Henry Winkler

BALTIMORE - Actor Henry Winkler, who has discussed his experience as a person with dyslexia, will appear at Calvert Hall College High School on Oct. 3 in "An Evening with Henry Winkler." The free lecture, sponsored by the Baltimore-based Dyslexia Tutoring Program, will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and is intended to highlight Dyslexia Awareness Week. Seating is limited. Reservations: 410-889-5487. The Dyslexia Tutoring Program, based at the Rotunda in North Baltimore, provides free tutoring for people from low-income families.

American Idol's two-night finale starts at 8 p.m. Tuesday on WBFF, Channel 45, and the choices couldn't be more distinct. A vote for Adam Lambert or Kris Allen might say as much about us as it does either of them. KRIS ALLEN We all know by now that American Idol is a TV show on the hunt for a future pop star. But notice the order there. Idol is a TV show first and a talent scout second. Adam Lambert may have buzz, but so did washed-up Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks. Remember him? Probably not. Yes, Lambert makes great TV, but can he make great pop music?

We've all heard tales of Hollywood types who come to town and throw around some major 'tude. Though we'd love to dish about those unforgettable incidents here and there, we won't name names. So let's talk about someone who belies that celebrity stereotype. A thoroughly down-to-earth nice guy, Henry Winkler, was in town last weekend as the honoree at Heartfest 2005, a benefit for the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Preventive Cardiology Center. Before the Martin's West doors opened, the Fonz made a point of going around to each of the food stations manned by more than 25 area restaurateurs and caterers.

FORT WORTH / / Hanging on an office wall at KTVT is a portrait of Michael Richards as Kramer, the hipster-doofus character the actor played on Seinfeld. Sitting in front of this portrait on a recent morning is Henry Winkler, who played 1950s hipster Fonzie on the classic sitcom Happy Days, a TV icon underneath a TV icon. As he chats, Winkler -- who now stars on the CBS sitcom Out of Practice -- could hardly seem less Fonz-like. It's not just that he's a handsome 60 now, or that he's traded in T-shirts and leather jackets for a sport coat, purple shirt and yellow tie. OUT OF PRACTICE / / Wednesdays at 8 p.m. / / CBS

THE KIDS, AND there were plenty of them in the crowded auditorium, saw Henry Winkler as a brilliant and very funny speaker, a man who overcame dyslexia to become a successful actor, producer and director. But when I looked at the stage at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, I saw the character Winkler made famous: the Fonz, that leather-jacketed greaser of Happy Days. He's a quarter-century older now, silver-haired, a little wider at the waist. But still he's the Fonz. I expected Winkler to turn thumbs up and render Fonzie's patented "Aaayh!"

On September 4, 2004, LAWRENCE JOHN; beloved husband of the late Rose (nee Everhardt); devoted brother of the late Anna Swanberg and Henry Winkler, Sr.; devoted uncle of Doris Peterson, Shirley Appleton and Gerald Winkler and the late Eugene Winkler and Henry Winkler, Jr. Also survived by nieces, nephews and other friends. Funeral Services will be held at the Lassahn Funeral Home, Inc., 7401 Belair Road, on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Interment Parkwood Cemetery. Friends may call on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M.

FORT WORTH / / Hanging on an office wall at KTVT is a portrait of Michael Richards as Kramer, the hipster-doofus character the actor played on Seinfeld. Sitting in front of this portrait on a recent morning is Henry Winkler, who played 1950s hipster Fonzie on the classic sitcom Happy Days, a TV icon underneath a TV icon. As he chats, Winkler -- who now stars on the CBS sitcom Out of Practice -- could hardly seem less Fonz-like. It's not just that he's a handsome 60 now, or that he's traded in T-shirts and leather jackets for a sport coat, purple shirt and yellow tie. OUT OF PRACTICE / / Wednesdays at 8 p.m. / / CBS

"The Waterboy" attains the level of most of Adam Sandler's movies, which is to say, not very high. But that will be enough if audiences check their brains at the door to enjoy this amiable, silly and human story of a mama-smothered young man and his rise to fame and acceptance.Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a social misfit whose one mission is to provide good water to the college football team he works for in the Louisiana bayou. He's a relentless perfectionist, boiling the stuff to guarantee its purity, even offering spring water as an alternative.

"Cop and a Half" ought to be called "The Cutie and the Beast."More a concept than an actual story, it features a gruff and sweaty Burt Reynolds as a blowhard macho police detective ordered to fill in as dad to an ultra-adorable 8-year-old who's witnessed a crime. The youth, played by Norman Golden II, has all the good lines; Reynolds merely snorts and growls at the edge of the frame, models his toupee, and eventually is called upon to melt a little.Young Golden is a find. One of those kids seemingly unaffected by the presence of film cameras, screaming assistant directors, a worried producer and the Fonz himself (Henry Winkler, the director)

NEXT WEEK IN LIVE Getting ready for the water at the Baltimore Boat Show ... Visiting a wolf sanctuary and Lancaster County, Pa. ... Chatting with Ambrosia Parsley of the pop group Shivaree, whose new album just came out. COMING UP Actor Henry Winkler -- also an acclaimed director, producer and author -- is this year's celebrity honoree at "Heartfest 2005" Saturday at Martin's West. The 15th annual event features an evening of heart-healthy gourmet dining, dancing and education, as well as book signings by Winkler (Hank Zipzer)

We've all heard tales of Hollywood types who come to town and throw around some major 'tude. Though we'd love to dish about those unforgettable incidents here and there, we won't name names. So let's talk about someone who belies that celebrity stereotype. A thoroughly down-to-earth nice guy, Henry Winkler, was in town last weekend as the honoree at Heartfest 2005, a benefit for the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Preventive Cardiology Center. Before the Martin's West doors opened, the Fonz made a point of going around to each of the food stations manned by more than 25 area restaurateurs and caterers.

