UNDERSTANDING
DYSLEXIA
“I’m an actor, producer, director; I write children’s books; and I’m in the bottom three percent of people academically in America, I am what I am. I do all these different jobs. I am dyslexic. I can’t spell. Doing math in my head is as if I were to speak Russian at this moment. I am what I am and I am pretty comfortable with who I am and how I got to where I am with my learning challenges.”
Henry Winkler
HENRY WINKLER
Henry Franklin Winkler was born on October 30th 1945, in Manhattan, New York. His parents were Jewish immigrants who avoided the German Holocaust. Henry grew up with 'a high level of low self esteem." Henry suffered through elementary and high school, he says "I was called lazy. I was called stupid. I was told I was not living up to my potential. And all the time inside I’m thinking, I don’t think I’m stupid. I don’t want to be stupid. I’m trying as hard as I can." It wasn't until later on in life when Henry's son was diagnosed with dyslexia, that he figured out he was dyslexic.
Henry's parents wanted him to work with them at the family company, but Henry had other plans to be an actor. He started his acting debut in right grade when he played the role of Billy Budd in the school play.
After graduation he received a Bachelor's degree from Emerson College in 1967 and a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama in 1970. He planned on being an actor but he had a back up plan to become a child psychologist if it did not work out. His first major film role was in The Lord's of Flatbush (1974)
In the mid-1980's, Henry decided to change his focus towards producing and directing. He successfully directed and produced several movies and TV shows. In addition to his movies and film credits, Henry is also an accomplished author. He was able to co-author 12 children's novel with Lin Oliver. The series is called Hank Zipzer, the World's Greatest Underachiever a book based on his early struggles with dyslexia.
Credits To: "Biography." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
"Henry Winkler, Actor, Producer, Author * The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity." Henry Winkler, Actor, Producer, Author * The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.