by Henry Winkler ★★★★★
Of all of the biographies I could have selected to read this month, Henry Winkler's Being Henry: The Fonz and Beyond was a bit of a random choice. I was too young to have fully experienced the height of Fonzie mania in the early days of Happy Days, when Winkler may have been the biggest star on the planet, and while I can remember catching the occasional episode from the last few seasons, I wouldn't catagorize myself as a fan. I'm too old to have been influenced by his Hank Zipzer series of children's books, nor do I have any children in my life that put those on my radar. I have never seen an episode of Barry (although I think I need to change that), and while I appreciated his performances in Arrested Development or the occasional Adam Sandler movie, I didn't feel like there was a significant lack of Henry Winkler in my life.
So why'd I pick it?
Quite simply, I had heard that Winkler was commonly considered one of the nicest people in Hollywood. I didn't know anything about him or his career, and it had been a while since I'd picked up an autobiography. In addition, I had heard that the audiobook (read, of course, by Henry) was excellent, and with a bunch of windshield time for me this past month, all of the stars aligned.
Near the end of Being Henry (don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything), Winkler writes the following:
"I have gratitude for everything. I love being on the earth, I love everything.
Are you skeptical?
Michael Eisner was. Michael, when he was head of Disney...once asked our very good friend the uber-manager Sandy Gallin the following question about me: 'Is he real?'"
When I came across that passage, I thought that it perfectly encapsulated two things that are important to know about this book. First, I had the same reaction as Eisner. Most days it seems we live in a world swimming in skepticism, and through that lens Winkler feels too nice and too authentic to take at face value. He's gotta be pulling one over on us, right? Second, I think the first part of his quote perfectly captures some of what you can expect from this autobiography. Winkler's tone throughout much of the book is one of wonder, self deprecation, and gratitude, filled with a joie de vivre that oozes off the page. This is even more evident in the audiobook, where Winkler delivers each line with an energy and passion that fully draws the listener into his story. He's the type of orator that could captivate a room full of people while relaying the most mundane moments of his day, an enviable talent that few people possess.
Winkler starts from the start, detailing his childhood growing up on New York's upper west side, struggling in school, finding his ability to make people laugh, and discovering his passion for acting. Throughout the book, he also discusses how insecure he has been for much of his life, and how hard it was for him to find and tap into his truest self. Even while his most famous role was to play a character that exuded confidence at all times, Henry never achieved anything remotely close to that in his regular life. His charming and gregarious exterior covered up the constant self doubt he lived with for most of his life. That's not to suggest that he's inauthentic -- far from it. He simply hides his insecurities, like almost everyone else on this planet.
While Winkler's storytelling brought a smile to my face, his honesty was one of the things I truly appreciated about the book. Despite plenty of examples to back up his "nicest man in Hollywood" reputation, he doesn't shy away from sharing the darker side of how he feels, be it scathing rebukes of his parents or singling out a few people with whom he has worked over the years that he truly despised. Also, for all the self-deprecation, every now and then Henry's pride and ego peek out from wherever they typically hide. The result is that this feels like a fair and true telling of his story, versus something documented to only reinforce the best or most flattering parts of his life.
Usually when an autobiography hits the shelves, there are shocking exceprts that get circulated to drive up interest and sales. ("So-and-so dishes all the dirt in the new tell-all", etc.) There are no such clickbait-generating shockers in Being Henry. While Winkler explores his challenges with dyslexia and self-doubt, and he shares the unique experience of going from being the most recognizable television star on the planet to someone struggling to find work, this is less of a Hollywood tell-all and more of an honest recording of a life by a man who can see there is more in the rearview mirror than there is ahead, and who at this stage of his life has enough perspective to feel immense gratitude for all that has happened to him.