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Henry Winkler

Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, author, producer, and director. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series Happy Days, Winkler has distinguished himself as a character actor for roles on stage and screen. His many accolades include three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Critics Choice Awards.

Winkler studied theater at both Emerson College and the Yale School of Drama, and spent a year and half with the Yale Repertory Theater. After getting cast in a small role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, he became a star playing the role of "Fonzie" on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984). He then helped develop the original ABC series MacGyver and directed Memories of Me (1988) and Cop and a Half (1993).

Winkler acted in films such as Heroes (1977), Night Shift (1982), Scream (1996), The Waterboy (1998), Holes (2003), The French Dispatch (2021), and Black Adam (2022). He also found a career resurgence in television portraying humorous characters such as Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development (2003–2019), Eddie R. Lawson in Royal Pains (2010–2016), Dr. Saperstein in Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), and Gene Cousineau in Barry (2018–2023). The latter earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Winkler was a member of the main cast of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) reality series Better Late Than Never (2016–2018). In 2003, he drew upon his childhood struggles with dyslexia to co-write the Hank Zipzer series of children's books, which he then adapted into the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hank Zipzer TV series (2014–2016) in which Winkler appears as Mr. Rock. He has also written three memoirs: Being Henry: The Fonz ... and Beyond (2023), I've Never Met an Idiot on the River (2011), and The Other Side of Henry Winkler: My Story (1976).

1939–1945: Family history
Winkler's parents, Ilse Anna Marie (née Hadra) and businessman Harry Irving Winkler were German Jews living in Berlin during the rise of Nazi Germany. By 1939, rising hostilities against Jews led his father to conclude that it was time to leave Germany. He arranged to take his wife on a six-week business trip to the United States. Although Winkler's Uncle Helmut was supposed to join them, at the last minute he decided to leave at a later date, and was eventually murdered during the Holocaust. Soon after arriving, his parents settled in New York City, where his father established a new version of his German company, which bought and sold wood.

1945–1963: Early life and education
Henry Franklin Winkler was born on October 30, 1945, on the West Side of New York City's Manhattan borough. The "H" in his first name is a reference to his Uncle Helmut, while his middle name refers to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He has an older sister named Beatrice.

Although his family did not keep kosher, Winkler was raised in the traditions of Conservative Judaism. During his childhood, Winkler and his family spent their summers at Lake Mahopac, New York, and as a teenager he was a water skiing instructor at Blue Mountain camps.

While growing up, Winkler had a difficult relationship with his father, who wanted him to continue the family business. When his father grew frustrated with Winkler's focus on acting, he would ask his son why he had brought the business over from Germany to the United States. Winkler would respond: "Besides being chased by the Nazis, Dad, was there a bigger reason than that?"

Difficulties in school
Winkler first attended P.S. 87 on West 78th Street, Manhattan, and then the McBurney School on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Although he was "outgoing" and "the class comedian" in school, he also lived in a state of "constant anxiety" over his struggles with schoolwork. His parents were perpetually frustrated by his poor grades, referred to him as "dummer Hund" (dumb dog), and repeatedly punished him for his inability to excel in school. Winkler has said that this time period was "excruciating" as his "self-image was almost nonexistent." In addition, his consistently poor academic performance made it difficult to be involved in the theater, as he was "grounded most of my high school career," and was almost never academically eligible. However, he did manage to appear in two theatrical productions: Billy Budd when he was in the eighth grade and Of Thee I Sing in the eleventh grade.

Although Winkler graduated from the McBurney School in 1963, he was not allowed to attend graduation, as he had to repeat geometry for the fourth time during summer school. After finally passing the course, he received his diploma in the mail.

1963–1967: Emerson College
Winkler applied to 28 colleges but was only admitted to two of them. He enrolled in Emerson College in Boston in 1963, where he majored in theater and minored in child psychology, as he considered becoming a child psychologist if he did not succeed as an actor. He was also a member of the Alpha Pi Theta fraternity, and appeared in Emerson's production of Peer Gynt as the title character. Winkler later recalled that he had nearly failed his first and second years but managed to stay for four years and graduated in 1967. In 1978, Emerson awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL).

1967–1970: Yale School of Drama
During his senior year at Emerson, Winkler decided to audition for the Yale School of Drama. Although his then-undiagnosed dyslexia led to his forgetting the Shakespearean monologue he was supposed to perform, forcing him to improvise, Winkler was still admitted to the M.F.A. program in 1967.

He appeared in They Told Me That You Came This Way, Any Day Now, Any Day Now, and The Bacchae (as a member of the chorus). During the summers, he and his Yale classmates stayed in New Haven, and opened a summer stock theater called the New Haven Free Theater. They performed various plays including Woyzeck, where he portrayed the title role, and Just Add Water for improv night. He also performed in the political piece, The American Pig at the Joseph Papp Public Theater for the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City, with classmates James Keach, James Naughton, and Jill Eikenberry. In addition, he also appeared in a number of Yale Repertory Theatre productions while still a student, including, The Government Inspector, The Rhesus Umbrella, Don Juan, Endgame, and The Physicists. He also appeared in Sweeney Agonistes and Hughie. Winkler would later credit his time at Yale as critical to his future success.

Out of his original cohort of 25 actors at Yale, Winkler was one of 11 who graduated when he received his MFA in 1970. Over two decades later, in May 1996, he served as the Senior Class Day Speaker for Yale University's graduating seniors.

Yale Repertory Theatre company
After receiving his MFA in 1970, Winkler was one of three students from his graduating class of 11 who were invited to become a part of the Yale Repertory Theatre company. He joined on June 30, 1970, was paid $173 a week, and appeared throughout the 1970–71 season. He performed in Story Theater Reportory, Gimpel the Fool and Saint Julian the Hospitaler and Olympian Games. He also appeared in The Revenger's Tragedy, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?, Macbeth, and Woyzeck and Play. He also appeared in a double feature of two works by Bertolt Brecht, The Seven Deadly Sins (ballet chanté), and The Little Mahagonny during May–June 1971 and January 20–29, 1972.

New York and California
In the fall of 1971, Winkler was invited to be a part of the play Moonchildren which would open at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Three weeks into rehearsals, director Alan Schneider fired him as Winkler had been hired to fill the space until the actor that Schneider really wanted was available. At the time, Winkler was certain that because he had been fired, he would never be hired as an actor again.

Winkler moved back to New York, and began to audition for plays, movies, and commercials. He was able to earn a living through performing in commercials, thus, he was able to perform with the Manhattan Theater Club for free.

Winkler's first appearance on Broadway was as "John" in 42 Seconds from Broadway, a play that opened and closed on March 11, 1973. He swore to himself that one day he would "make that right." By 1973, he had roles in two independent films, The Lords of Flatbush and Crazy Joe. He also performed with the improv group, Off the Wall New York. He continued to feel anxiety, however, with the process of cold reading during auditions and depended upon compensation strategies.

