Henry Franklin Winkler was born on October 30, 1945 in Manhattan, New York. His parents, Harry Irving and Ilse Anna Maria Winkler, were Jewish immigrants who survived the German Holocaust, moving to the US in 1939. His dad was the president of an international lumber company while his mother worked alongside his father.

Henry grew up with "a high level of low self-esteem". Throughout elementary school and high school, he struggled with academics. This was due to what he would later identify as dyslexia. His parents expected him to eventually work with them at the lumber company. However, Henry had other plans as he saw roles on stage as the key to his happiness. His acting debut came in the eighth grade when he played the role of Billy Budd in the school play of the same name.

Following his graduation from Horace Mann High School, he was able to overcome his learning disability and succeed in higher education. He received a Bachelor's Degree from Emerson College in 1967 and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1970. He later received a Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature in 1978 from Emerson College.

Following college, his top priority was to become an actor. However, if this was unsuccessful, he wanted to become a child psychologist because of his deep interest in working with children. Like many other actors, he began his career by appearing in a number of commercials. His first major role was in The Lord's of Flatbush in which he played a member of a Brooklyn gang.

After that, he was cast on a new ABC series which was set in the 1950s called Happy Days. He was given the role of high school dropout and greaser Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli. The character was seldom seen during the first few episodes as ABC initially feared he would be perceived as a hoodlum. However, the character became extremely popular with viewers and the show's producers decided to give Fonzie a more prominent role in the series. Following this, the show's ratings began to soar and Fonzie became a 70s icon and the epitome of coolness. His motorcycle, leather jacket, thumbs-up gesture, and uttering of the phrase "Aayyyy!" became television trademarks. The character become so popular that ABC considered renaming the series "Fonzie's Happy Days" but eventually decided against it.

Unlike many other stars of the 70s (i.e. Farrah Fawcett, Suzanne Somers) who rose to fame in a short period of time and developed 'big heads', Henry managed to stay well-grounded and avoided falling into this trap. He was said to be more polite and agreeable even after his popularity soared. He remained on the series until its cancellation in 1984.

In the mid-80s, with his Happy Days now behind him, Henry decided to change his focus toward producing and directing. He produced and directed several television shows and movies, most notably MacGyver and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. In the mid-90s and early 2000s, he was able to re-establish himself with a younger generation of movie-goers and TV viewers, appearing in the popular films Scream and The Waterboy and on shows such as The Practice and Arrested Development.

In addition to his movie and film credits, Henry is a well-accomplished author. In 2003, along with Lin Oliver, he co-authored a series of children's books called "Hank Zipzer: The Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Under-Acheiver". The books are based on his early struggles with dyslexia.

Offscreen, Henry has been married since 1978 to Stacey Weitzman with whom he has three children. Together, they are actively involved with various children's charities. In 1990, they co-founded the Children's Action Network (CAN) which provides free immunization to over 200,000 children. He is also involved with the Annual Cerebral Palsy Telethon, the Epilepsy Foundation of America, the annual Toys for Tots campaign, the National Committee for Arts for the Handicapped, and the Special Olympics.

In September 2003, he suffered a personal setback when his fellow actor and friend of nearly 25 years, John Ritter, unexpectedly passed away on the set of 8 Simple Rules. Henry, who was on the set that day for a guest appearance, was one of the last people to talk to Ritter.
Graduate of Emerson College. Grew up in New York City and upstate in family's country home on Lake Mahopac, NY. Has 3 children - Stepson, Jed Weitzman; Daughter, Zoe Emily Winkler (b. 1981); Son, Max Winkler (b. 1984). His parents are German Holocaust survivors. While making a documentary about dyslexia, Winkler himself found that he was dyslexic. Cousin of Richard Belzer. Was rehearsing lines with John Ritter before John collapsed and died. Is the godfather of Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of his former Happy Days co-star Ron Howard. He studied drama at Emerson College in Boston and earned a master's degree at the Yale School of Drama. The motorcycle he rode on Happy Days was the same motorcycle Steve McQueen rode in the famous motorcycle scenes in The Great Escape. Was originally supposed to play Danny in Grease but didn't accept for fear of being typecast after his famous role of Fonzie. Cousin, by marriage, of Harlee McBride. In the fall of 2005, appeared in the season premieres of three different series: Crossing Jordan, Arrested Development, and Out of Practice. His last episode on Arrested Development aired the same day as his first episode on Out of Practice, September 19, 2005. Goodfriend of Jill Eikenberry, who met when both were students at the Yale School of Drama. In 2000 he received an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance on the series Battery Park. However, when the TV Academy discovered that his episode (which was originally scheduled to air in April, but was later burned off in June after the series had already been canceled) had aired outside the nominations period, his nomination was revoked and William H. Macy was instead nominated for his work on Sports Night. The award eventually went to Bruce Willis.