If you ask anyone who is the nicest star in Hollywood, then they will tell you it is Henry Winkler. However, he told Drew Barrymore on her show today that during his first role, he was surrounded by actors who were not to nice to him.
Winkler made his professional acting debut on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He played Rhoda’s date at one of Mary’s failed dinner parties. Since no was expecting him to be there, he sat at his only little table. They say that art mimics life, and it did for him.
“I had four lines on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ which was the ‘Friends’ of its time. And they said, ‘Lunch,’ and all these big stars they all went to lunch, and I was just in the middle of the soundstage, and I had no idea where to go, no one had told me,” the actor said. “I felt really alone, and I swore I would never let anybody on a set I was on feel that way ever again. No matter what show I do, if there is a guest, I take that guest man or woman by the hand and show them where they can get anything done during the day.”
That is why, everyone but Tom Hanks, loves him. He is so caring and warm, and I am grateful I experienced his kindness firsthand on my first job in Hollywood. When you look at him, you cannot help but to feel joy. It radiates off of him, and you feel encapsulated by it. I don’t know how better to describe it, but he is someone you have to meet to understand what a kind-hearted soul he is. He was one of the biggest stars in the ’70s and ’80s, but he does not act like he is better than anyone, no matter how low down they are on the totem pole.
We need more stars like him. There are a few like Drew Barrymore, Jerry O’Connell, Sean Astin, and Kal Penn, but we need more of them.
