A friendly "Heyyy!" echoed in the corridors of College Hall as the Fonz addressed a crowd of students Friday night.
Actor Henry Winkler visited campus as a guest of the Fox Speakers Forum, treating students to stories of his career and his role on the Happy Days television series.
Winkler described his experiences before landing his most memorable role.
In one such case, he auditioned for a part that consisted of one sentence: "Excuse me, could you please pass the salt?" He set himself apart by emptying the surprised director's nearby pencil case, delivered the line and got the role.
"Then I got famous," he said of starring in Happy Days.
An acting career doesn't usually last a lifetime, though, and Winkler eventually made the transition to directing from acting.
When the series Joanie Loves Chachi needed a director, Winkler took the job. He said he was able to succeed in his new endeavor by simply "putting one foot in front of the other."
Recognition from playing Fonzie -- an "incredible person in control" who Winkler said is something like his alter ego -- has persisted into Winkler's recent projects, including directing and producing movies and a recurring role on Fox's Arrested Development.
But though Winkler has had plenty of success, he faced hurdles along the way. He was unaware until his 30s that troubles he faced in childhood were due to dyslexia.
"Learning differently doesn't mean you don't have the ability to create greatness," he said.
Winkler is the co-author of the children's book series Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever and recently released the series' ninth title.
As he spoke without his trademark brown leather jacket -- which is hanging in the Smithsonian -- Winkler gently mocked his status as "The Fonz," saying that even he faced difficulty getting his daughter to clean her room.
Many students appreciated Winkler's candor and accessibility.
"He gave us honest advice with humor," Wharton and Engineering sophomore Ashar Khan said. "You can apply that to anyone's life."
College freshman Alli Blum agreed.
"He's very humble and very humorous," Blum said.