By 1973, his agent told him that it was time to leave New York and explore possibilities in California. Although Winkler was initially resistant, thinking he was not a good fit for Hollywood, his agent was persistent. Winkler ultimately decided that he had earned enough money through his work in commercials to try Hollywood for one month. He and his Lords of Flatbush co-star, Perry King, thus traveled to Los Angeles on September 18, 1973. After meeting with his agency's west coast branch, and spending five days going to auditions, Winkler was hired for a small part on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, appearing in Season 4, Episode 10, "The Dinner Party".

1973–1984: Happy Days and stardom
During his second week in Los Angeles, Winkler auditioned for the part of Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz", on a new show called Happy Days. Although he was an unknown, and not the first choice for the role, he was asked to return after his first audition for a second one in costume. In costume, and with a different voice, Winkler said his six lines, threw his script in the air, and left the room. He was offered the role on his birthday, and accepted it based on his condition that the producers would show who the character was when he took his jacket off. Winkler appeared on the first episode of Happy Days in January 1974, and was with the series continuously until it ended in July 1984.

"The Fonz" was initially written as a minor role and developed as the foil for the central protagonist of the series, Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard). Winkler made his own interpretation of the character during the first episode, choosing not to comb his hair, chew gum, or keep a box of cigarettes rolled in his sleeve like actors typically did with this type of character. Although he tried to explain this philosophy to the producers, he was told he had to follow the script and comb his hair. He thus stood at the mirror, motioned in a way that suggested "Hey I don't have to because it's perfect," and in doing so, created the seminal moment which defined the character. ABC executives did not want to see Fonzie wearing leather, thinking it would imply that the character was a criminal. Thus, during the first season, Winkler wore two different windbreaker jackets, one of which was green. Marshall argued with the executives about the jacket, and eventually they made a compromise: Fonzie could wear the leather jacket, but only in scenes with his motorcycle. Marshall thus made certain that his motorcycle was written into every scene. In reality, Winkler did not know how to ride a motorcycle. As he almost crashed it the first time he tried, he subsequently never rode the motorcycle during the series.

By the middle of the second season in December 1974, "The Fonz" began his transition as a breakout character when he was featured as the central protagonist in the episode, "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas". By the third season, he became the lead of the series, as the storylines shifted away from the original protagonist, Richie Cunningham, to "The Fonz". Winkler recalled in a 2018 interview that he directly addressed the issue with Ron Howard, who portrayed Cunningham. According to Winkler, Howard told him that although he "was signed on as the star, you did nothing except be as good as you could be. It's good for the show, we're friends." In 2021, Howard reiterated these points by stating that Winkler had been "sort of a big brother" to him.

In a 2018 interview with Winkler, journalist Michael Schneider suggests that it was at this point that the character "became the biggest icon on television" at that time. Winkler responded by stating that he "went from somebody who had no sense of self" to a situation that was "scary." He has also admitted that while he shares some characteristics with "The Fonz" such as loyalty to friends and an undercurrent of anger that he drew from his struggles with school as a child, they were fundamentally different from one another.

During his decade on Happy Days, Winkler also appeared in a variety of roles in film and on television. In film, he appeared in Heroes (1977) with Harrison Ford and Sally Field and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He later appeared in Carl Reiner's The One and Only (1978) and in Ron Howard's 1982 directorial debut, Night Shift with Shelley Long before she appeared in Cheers and a then-unknown Michael Keaton. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his work in Night Shift.

In television, he served as executive producer and host for the 50-minute television version of the documentary, Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? (1978), which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. He was also an executive producer for the ABC Afterschool Special: Run, Don't Walk (1981), based on the novel of the same name by Harriet May Savitz, and featuring his Happy Days co-star, Scott Baio. He further directed Baio in the 13th episode of the Happy Days spin-off, Joanie Loves Chachi, also starring Erin Moran.

In addition, Winkler starred in An American Christmas Carol (1979), and served as a co-host for the Music for UNICEF Concert (1979). He also appeared as "Fonzie" on Sesame Street to promote the letter "A" (ayyyy), later recalling that it was "the only time I ever appeared as the Fonz on something else. I had a strict rule about that, but they asked me and it was my pleasure."

Post Happy Days
After Happy Days ended in 1984, Winkler was typecast, and could not get acting roles until 1991. He later stated that his "agent would put me out there and people would say, 'You know, he's great, he's a wonderful guy, really good actor. Funny, So funny. But he was the Fonz.'" Winkler, who desired to be a working actor, felt "rudderless" during this period; desiring to continue a presence in the industry, he started the production company Fair Dinkum Productions in the late 1970s. The name fair dinkum was taken from Australian English slang, meaning something is "honest" or "authentic". In 1987, he inked a new feature film and development pact with the studio.

In 1984, Winkler directed, and was executive producer for, the CBS Schoolbreak Special: "All the Kids Do It" starring Scott Baio, which won the 1985 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Special and was nominated for the 1985 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Directing in Children's Programming. In addition to a few episodes of television sitcoms that he directed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Winkler directed his first theatrical release in 1988, Memories of Me with Billy Crystal. In 1993, he directed his second theatrical release, Cop and a Half, a film produced by Ron Howard's company, Imagine Entertainment, and starring Burt Reynolds.

Winkler was an executive producer for Rob Reiner's second film as a director, The Sure Thing (1985). He was also the executive producer for the original MacGyver television series, which won the Genesis Award for Best TV Drama in 1991, and for Dead Man's Gun,  which won the Bronze Wrangler in 1998. In 1988, he was the executive producer for the ABC Afterschool Special: A Family Again starring Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker. In addition, he was the executive producer for a number of series, including Sightings and So Weird. In 2002, he partnered with Michael Levitt to revamp and update The Hollywood Squares for the fifth season of the 1998 reboot. It was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show in 2003.

1991–2003: Acting roles
Winkler returned to acting in the early 1990s. He starred in the 1991 television film, Absolute Strangers, and in the short-lived 1994 television series Monty with David Schwimmer (before his debut on Friends). He also starred in the 1994 television film One Christmas, with Katharine Hepburn in her last role, and Swoosie Kurtz.

In 1996, he appeared in his friend Wes Craven's 1996 film Scream as foul-mouthed high school principal Arthur Himbry. His role was uncredited, however, as the producers were concerned that he would only be seen as The Fonz, and thus distract from the film. After the screening, he received positive feedback for his role and was subsequently asked to participate in the publicity campaign for Scream.

In 2000, Winkler was nominated for a Primetime Emmy, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, for his portrayal of Dr. Henry Olson in three episodes of The Practice. He also portrayed Stanley Yelnats III in Holes (2003).

