I’m no fan of Henry Winkler as a thespian. I’ve appreciated his acting in bit roles in recent films. But before that I was mainly unimpressed by him. But what emerges from these opening chapters is a warm personality, a boy afflicted with dyslexia and other learning abilities yet maintaining a carefree and youthful confidence. This is a man who once faked a Shakespearean monologue to get into Yale…and nailed it. You can’t help but appreciate that kind of chutzpah.
You don’t get the impression that he had any great drive to be an actor; it’s merely a role into which he fell mainly by chance. He was lousy at sports and his learning disabilities meant he got poor grades in everything else. He used humor to cover up what he didn’t understand—which was mostly everything. Also, his father was a man who got his mother out of Germany by lying to her, tricking the Gestapo and consistently living above his means even while giving the impression of being wealthy. With a background like that, you understand Mr. Winkler’s ultimate life choice. What else is acting but being really good at telling falsehoods?
You don’t get the impression that he had any great drive to be an actor; it’s merely a role into which he fell mainly by chance. He was lousy at sports and his learning disabilities meant he got poor grades in everything else. He used humor to cover up what he didn’t understand—which was mostly everything. Also, his father was a man who got his mother out of Germany by lying to her, tricking the Gestapo and consistently living above his means even while giving the impression of being wealthy. With a background like that, you understand Mr. Winkler’s ultimate life choice. What else is acting but being really good at telling falsehoods?