'm telling you, those were two of my happiest years as a producer because if you got the chemistry right, and the chemistry was, Claudia Kagan was the one who had a Rolodex the size of an apartment building. And she was the head who had a Rolodex the size of an apartment building. And she was the head of casting.

And if we got those nine squares right, I'm telling you I had to bring a change of underwear. I had so much fun doing Hollywood squares. And there again, I don't mean to cut you off, and there again, uh, you know, and I don't mean to cut you off, but there again, all I'm thinking about is all of these great, wonderful,

eclectic, um, personalities and stars, uh, comics and actors and, uh, you name it are all giving up their weekend to come sit in this hot set in this three-story structure. And you have to be respectful and care for these wonderful people giving us their time like that to make the show go.

I remember that was one of those jobs where I didn't feel like I was working. Yes, right. Right. I never worked on this show. We didn't either. It didn't feel like a job. It just felt like we laughed from the time we rolled until the time we said cut and went home.

And our mutual friend Dave Boone was a writer on that show. Dave Boone now writes every bit of special material. He does. He does. But let me tell you, his job, he had several writers under him. He and Jay Reddick were the head writers. And they wrote, except for people like Gilbert, who just wrote whatever came out of his mouth, these guys wrote the answers, or the comic answers, for all of the other stars.

You know, and what a Herculean task that was. I'm sure. Yeah, they were terrific writers on that show. And I've had the pleasure of working with Michael on the TV Land Awards. Could not be a nicer guy. Well, and also, I always say about him that he is like Mount Vesuvius in the ideas that sprout out of his head at any given moment. And one more question before we start. You worked with Tim Conway and Carol Burnett.

I never worked with Carol. Carol I met at Emerson College when she came and she gave $10,000 for a student scholarship. And I said, hi, my name is Henry Winkler, and I'm here studying to be an actor. And she said, keep your name. It sounds great. But Tim Conway, I directed when I did several episodes of Clueless, the TV show, and he played the shop teacher. And all I did was say, Tim, tell me what you need in way of props.

And all I did was point the camera wherever he walked. Because now that guy is so funny. And then I did a show, a pilot for a television show where we traveled across the United States with Tim Conway. It was called Tim Conway's Funny America.

And Tim would dress up in costume and disguise himself and would interact with people in Seattle, people in Pacoima, people in Indianapolis. And we would just go from city to city and then film it. And it was pretty funny. I have to tell you, I just had a flashback. There's a silent movie, I think with Jackie Coogan, that it's called The Ragman. And if you ever see this, there's one part, it's supposed to be an old Jewish man who was cheated by his partner. And then later on in the movie, he gets a letter from his partner going,

I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I could barely live with myself. Sincerely, Henry Winkler. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, so you'll have to see that. That is some trivia. The Ragman. Oh, my God.

I mean, they just out of the blue used a name that happened to be mine. Yeah, I love it. And this was way before I was on television. Yeah. And speaking of the Winkler name, real quick, Henry, we'll wrap it up. Your son, Max, is a director. My son, Max, is a wonderful director. Truly, truly, truly.

Not because he's my son, but because he is. He just is great. He's wise. he just is great. He's wise. I've worked with him in every student film he had me in it. And of course,

as soon as he started directing professionally, I have never been asked again. He does so many episodes of The New Girl. You haven't been on The New Girl? No, and he did Brooklyn 99. That's right of The New Girl. You haven't been on The New Girl? No, and he did Brooklyn 99.

That's right. The New Normal. He directed a wonderful movie with, well, the next time we do the show, I'll tell you who he did the movie with. And my son's name is Max. Oh, really? Yeah. You know how I came up with that? I swear to you, Stacey was pregnant, and I heard somebody say, get me Max Winkler on the phone.

And that was it. Oh, but now he's got his own company. Yeah, it's really wonderful. Okay. Now, Henry's really wonderful. Okay. Now, Henry, okay, so what we've learned today is that you hate the veterans. I don't hate the veterans. And you think that you've said out loud that you think Pinky Tuscadero's a cunt. I never said the word whatever you said.

I said she was not my favorite person on the earth. In other words, a cunt. In other words, not my favorite person in the world. We'll cut this part out. I don't use that word often. We'll cut this part out. I don't use that word often. Before we go, anything else you want to plug?

You're still doing the Hank Zipser books. The Hank Zipser books, now we have a new series. The Hank Zipser books, there are 18 of them. A new one just came out two Fridays ago, a new Hank Zipser. There are 18 of them, and they are from third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade. Now we have Here's Hank, which is Hank Zipser in the second grade, and they are brand new readers. So for reluctant readers, for kids who are just starting to read, they are comedies that happen to be about how much trouble I had in school. Here's Hank. So these are old books that make people with dyslexia

realize they're not alone. You know, I'll tell you something that you said that is so interesting because one of the things that children write to us about from all over the world, the one comment is, first of all, I laughed so hard my funny bone fell out of my body. And second of all, how did you know me so well? Wow. And that is a great compliment. And the other thing is, you know, the lesson that I've learned is don't give up. I couldn't sell the book, Hank Zipser, to television in America. Lynn Oliver, my wonderful partner, and I tried over and over again. I never stopped talking about it. And now they are,

it's a wonderful show on the BBC in England. Well, Henry. Perseverance. I say again, I never liked you. But you know what, I'm so glad that you

finally talked to me on the radio. You know? Now, don't you like me a little better now? But you know what? I'm so glad that you finally talked to me on the radio. Now, don't you like me a little better now? No, no, no, you didn't answer the question. Yes, but... Don't laugh about it. Aren't I just wonderful now that you know me on the radio? Yes, you are, Henry. Thank you. Thank you.

Henry, I have to say, as somebody who's been in the business over 20 years, to hear you say that to this day that you remain overwhelmed, that you got to live your dream, is inspiring. Yeah, it's really true. Even to a senator like myself. Yeah, yeah, it's true. And can I just say to everybody who is listening, except for Gilbert, leave him out of it.

I hope you have the most wonderful holiday possible. Thanks, Henry. And you want me to have a miserable holiday. I don't care what you have. I'm not kidding. You can suck an egg, you know? I hope they're out of turkeys when you go to buy one. Well, Fonzie just told me to suck an egg.

Okay. Henry, this has been so much fun yeah me too thanks treat thank you and truly truly truly have a a wonderful um rest of 2014 oh you too you too thanks buddy this has been great. If you like listening to comedy, try watching it on the internet. The folks behind the Sideshow Network have launched a new YouTube channel called Wait For It. It's got interviews with comedians like Reggie Watts, Todd Glass, Liza Schleichinger, Slicing, driving friends with her for 10 years. One of the funniest people out there,

and I still have a hard time with the last name, Liza. Our very own Owen Benjamin, that's me, takes you on a musical journey down internet rabbit holes and much more. You don't have to wait any longer. Just go to youtube.com slash waitforitcomedy. There's no need to wait for it anymore. Because it's here. And it's funny.

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