Work with Adam Sandler
Winkler began to collaborate with Adam Sandler in the 1990s, after Sandler included Fonzie in the Saturday Night Live skit, The Chanukah Song (1994). Winkler called Sandler to thank him, which led first to a friendship, and later to the role of Coach Klein in the 1998 film The Waterboy, and as Sandler's father in Click (2006). He also made cameo appearances in Little Nicky (2000), You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), and Sandy Wexler (2017).

Work with John Ritter
Winkler worked on a few projects with his longtime friend, actor John Ritter, whom he first met in 1978 at ABC's 25th anniversary party, when Winkler was still on Happy Days, and Ritter was Jack Tripper on the television series Three's Company. He directed Ritter in the 1986 television movie A Smoky Mountain Christmas starring Dolly Parton, and in 1993, they co-starred in the made-for-television movie, The Only Way Out.

Later in 1999, Neil Simon gave Winkler the chance to be involved with his first theatrical production since 1973, when he asked him to do a read-through of The Dinner Party. Given the problems he had with cold-readings, Winkler initially panicked. However, he asked for the script in advance in order to memorize it, and managed to get through the reading. Simon eventually contacted Winkler again, and asked him to be in the theatrical version he was staging, to which Winkler agreed. He was also excited to be working with Ritter again. Although their initial debut was not well-received, they were invited to perform the play in Washington, D.C. with a few casting changes, and it received positive reviews. The play then moved to Broadway, and again received positive reviews.

In September 2003, he was slated for a guest appearance on Ritter's show, 8 Simple Rules. However, during the filming of the episode, Ritter became ill and had to be taken to the hospital, dying hours later. The episode was never completed, and Winkler's role was dropped.

2003–2019: Arrested Development
In 2003, Mitch Hurwitz wanted Winkler to portray the incompetent lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn on one episode of Arrested Development. However, as Winkler notes, he "went for one episode and...stayed for five years." He also returned for the later seasons in 2013 and 2018. For his portrayal of Barry Zuckerkorn, Winkler won a Gold Derby Award: Comedy Guest Actor in 2004. In 2014, Winkler was nominated as part of the cast for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Arrested Development is known for its "inside jokes". In three episodes of the 2013 reboot, Winkler's son Max portrayed "young Barry Zuckerkorn" in flashbacks. In addition, there were a number of references to Happy Days, such as in the season three episode "Forget-Me-Now", where Scott Baio joined the cast as the potentially new lawyer Bob Loblaw, stating, "look, this is not the first time I've been brought in to replace Barry Zuckerkorn." Vulture argues that this statement is "a nod to Happy Days, where [Baio] was brought on as Chachi, to be a new teen idol as Henry Winkler got older." In addition, Barry's "hopping" over the shark on the pier in "Motherboy XXX" is a reference to Jon Hein's phrase jumping the shark. Hein coined the phrase in 1985, in response to a 1977 Happy Days episode in which Fonzie jumps over a shark while on water-skis.

2003–2019: Hank Zipzer
Winkler's career as an author began with the Hank Zipzer series of children's books about the adventures of a dyslexic child, which he co-wrote with Lin Oliver. During the early 2000s, when Winkler experienced "a lull in [his] acting career", his manager Alan Berger suggested that he write children's books about the difficulties he experienced as a child before he knew that he was dyslexic. Winkler was resistant to the idea until Berger suggested that Winkler co-write the books with an experienced author.

Berger introduced Winkler to Oliver, and the two met for lunch and created the character of Hank Zipzer. Winkler chose the name Hank from the nickname for Henry, and Zipzer from the name of a neighbor in the apartment building that he grew up in. Winkler and Oliver's writing process, which involved developing ideas during in-person discussions, drew upon their mutual background in television. According to Winkler, the system drew upon his strengths as an actor, allowing him to work through ideas out loud.

The original series spanned seventeen books, published from 2003 to 2010. Following that, Winkler and Oliver wrote a prequel series, Here's Hank (2014 to 2019), which explores Hank's life as a second-grader before he was diagnosed as dyslexic. The Here's Hank series uses a dyslexic-friendly font called Dyslexie, marking the first time that this font was used in a book published in the United States.

Winkler and Oliver also created the television adaptation Hank Zipzer, which ran for three seasons, from 2014 to 2016. The series appeared on the children's BBC Channel, as they could not find an American buyer for it. After the series was successful on the BBC, it was broadcast on the Universal Kids Channel in the United States. Winkler played the music teacher Mr. Rock, who was based a teacher at McBurney who encouraged Winkler. They also produced the 2016 stand-alone television film Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe.

Theater
Winkler returned to the stage in 2006 as Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the New Wimbledon Theatre, London. He reprised the role in Woking for Christmas 2007. For the 2008/2009 season, he played Captain Hook at the Milton Keynes Theatre, and once again for the 2009/2010 panto season at the Liverpool Empire. A few years later in 2012, Winkler made his third Broadway appearance as "Chuck Wood" in The Performers (November 14–18).

Television and film
Winkler has continued his work as a character actor in television and film. In television, he was nominated in 2004 for a Daytime Emmy, Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, and in 2005, he won the Daytime Emmy, Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, for his voice-work as Norville in Clifford's Puppy Days. Additional television roles include Dr. Stewart Barnes in Out of Practice (2005–2006), Eddie R. Lawson in Royal Pains (2010–2016), Sy Mittleman in Childrens Hospital (2010–2016), Dr. Saperstein in Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), the villainous Uncle King Julien in animated series All Hail King Julien and its spinoff season Exiled (2014-2017), and Fritz in the 2021–present animated streaming television series Monsters at Work.

His film roles include Uncle Ralph in the Christmas film The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2008), Marty Streb in Here Comes the Boom (2012), Ed Koch in Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016), Grandpa Bill in All I Want for Christmas Is You (2017), Uncle Joe in Wes Anderson's 2021 release The French Dispatch, and a cameo appearance as Al Pratt (Uncle Al) in the 2022 release Black Adam.

2016–2018: Better Late Than Never
Winkler was both an executive producer for and star of the American reality-travel show, Better Late Than Never. He starred along with William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw, George Foreman, and Jeff Dye, in this adaptation of the South Korean reality series, Grandpas Over Flowers.

Winkler was the focus of the Season 2 episode "Berlin: How Do You Say Roots in German?" as the group explored the city from which his parents escaped in 1939. The journey culminated at the site of a brass memorial plaque, known as a stolperstein, embedded in the pavement in front of the workplace and home of his uncle, Helmut Winkler. The discovery came as a complete surprise to Winkler, as Jeff Dye had secretly enlisted the help of Winkler's children, who planned the surprise.

2018–2023: Barry
When Bill Hader developed the HBO comedy Barry with Alec Berg, he asked HBO if they could "get" Winkler for the part of acting teacher Gene Cousineau. According to Hader, he was "out of [his] mind" when HBO told him that Winkler was coming to audition for the role. In addition, Winkler's son Max, who is a director, helped him to prepare for this audition.

