As Henry Winkler prepares to star in panto at the Empire, Laura Davis discovers his thoughtful side

IF EVERYONE followed Henry Winkler’s guide to life, the world would be a happier place – perhaps not the halycon setting of Happy Days, the TV comedy he starred in for a decade, but definitely somewhere kinder and more forgiving.

He is sharing his wisdom in an attic rehearsal space a short walk from the Empire Theatre, where he will be playing Captain Hook in the panto Peter Pan.

The slightly surreal atmosphere is heightened by Liverpool actor Les Dennis warbling Hey Jude to a plinking piano in the same room.

Dennis is the dame to Winkler’s swashbuckling pirate and the New York-born 65-year-old is excited about what will be a new addition to a show he is returning to for the fourth time.

“The word for me is joyous,” he says of the production.

“There’s no better role in pantomime than Captain Hook. He is so much fun to play and everybody thinks he’s a bad guy but he’s just misunderstood.

“It’s the first time we’ve had a dame,” he adds. “Les is the real deal. Everyday he comes up with another 20 ideas to put in the script and that’s just a pleasure.”

Winkler is of the school of thought that TV actors should first perfect their craft on the stage. Before landing the role of The Fonz in Happy Days, he had completed a Masters in acting at Yale and was one of just three in his year group to be invited to join the Ivy League university’s professional theatre company.

He was 28 when he became, as he puts it, “the oldest teenager on television”, and his German Jewish parents finally accepted his choice of career.

“They escaped Nazi Germany and my father brought with him what he knew, which was importing and exporting timber,” explains Winkler, shaking his head as he thinks.

“He wanted me to take over the business and so there was a real beating of heads.

“Then of course, when I got on television, all of a sudden they became the co-producers of Henry Winkler. But to tell you the truth it was too late.”