A tiny pink piano sits in the vestibule of Henry Winklers house in Los Angeles a 2-foot-tall pink piano.
Before we begin our talk, I reach down to plink the keys.
This is a fun house, I tell him.
The house is bright and loaded with detail.
Theres not a somber piece of furniture in sight.
The windowsills are littered with ceramic animals.
Jolly little Buddhas take up spare shelf space.
Outsize jars of candy beckon, and plates of cookies wait for children to happen by.
And about a billion markers.
There are no plastic covers on our sofas.
And you know, if theres a spot here, a spot there, big deal.
Grandchildren(Winkler has six) burst in the front door unannounced.
Winkler, 77, stops everything, greets each with a delicate kiss.
Stacey, his wife of 45 years, patrols amid the chaos.
Bright-eyed and sprightly, Winkler moves from room to room as a cover shoot forAARP The Magazinegoes down.
I like cable knits, he tells me.
He holds out an arm.
Feel, he says.
Or any of the numerous awards he had previously won.
The old Henry got me here, but the new Henry is more fun, he says.
I was so verbal, yet I couldnt do anything in school.
It drove my parents crazy.
Winkler limped through high school and an undergraduate degree in theater at Emerson College.
Over the shows 11 seasons, he became an international superstar.
We have to talk aboutHappy Days, I tell him, almost apologetically.
Its OK, Winkler says quietly.
He knows how much he owes the show.
Fonzie had only six lines of dialogue in the pilot.
Still, he immediately delighted audiences.
His explosive popularity never waned.
Stacey wasnt familiar with his character or the show.
She wanted to go to the movies, he says.
And I told her that might be difficult.
She wanted to know why.
I said, I dont know how to describe it to you.