Work for the first season of Barry began in 2016. Winkler has noted parallels between Barry and his time on Happy Days. He "was 27 when I did the Fonz, and now, I'm 72. I just flipped the numbers." In his role as Cousineau, he wears Garry Marshall's tie as "a tribute to my mentor". Cousineau was originally written to be "much darker, much colder—really cynical", but after Winkler added his own insight, the character became more affectionate. Portraying Cousineau allowed Winkler to draw upon decades of experience with acting teachers. Winkler continued his lifelong habit of improvising when he forgot his lines, something he has "done my whole career—except I drove Bill mad."

Winkler received his first Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 for his portrayal of Gene Cousineau. He also won two Critics' Choice Television Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2019 and 2023. In addition, he received three Primetime Emmy nominations, three Golden Globe nominations, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for the role.

Filmography and accolades
Winkler states that during his lifetime, he has worked with "five directing geniuses": Garry Marshall (Happy Days), Adam Sandler, Mitch Hurwitz (Arrested Development), Bill Hader and Alec Berg (Barry).

After portraying Fonzie on Happy Days, Winkler evolved into a character actor, with roles that include the high school principal Arthur Himbry in Scream, Coach Klein in The Waterboy, Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development, Sy Mittleman in Childrens Hospital, Dr. Saperstein in Parks and Recreation, Mr. Rock in the Hank Zipzer BBC series, Eddie R. Lawson in Royal Pains, Fritz in Monsters at Work, Uncle Joe in The French Dispatch, Al Pratt in Black Adam, and Gene Cousineau in Barry. He is also the recipient of a Primetime Emmy, two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics Choice Awards, and two Daytime Emmys.

Philanthropy

In March 2020, Winkler contributed via Zoom to social justice issues during COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. On May 7, 2020, the Office of the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, posted a video of Winkler on Facebook and Twitter reminding Californians to practice social distancing and to follow stay-at-home orders.

During this time, Winkler also offered aid "to SAG-AFTRA artists and their families" through the virtual table read of Season 3, Episode 2 ("The Motorcycle", 1975) of Happy Days. Winkler reprised the role of "Fonzie", while SAG members Glenn Close, John Carroll Lynch, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Jamie Chung, Luke Newton, and Nicola Coughlan read the roles of Marion Cunningham, Howard Cunningham, Richie Cunningham, Ralph Malph, Joanie Cunningham, Potsie, and a waitress at Al's diner.

Personal life
Winkler met Stacey (formerly Weitzman; née Furstman) in a Beverly Hills clothing store in 1976, and they married in 1978, in the synagogue where he had his bar mitzvah. They have two children, Max and Zoe, and Jed Weitzman, Stacey's son from her previous marriage to Howard Weitzman, is Winkler's stepson.

His cousin, the late actor and comedian Richard Belzer, starred as John Munch in the TV series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2013).

In 2018, almost 80 years after his parents had left Germany, Winkler returned to Berlin for the television show Better Late Than Never and shared their story on the Season 2 episode "Berlin: How Do You Say Roots in German?".

Winkler continues to remain close with members of the Happy Days cast, telling the Hollywood Reporter in November 2021 that "I loved the people. They are still my friends."

Dyslexia
During his time on Happy Days, Winkler realized that he was dyslexic after his stepson Jed was diagnosed with the learning disability. Previously, Winkler had known that aspects of reading and memorizing were difficult for him, but not why. He had developed coping mechanisms that allowed him to mask the difficulties he had with cold-reading scripts. He later recalled that prior to learning about dyslexia, he frequently embarrassed himself in front of his fellow cast members as he would "stumble at least once or twice a paragraph".

Additional books and legacy
Winkler's 2011 memoir I've Never Met an Idiot on the River explores his interest in fly fishing. The next year, he and his writing partner Lin Oliver created the Ghost Buddy book series (2012–2013), about the friendship between the protagonist Billy and a "ghost buddy".

A few years later they wrote the science fiction trilogy Alien Superstar (2019–2021). The adventures of Alien Superstar's protagonist are loosely based on Winker's own experiences after arriving in Los Angeles.

Winkler released a new memoir, Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond in October 2023. He also began a new series of children's books with Lin Oliver in 2023 called Detective Duck.

The Fonz and Hank Zipzer
TV Guide ranked "The Fonz" as No. 4 on its "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time" list in 1999, and a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4 in the UK ranked him as 13th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.

When asked which books influenced him in childhood, American journalist Anderson Cooper, who is dyslexic, responded that, "I also loved the Fonz and read a book when I was around 8 called The Fonz: The Henry Winkler Story. I actually keep it in my office at CNN. Henry Winkler was very important to me when I was a child." This sentiment reflects National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution curator Eric Jentsch's statement on the description of Fonzie's leather jacket that Winkler donated to the Smithsonian in 1980: "Fonzie was a representation of cool at a time when you were learning about what cool was." Winkler won two Golden Globe Awards, and earned three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the role. In 1981, he received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for Television), largely due to his portrayal of Fonzie. A few decades later, American artist Gerald P. Sawyer, unveiled the Bronze Fonz on the Milwaukee Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 18, 2008.

Winkler would eventually be recognized for contributing to a greater understanding of dyslexia through the Hank Zipzer series. He was given the Key to the City of Winnipeg for "contributions to education and literacy" in 2010, was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to children with special educational needs and dyslexia in the UK" by Queen Elizabeth in 2011, was named one of the United Kingdom's Top 10 Literacy Heroes in 2013, and was awarded the Bill Rosendahl Public Service Award for Contributions to the Public Good for his children's books in 2019 by the Los Angeles Press Club.

title: Henry Winkler


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Operation Citadel

Operation Citadel (Unternehmen Zitadelle) was the German offensive operation in July 1943 against Soviet forces in the Kursk salient, proposed by Generalfeldmarschall Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein during the Second World War on the Eastern Front that initiated the Battle of Kursk. The deliberate defensive operation that the Soviets implemented to repel the German offensive is referred to as the Kursk Strategic Defensive Operation. The German offensive was countered by two Soviet counter-offensives, Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Полководец Румянцев) and Operation Kutuzov (Кутузов). For the Germans, the battle was the final strategic offensive that they were able to launch on the Eastern Front. As the Allied invasion of Sicily began, Adolf Hitler was forced to divert troops training in France to meet the Allied threats in the Mediterranean, rather than use them as a strategic reserve for the Eastern Front. Germany's extensive loss of men and tanks during the operations ensured that the victorious Soviet Red Army enjoyed the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.

