Henry Winkler wannts to be a ‘block of cheddar’

Henry Winkler’s aim in life is to go from being “a block of Swiss cheese with a lot of holes” to a solid block of cheddar.

Henry Winkler is aspiring to become “a block of cheddar”.

The 80-year-old actor has reflected on his personal growth over the years and admitted he doesn’t think he could have taken on his role of unpredictable acting coach Gene Cousineau if he hadn’t gone through therapy.

Speaking on the What Matters With Liz podcast, he told host Liz Vacariello: “If I wasn’t present in my life, I now know I could not have done Gene Cousineau on Barry without the therapy that I went through.

“I’m a block of Swiss cheese with a lot of holes. And I am working on becoming a block of cheddar. [Because] it has no holes. That is a lifelong journey. Believe me, I am not ched yet.”

Over the course of his life, Henry has learned to be “a little less” bothered about what people think of him.

He added: “I have fought to jump that hurdle. Because that is debilitating, and so hard to get over. When you think that they must be thinking about what you just did and it could be the furthest thing from their mind. Holy mackerel!”

The Happy Days star recently insisted he has no intention of retiring until he is “not able” to work any longer.

Speaking to Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson on their IMO podcast, he said: “People keep asking me, am I gonna retire or ‘Have you retired?’

“And I think that is like the furthest thing from my imagination.

“I will retire when I am not able to do [this] more.

“I think that [retirement] is deadly.”

Henry is pleased he is still keeping busy.

He said: “I work a lot. I have several jobs.”

Henry is best known for playing Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli on Happy Days and he recently recalled how he thought his “life [was] over” when co-star Ron Howard, who portrayed his best friend Richie Cunningham, decided to quit the show in 1980.

He recalled to People magazine : “There was a phone booth right by the front door of stage 19. They said, ‘Oh, the phone is for you, Henry.'”

Ron – who has subsequently become one of the most successful directors in Hollywood – told his co-star at the time: “It’s going to come out in the press in about 10 minutes, but I wanted you to know first, I’m not coming back.”

Henry was initially shaken by the news but he ultimately encouraged his showbiz pal to follow his long-term ambitions.

Henry said: “My first thought was, ‘I’m going to die now’. My great acting partner on this show, my good friend is no longer going to be here. My life is over.

“And that was in the first two seconds. Then I said, ‘Ron, we’ve talked about this since the beginning. All you want to do is be a director. It’s in your DNA. Go and be the best you can be, and I cannot wait to see what you do.'”