Henry Winkler was born on October 30, 1945, in Manhattan, New York. His parents,, were Jewish immigrants who moved to the USA to avoided the German Holocaust. He grew up with "a high level of low” self-esteem." Throughout elementary school and high school, following college, his top priority was to become an actor. However, if this was unsuccessful, he wanted to become a child psychologist because of his deep interest in working with children.