The Germans hoped to weaken the Soviet offensive potential for the summer of 1943 by cutting off a large number of forces that they anticipated would be in the Kursk salient. The Kursk salient or bulge was 250 km long from north to south and 160 km from east to west. The plan envisioned an envelopment by a pair of pincers breaking through the northern and southern flanks of the salient. Hitler believed that a victory here would reassert German strength and improve his prestige with his allies, who were considering withdrawing from the war. It was also hoped that large numbers of Soviet prisoners would be captured to be used as slave labour in the German armaments industry.

The Soviet government had foreknowledge of the German intentions, provided in part by the British intelligence services, the intelligence transmitted by the Lucy spy ring, and Tunny intercepts. Aware months in advance that the attack would fall on the neck of the Kursk salient, the Soviets built a defence in depth designed to wear down the German armoured spearhead. The Germans delayed the offensive while they tried to build up their forces and waited for new weapons, mainly the new Panther tank but also larger numbers of the Tiger heavy tank. This gave the Red Army time to construct a series of deep defensive belts. The defensive preparations included minefields, fortifications, artillery fire zones and anti-tank strong points, which extended approximately 300 km in depth. Soviet mobile formations were moved out of the salient and a large reserve force was formed for strategic counter-offensives.

Background
After the conclusion of the battle for the Donets, as the spring rasputitsa (mud) season came to an end in 1943, both the German and Soviet commands considered their plans for future operations. The Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and some senior Soviet officers wanted to seize the initiative first and attack the German forces inside the Soviet Union, but they were convinced by a number of key commanders, including the Deputy Supreme Commander Georgy Zhukov, to assume a defensive posture instead. This would allow the German side to weaken themselves in attacking prepared positions, after which the Soviet forces would be able to respond with a counter-offensive.

Strategic discussions also occurred on the German side, with Erich von Manstein arguing for a mobile defence that would give up terrain and allow the Soviet units to advance, while the German forces would launch a series of sharp counterattacks against their flanks to inflict heavy attrition. But for political reasons, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler insisted that the German forces go on the offensive, choosing the Kursk salient for the attack. On 15 April 1943 the Führer authorized preparations for Unternehmen Zitadelle (Operation Citadel).

Operation Citadel called for a double envelopment, directed at Kursk, to surround the Soviet defenders of five armies and seal off the salient. Army Group Centre would provide General Walter Model's 9th Army to form the northern pincer. It would cut through the northern face of the salient, driving south to the hills east of Kursk, securing the rail line from Soviet attack. Army Group South would commit the 4th Panzer Army, under Hermann Hoth, and Army Detachment Kempf, under Werner Kempf, to pierce the southern face of the salient. This force would drive north to meet the 9th Army east of Kursk. Von Manstein's main attack was to be delivered by Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, spearheaded by the II SS Panzer Corps under Paul Hausser. The XLVIII Panzer Corps, commanded by Otto von Knobelsdorff, would advance on the left while Army Detachment Kempf would advance on the right. The 2nd Army, under the command of Walter Weiss, would contain the western portion of the salient.

Obstacles and postponements
The German offensive, originally slated to commence in the beginning of May, was postponed several times as the German leadership reconsidered and vacillated over its prospects, as well as to bring forward more units and equipment.

As soon as Operations Order 6 was issued, which dictated that the operation should be ready to start on six days' notice after 28 April, the Ninth Army, which was to command the offensive in the Army Group Center zone, protested that its deployment could not be completed by 3 May. At a 3 May meeting, Hitler conferred with Manstein, Kluge, Zeitzler, Guderian, Speer, Chief of Staff OKL Generaloberst Hans Jeschonnek, and Commanding General, Ninth Army, Generaloberst Walter Model. There followed a discussion on the problems Model expected the Ninth Army to encounter in breaking through a "well-fortified" Soviet front and the inability of the Panzer IV tanks to stand up to the new Soviet antitank weapons. Hitler closed the meeting without giving a decision but indicated privately to Model that there would be a postponement. Manstein, Kluge, Zeitzler, Jeschonnek objected to the delay; Guderian and Speer objected to Citadel being executed at all because, even if successful, they argued, it would cause heavy tank losses and upset plans for an increase in armor strength for the German forces. Hitler decided to let Citadel wait until June, by which time he expected to have tanks of a newer model (Tiger 1) available in quantity. On 6 May, the OKH announced that Citadel was postponed to 12 June.

On 10 May, Guderian was summoned to the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, for a discussion on the production of the Panther tank, and potential delays in its program. After the conference, Guderian asked for an audience with Hitler, in which Keitel, Guderian's Chief of Staff Wolfgang Thomale, and Karl Saur of the Armaments Ministry were also present. There, as Guderian reports in his memoirs, he asked the Führer, "Why do you want to attack in the East at all? How many people do you think even know where Kursk is? It is a matter of profound indifference to the world whether we hold Kursk or not. Why do we want to attack in the East at all this year?" Hitler, according to Guderian, responded:

"You're quite right. Whenever I think of this attack my stomach turns over."

Hitler assured Guderian that there was as yet no commitment to the operation. However, at a May meeting of high Nazi Party officials, Hitler compared the current situation in the Eastern front to the predicament of the party in 1932, when it seemed to go down in political defeat at the hands of Franz von Papen and Hindenburg. He stated "In 1932, we attained victory only by stubbornness that sometimes looked like madness; so, too, we will achieve it today."In the first weeks of June, the forces for Citadel were at their peak strength. On 18 June, the OKW Operations Staff submitted a proposal that Citadel be abandoned, and that all troops that could be spared should be deployed into strategic reserves for the defense of Italy and the Balkans, as well as Germany proper. On the same day, Hitler responded that he "fully appreciated" the General Staff's view, but had decided to go ahead; two days later, he set the time for 5 July.

The Soviet leadership, through their intelligence agencies and foreign sources, had been informed about the German intentions, and therefore the multiple delays by the German high command, OKW, allowed them a great deal of time to prepare their defences. Employing defence in depth, they constructed a series of defensive lines to wear down the attacking panzer formations. Three belts made up of extensive minefields, anti-tank ditches and anti-tank gun emplacements were created. Behind those were an additional three belts, which were mostly unoccupied and less fortified. The Voronezh Front, commanded by General Nikolai Vatutin, was tasked with defending the southern face of the salient. The Central Front, commanded by Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, defended the northern face. Waiting in reserve was the Steppe Front, commanded by Ivan Konev. In February 1943, the Central Front had been reconstructed from the Don Front, which had been part of the northern pincer of Operation Uranus and had been responsible for the destruction of the 6th Army at Stalingrad.

Preliminary actions

Fighting started on the southern face of the salient on the evening of 4 July 1943, when German infantry launched attacks to seize high ground for artillery observation posts before the main assault. During these attacks a number of Red Army command and observation posts along the first main belt of defence were captured. By 16:00, elements of the Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland", 3rd and 11th Panzer Divisions had seized the village of Butovo and proceeded to capture Gertsovka before midnight. At around 22:30, Vatutin ordered 600 guns, mortars and Katyusha rocket launchers, of the Voronezh Front, to bombard the forward German positions, particularly those of the II SS Panzer Corps.

