He Didn’t Read A B00k Until He Was 31, Then A Diagn0sis Led Him T0 Inspire Kids With Similar Struggles

Although he eventually was cast as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli in Happy Days, he admitted he struggled during table reads.

“When we did Happy Days, I embarrassed myself for 10 years reading around that table with the producers, the other actors, the director, all of the department heads. On Monday morning, we read the scripts. I stumbled over every word. I was completely embarrassed. Memorizing, if it’s written well, my brain is then able to suck it up like a vacuum cleaner.”

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It wasn’t until his stepson began struggling in school and was tested for a learning disability that Winkler considered he too might have dyslexia.

“I went, ‘Oh my goodness.  I have something with a name.’  That was when I first got it.”

Winkler was 31 years old at the time.

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“I didn’t read a book until I was 31 years old when I was diagnosed with dyslexia. Books terrified me. They made me nervous,” he said.

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