Actor and Director Henry Winkler who was best known as ‘The Fonz’ in the American sit com ‘Happy Days’ was recently awarded an honorary OBE by the Queen.

Is Her Majesty a big fan of ‘The Fonz’, the absolute ‘King of Cool’ or has Winkler been up to something more significant. The reality is that Henry is dyslexic and his award is in recognition of him banging the drum for those with learning disabilities and inspiring youngsters not to feel limited.
Currently on a tour of schools in England, Winkler was interviewed on The One Show by Alex Jones and Matt Baker.
Alex: “You are talking about your struggles with Dyslexia and motivating and inspiring children. As an actor it must have been incredibly tough for you to deal with scripts.”
Henry: “This is what I’ve found. If you want something you figure out how you’re going to get it. So yes reading was hard, school was hard I just read my scripts a little slower than everyone else and I was able to memorise very quickly. I couldn’t read but I could memorise.”
Matt: “How did you find out then that you had dyslexia ?”
Henry: “My step son Jed who is now 40 was tested and everything they said to him applied to me.”
Alex: “When you go out to schools what exactly do you do with the children ?”
Henry: “I tell them my story, that I’m in the bottom 3% in America academically but here I am talking to you, that I was told that I was stupid and lazy, I would never achieve and the Queen of England gave me an honour. What a journey! The thing that I tell the children is that it doesn’t matter how you learn, you have brilliance in you. Your job is to figure out what it is and give it to the world as a gift.”
Matt: “Alfie is one of those kids that you’ve inspired. What did Henry tell you when he came to your school ?”
Alfie: “He told us that you can be whatever you want you just have to believe in yourself and everyone has the ability to be exactly what you want to be we just have to find it inside us.”
It’s refreshing for us at Motorvate to hear of another celebrity who shares our philosophy. Believe in yourself and focus on what you can do, not what you can’t!