To the north, at Central Front headquarters, reports of the anticipated German offensive came in. At around 02:00 5 July, Zhukov ordered his preemptive artillery bombardment to begin. The hope was to disrupt German forces concentrating for the attack, but the outcome was less than hoped for. The bombardment delayed the German formations, but failed in the goal of disrupting their schedule or inflicting substantial losses. The Germans began their own artillery bombardment at about 05:00, which lasted 80 minutes in the northern face and 50 minutes in the southern face. After the barrage, the ground forces attacked, aided by close air support provided by the Luftwaffe.

In the early morning of 5 July, the VVS launched a large raid against German airfields, hoping to destroy the Luftwaffe on the ground. This effort failed, and the Red Army air units suffered considerable losses. The VVS lost 176 aircraft on 5 July, compared to the 26 aircraft lost by the Luftwaffe. The losses of the VVS 16th Air Army operating in the northern face were lighter than those suffered by the 2nd Air Army. The Luftwaffe was able to gain and maintained air superiority over the southern face until 10–11 July, when the VVS began to obtain ascendency but the control of the skies over the northern face was evenly contested until the VVS began to gain air superiority on 7 July, which it maintained for the rest of the operation.

Operation along the northern face
Model's main attack was delivered by XLVII Panzer Corps, supported by 45 Tigers of the attached 505th Heavy Tank Battalion. Covering their left flank was XLI Panzer Corps, with an attached regiment of 83 Ferdinand tank destroyers. On the right flank, XLVI Panzer Corps consisted at this time of four infantry divisions with just 9 tanks and 31 assault guns. To the left of XLI Panzer Corps was XXIII Army Corps, which consisted of the reinforced 78th Assault Infantry Division and two regular infantry divisions. While the corps contained no tanks, it did have 62 assault guns. Opposing the 9th Army was the Central Front, deployed in three heavily fortified defensive belts.

Initial German advance
Model chose to make his initial attacks using infantry divisions reinforced with assault guns and heavy tanks, and supported by artillery and the Luftwaffe. In doing so he sought to maintain the armoured strength of his panzer divisions to be used for exploitation once the Red Army defences were breached. Once a breakthrough had been achieved the panzer forces would move through and advance towards Kursk. Jan Möschen, a major in Model's staff, later commented that Model expected a breakthrough on the second day. If a breakthrough was achieved, the briefest delay in bringing up the panzer divisions would give the Red Army time to react. His corps commanders, however, thought a breakthrough extremely unlikely.

Following a preliminary bombardment and Red Army counter bombardments, the 9th Army opened its attack at 05:30 on 5 July. Nine infantry divisions and one panzer division, with attached assault guns, heavy tanks, and tank destroyers, pushed forward. Two companies of Tiger tanks were attached to the 6th Infantry Division, and were the largest single grouping of Tigers employed that day. Opposing them were the 13th and 70th Armies of the Central Front.

The 20th Panzer and 6th Infantry Divisions of the XLVII Panzer Corps, spearheaded the advance of the XLVII Panzer Corps. Behind them the remaining two panzer divisions followed, ready to exploit any breakthrough. The heavily mined terrain and fortified positions of the 15th Rifle Division slowed the advance. By 08:00 safe lanes had been cleared through the minefield. That morning information obtained from prisoner interrogation identified a weakness at the boundary of the 15th and 81st Rifle Divisions caused by the German preliminary bombardment. The Tigers were redeployed and struck towards this area. Red Army formations countered with a force of around 90 T-34s. In the resulting three-hour battle, Red Army armoured units lost 42 tanks while the Germans lost two Tigers and a further five more immobilized with track damage. While the Red Army counterattack was defeated and the first defensive belt breached, the fighting had delayed the Germans long enough for the rest of 29th Rifle Corps of the 13th Army – initially deployed behind the first belt – to move forward and seal the breach. Red Army minefields were covered by artillery fire, making efforts to clear paths through the fields difficult and costly. Goliath and Borgward IV remote-controlled engineer mine-clearing vehicles met with limited success. Of the 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion's 45 Ferdinands sent into battle, all but 12 of them were immobilized by mine damage before 17:00. Most of these were later repaired and returned to service, but the recovery of these very large vehicles was difficult.

On the first day, the XLVII Panzer Corps penetrated 6 mi into the Red Army defences before stalling, and the XLI Panzer Corps reached the heavily fortified small town of Ponyri, in the second defensive belt, which controlled the roads and railways leading south to Kursk. In the first day, the Germans penetrated 5 to 6 mi into the Red Army lines for the loss of 1,287 men killed and missing and a further 5,921 wounded.

Red Army counterattack
Rokossovsky ordered the 17th Guards and 18th Guards Rifle Corps with the 2nd Tank Army and 19th Tank Corps, backed up by close air support, to counterattack the German 9th Army the following day on 6 July. However, due to poor coordination, only the 16th Tank Corps of the 2nd Tank Army commenced the counterattack on the dawn of 6 July after the preparatory artillery barrage. The 16th Tank Corps, fielding about 200 tanks, attacked the XLVII Panzer Corps and ran into the Tiger tanks of the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion, which knocked out 69 tanks and forced the rest to withdraw to the 17th Guards Rifle Corps of the 13th Army. Later that morning, the XLVII Panzer Corps responded with its own attack against the 17th Guards Rifle Corps entrenched around the village Olkhovatka in the second defensive belt. The attack commenced with an artillery barrage and was spearheaded by the 24 serviceable Tigers of the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion, but it failed to break the Red Army defence at Olkhovatka, and the Germans suffered heavy casualties. Olkhovatka was on a high ground that provided a clear view of much of the frontline. At 18:30, the 19th Tank Corps joined the 17th Guards Rifle Corps further bolstering resistance. Rokossovsky also decided to dig in most of his remaining tanks to minimize their exposure. Ponyri, defended by the 307th Rifle Division of the 29th Rifle Corps, was also concertedly attacked on 6 July by the German 292nd and 86th Infantry, 78th Assault Infantry and 9th Panzer Divisions, but the Germans were unable to dislodge the defenders from the heavily fortified village.