NEXT WEEK IN LIVE Getting ready for the water at the Baltimore Boat Show ... Visiting a wolf sanctuary and Lancaster County, Pa. ... Chatting with Ambrosia Parsley of the pop group Shivaree, whose new album just came out. COMING UP Actor Henry Winkler -- also an acclaimed director, producer and author -- is this year's celebrity honoree at "Heartfest 2005" Saturday at Martin's West. The 15th annual event features an evening of heart-healthy gourmet dining, dancing and education, as well as book signings by Winkler (Hank Zipzer)

On September 4, 2004, LAWRENCE JOHN; beloved husband of the late Rose (nee Everhardt); devoted brother of the late Anna Swanberg and Henry Winkler, Sr.; devoted uncle of Doris Peterson, Shirley Appleton and Gerald Winkler and the late Eugene Winkler and Henry Winkler, Jr. Also survived by nieces, nephews and other friends. Funeral Services will be held at the Lassahn Funeral Home, Inc., 7401 Belair Road, on Wednesday at 11 A.M. Interment Parkwood Cemetery. Friends may call on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M.

THE KIDS, AND there were plenty of them in the crowded auditorium, saw Henry Winkler as a brilliant and very funny speaker, a man who overcame dyslexia to become a successful actor, producer and director. But when I looked at the stage at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, I saw the character Winkler made famous: the Fonz, that leather-jacketed greaser of Happy Days. He's a quarter-century older now, silver-haired, a little wider at the waist. But still he's the Fonz. I expected Winkler to turn thumbs up and render Fonzie's patented "Aaayh!"

As Dyslexia Awareness Week winds down today, don't let the opportunity to learn about it slip away. Though some may think dyslexia is synonymous with difficulty in learning how to read, it is generally defined as a language-based learning disability (affecting 15 to 17 percent of the population). Dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically - but that doesn't mean that success in other matters is elusive. "Many disabilities that produce failure in traditional schools might be seen as abilities in life's rough waters," explains Sally Smith in her book Succeeding Against the Odds.

BALTIMORE - Actor Henry Winkler, who has discussed his experience as a person with dyslexia, will appear at Calvert Hall College High School on Oct. 3 in "An Evening with Henry Winkler." The free lecture, sponsored by the Baltimore-based Dyslexia Tutoring Program, will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and is intended to highlight Dyslexia Awareness Week. Seating is limited. Reservations: 410-889-5487. The Dyslexia Tutoring Program, based at the Rotunda in North Baltimore, provides free tutoring for people from low-income families.

American Idol's two-night finale starts at 8 p.m. Tuesday on WBFF, Channel 45, and the choices couldn't be more distinct. A vote for Adam Lambert or Kris Allen might say as much about us as it does either of them. KRIS ALLEN We all know by now that American Idol is a TV show on the hunt for a future pop star. But notice the order there. Idol is a TV show first and a talent scout second. Adam Lambert may have buzz, but so did washed-up Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks. Remember him? Probably not. Yes, Lambert makes great TV, but can he make great pop music?

"Oh, Happy Days..." went the lyric from the popular sitcom, a clear rejection of any pretension toward the social relevance of other series airing in the same years (1974-84), such as "All in the Family" and "M*A*S*H."There is a trove of trivia surrounding the show, which is being celebrated on ABC tonight with "The Happy Days Reunion Special." (The program, at 9:30 p.m. on Channel 13, is reviewed on Page 1C in Accent today.)1. When were the key elements of the series actually first seen?

One of the things that kept me going over the years was imagining a Kathie Lee Gifford interview with Saddam Hussein. ("Wow, you look great! Did you lose weight? C'mon, let's hear it for the Butcher of Baghdad!") Now, in the wake of her stunning on-air announcement yesterday that she's leaving "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" when her contract expires this summer, the possibility of her chatting up the Iraqi strongman ("Is that a new sidearm? It's gorgeous!") seems remote. But a guy can dream, can't he?

"The Waterboy" attains the level of most of Adam Sandler's movies, which is to say, not very high. But that will be enough if audiences check their brains at the door to enjoy this amiable, silly and human story of a mama-smothered young man and his rise to fame and acceptance.Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a social misfit whose one mission is to provide good water to the college football team he works for in the Louisiana bayou. He's a relentless perfectionist, boiling the stuff to guarantee its purity, even offering spring water as an alternative.