Ponyri and Olkhovatka
Over the next three days from 7 to 10 July, Model concentrated the effort of the 9th Army at Ponyri and Olkhovatka, which both sides considered as vital positions. In response, Rokossovsky pulled forces from other parts of the front to these sectors. The Germans attacked Ponyri on 7 July, and captured half of the town after intense house-to-house fighting. A Soviet counterattack the following morning forced the Germans to withdraw, and a series of counterattacks ensued by both sides with control of the town being exchanged several times over the next few days. By 10 July, the Germans had secured most of the town, but Soviet counterattacks continued. The back and forth battles for Ponyri and the nearby Hill 253.5 were battles of attrition, with heavy casualties on both sides. It became referred to by the troops as "mini-Stalingrad". The war diary of the 9th Army described the heavy fighting as a "new type of mobile attrition battle". German attacks on Olkhovatka and the nearby village of Teploe failed to penetrate the Soviet defences; including a powerful concerted attack on 10 July by about 300 Germans tanks and assault guns from the 2nd, 4th, and 20th Panzer Divisions, supported by all available Luftwaffe air power in the northern face.

On 9 July a meeting between Kluge, Model, Joachim Lemelsen and Josef Harpe was held at the headquarters of the XLVII Panzer Corps. It had become clear to the German commanders that the 9th Army lacked the strength to obtain a breakthrough, and their Soviet counterparts had also realized this, but Kluge wished to maintain the pressure on the Soviets in order to aid the southern offensive.

While the operation on the northern side of the salient began with a 45 km attack front, by 6 July it had been reduced to 40 km. The following day the attack frontage dropped to 15 km, and on both the 8 and 9 July penetrations of only 2 km occurred. By 10 July, the Soviets had completely halted the German advance.

On 12 July the Soviets launched Operation Kutuzov, their counter-offensive upon the Orel salient, which threatened the flank and rear of Model's 9th Army. The 12th Panzer Division, thus far held in reserve and slated to be committed to the northern side of the Kursk salient, along with the 36th Motorized Infantry, 18th Panzer and 20th Panzer Divisions were redeployed to face the Soviet spearheads.

Operation along the southern face
At around 04:00 on 5 July, the German attack commenced with a preliminary bombardment. Manstein's main attack was delivered by Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, which was organized into densely concentrated spearheads. Opposing the 4th Panzer Army was the Soviet 6th Guards Army, which was composed of the 22nd Guards Rifle Corps and 23rd Guards Rifle Corps. The Soviets had constructed three heavily fortified defensive belts to slow and weaken the attacking armoured forces. Though they had been provided superb intelligence, the Voronezh Front headquarters had still not been able to pinpoint the exact location where the Germans would place their offensive weight.

XLVIII Panzer Corps
The panzergrenadier division Großdeutschland, commanded by Walter Hörnlein, was the strongest single division in the 4th Panzer Army. It was supported on its flanks by the 3rd and 11th Panzer Divisions. Großdeutschland's Panzer IIIs and IVs had been supplemented by a company of 15 Tigers, which were used to spearhead the attack. At dawn on 5 July, Großdeutschland, backed by heavy artillery support, advanced on a three-kilometre front upon the 67th Guards Rifle Division of the 22nd Guards Rifle Corps. The Panzerfüsilier Regiment, advancing on the left wing, stalled in a minefield and subsequently 36 Panthers were immobilized. The stranded regiment was subjected to a barrage of Soviet anti-tank and artillery fire, which inflicted numerous casualties. Engineers were moved up and cleared paths through the minefield, but suffered casualties in the process. The combination of fierce resistance, minefields, thick mud and mechanical breakdowns took its toll. With paths cleared, the regiment resumed its advance towards Gertsovka. In the ensuing battle, heavy casualties were sustained including the regimental commander Colonel Kassnitz. Due to the fighting, and the marshy terrain south of the village, surrounding the Berezovyy stream, the regiment once more bogged down.

The panzergrenadier regiment of Großdeutschland, advancing on the right wing, pushed through to the village of Butovo. The tanks were deployed in an arrow formation to minimise the effects of the Soviet Pakfront defence, with the Tigers leading and the Panzer IIIs, IVs and assault guns fanning out to the flanks and rear. They were followed by infantry and combat engineers. Attempts by the VVS to impede the advance were repulsed by the Luftwaffe.

The 3rd Panzer Division, advancing on the left flank of Großdeutschland, made good progress and by the end of the day had captured Gertsovka and reached Mikhailovka. The 167th Infantry Division, on the right flank of the 11th Panzer Division, also made sufficient progress, reaching Tirechnoe by the end of the day. By the end of 5 July, a wedge had been created in the first belt of the Soviet defences.

II SS Panzer Corps
To the east, during the night of 4–5 July, SS combat engineers had infiltrated no-man's land and cleared lanes through the Soviet minefields. At dawn, 5 July, the three divisions of II SS Panzer Corps – SS Panzergrenadier Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Division Das Reich and the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf – attacked the 6th Guards Army's 52nd Guards Rifle Division. The main assault was led by a spearhead of 42 Tigers, but in total 494 tanks and assault guns attacked across a twelve-kilometre front. Totenkopf, the strongest of the three divisions, advanced towards Gremuchhi and screened the right flank. The 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division advanced on the left flank towards Bykovka. The 2nd SS Panzer Division advanced between the two formations in the center. Following closely behind the tanks were the infantry and combat engineers, coming forward to demolish obstacles and clear trenches. In addition, the advance was well supported by the Luftwaffe, which greatly aided in breaking Soviet strong points and artillery positions.

By 09:00 hours, the II SS Panzer Corps had broken through the Soviet first belt of defence along its entire front. While probing positions between the first and second Soviet defensive belts, at 13:00, the 2nd SS Panzer Division's vanguard came under fire from two T-34 tanks, which were destroyed. Forty more Soviet tanks soon engaged the division. The 1st Guards Tank Army clashed with the 2nd SS Panzer Division in a four-hour battle, resulting in the Soviet tanks withdrawing. However, the battle had bought enough time for units of the 23rd Soviet Guards Rifle Corps, lodged in the Soviet second belt, to prepare itself and be reinforced with additional anti-tank guns. By the early evening, 2nd SS Panzer Division had reached the minefields that marked the outer perimeter of the Soviet second belt of defence. The 1st SS Division had secured Bykovka by 16:10. It then pushed forward towards the second belt of defence at Yakovlevo, but its attempts to break through were rebuffed. By the end of the day, the 1st SS Division had sustained 97 dead, 522 wounded, and 17 missing and lost about 30 tanks. Together with the 2nd SS Panzer Division, it had forced a wedge far into the defences of the 6th Guards Army.

The 3rd SS Panzer Division was making slow progress. They had managed to isolate the 155th Guards Regiment, of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division (of the 23rd Guards Rifle Corps), from the rest of its parent division, but its attempts to sweep the regiment eastward into the flank of the neighbouring 375th Rifle Division (of the 23rd Guards Rifle Corps) had failed when the regiment was reinforced by the 96th Tank Brigade. Hausser, the commander of II SS Panzer Corps, requested aid from the III Panzer Corps to his right, but the panzer corps had no units to spare. By the end of the day, the 3rd SS Division had made very limited progress due in part to a tributary of the Donets river. The lack of progress undermined the advance made by its sister divisions and exposed the right flank of the corps to Soviet forces. The temperatures, reaching over 30 degrees Celsius, and frequent thunderstorms made fighting conditions difficult.

The 6th Guards Army, which confronted the attack by the XLVIII Panzer Korps and II SS Panzer Korps, was reinforced with tanks from the 1st Tank Army, the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and the 5th Guards Tank Corps. The 51st and 90th Guards Rifle divisions were moved up to the vicinity of Pokrovka (not Prokhorovka, site of one of future confrontations, 40 km to the north-east), in the path of the 1st SS Panzer Division. The 93rd Guards Rifle Division was deployed further back, along the road leading from Pokrovka to Prokhorovka.

Army Detachment Kempf
Facing Army Detachment Kempf, consisting of III Panzer Corps and Corps Raus (commanded by Erhard Raus), were the 7th Guards Army, dug in on the high ground on the eastern bank of the Northern Donets. The two German corps were tasked with crossing the river, breaking through the 7th Guards Army and covering the right flank of the 4th Panzer Army. The 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion, equipped with 45 Tigers, was also attached to the III Panzer Corps, with one company of 15 Tigers attached to each of the corps' three panzer divisions.

At the Milkhailovka bridgehead, just south of Belgorod, eight infantry battalions of the 6th Panzer Division crossed the river under heavy Soviet bombardment. Part of a company of Tigers from the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion was able to cross before the bridge was destroyed. The rest of the 6th Panzer Division was unable to cross further south due to a traffic jam at the crossing, and remained on the western bank of the river throughout the day. Those units of the division that had crossed the river attacked Stary Gorod, but were unable to break through due to poorly cleared minefields and strong resistance.

To the south of the 6th Panzer Division, the 19th Panzer Division crossed the river but was delayed by mines, moving forward 8 km by the end of the day. Luftwaffe bombed the bridgehead in a friendly fire incident, wounding 6th Panzer Division commander Walther von Hünersdorff and Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski of the 19th Panzer Division. Further south, infantry and tanks of 7th Panzer Division crossed the river. A new bridge had to be built specifically for the Tigers, causing further delays. Despite a poor start, the 7th Panzer Division eventually broke into the first belt of the Soviet defence and pushed on between Razumnoe and Krutoi Log, advancing 10 km, the furthest Kempf got during the day.

Operating to the south of 7th Panzer Division, were the 106th Infantry Division and the 320th Infantry Division of Corps Raus. The two formations attacked across a 32 km front without armour support. The advance began well, with the crossing of the river and a swift advance against the 72nd Guards Rifle Division. Corps Raus took the village of Maslovo Pristani, penetrating the first Red Army defence line. A Soviet counterattack supported by about 40 tanks was beaten off, with the assistance from artillery and flak batteries. After having suffered 2,000 casualties since the morning and still facing considerable resistance from the Soviet forces, the corps dug in for the night.

Delaying the progress of Kempf allowed Red Army forces time to prepare their second belt of defence to meet the German attack on 6 July. The 7th Guards Army, which had absorbed the attack of III Panzer Corps and Corps Raus, was reinforced with two rifle divisions from the reserve. The 15th Guards Rifle Division was moved up to the second belt of defence, in the path of the III Panzer Corps.

Development of the battle
By the evening of 6 July, the Voronezh Front had committed all of its reserves, except for three rifle divisions under the 69th Army; yet it could not decisively contain the 4th Panzer Army. The XLVIII Panzer Corps along the Oboyan axis, where the third defensive belt was mostly unoccupied, now had only the Red Army second defensive belt blocking it from breakthrough into the unfortified Soviet rear. This forced the Stavka to commit their strategic reserves to reinforce the Voronezh Front: the 5th Guards and 5th Guards Tank Armies, both from the Steppe Front, as well as the 2nd Tank Corps from the Southwestern Front. Ivan Konev objected to this premature piecemeal commitment of the strategic reserve, but a personal call from Stalin silenced his complaints. In addition, on 7 July Zhukov ordered the 17th Air Army – the air fleet serving the Southwestern Front – to support the 2nd Air Army in serving the Voronezh Front. On July 7, the 5th Guards Tank Army began advancing to Prokhorovka. 5th Guards Tank Army commander, Lieutenant General Pavel Rotmistrov, described the journey:

"By midday, the dust rose in thick clouds, settling in a solid layer on roadside bushes, grain fields, tanks and trucks. The dark red disc of the sun was hardly visible. Tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery tractors, armoured personnel carriers and trucks were advancing in an unending flow. The faces of the soldiers were dark with dust and exhaust fumes. It was intolerably hot. Soldiers were tortured by thirst and their shirts, wet with sweat, stuck to their bodies."

The 10th Tank Corps, then still subordinate to the 5th Guards Army, was rushed ahead of the rest of the army, arriving at Prokhorovka on the night of 7 July, and 2nd Tank Corps arrived at Korocha, 25 mi southeast of Prokhorovka, by morning of 8 July. Vatutin ordered a powerful counterattack by the 5th Guards, 2nd Guards, 2nd and 10th Tank Corps, in all fielding about 593 tanks and self-propelled guns and supported by most of the Front's available air power, which aimed to defeat the II SS Panzer Corps and therefore expose the right flank of XLVIII Panzer Corps. Simultaneously, the 6th Tank Corps was to attack the XLVIII Panzer Corps and prevent it from breaking through to the free Soviet rear. Although intended to be concerted, the counterattack turned out to be a series of piecemeal attacks due to poor coordination. The 10th Tank Corps' attack began on the dawn of 8 July but they ran straight into the antitank fire of the 2nd and 3rd SS Divisions, losing most of its forces. Later that morning, the 5th Guards Tank Corps' attack was repelled by the 3rd SS Division. The 2nd Tank Corps joined in the afternoon and was also repelled. The 2nd Guards Tank Corps, masked by the forest around the village Gostishchevo, 10 mi north of Belgorod, with its presence unknown to the II SS Panzer Corps, advanced towards the 167th Infantry Division. But it was detected by German air reconnaissance just before the attack had materialized, and was subsequently decimated by German ground-attack aircraft armed with MK 103 anti-tank cannons and at least 50 tanks were destroyed. This marked the first time in military history an attacking tank formation had been defeated by air power alone. Although a fiasco, the Soviet counterattack succeeded in stalling the advance of the II SS Panzer Corps throughout the day.

By the end of 8 July, II SS-Panzer Corps had advanced about 29 km since the start of Citadel and broken through the first and second defensive belts. However, slow progress by the XLVIII Panzer Corps caused Hoth to shift elements of the II SS-Panzer Corps to the west to help the XLVIII Panzer Corps regain its momentum. On 10 July the full effort of the corps was shifted back to its own forward progress. The direction of their advance now shifted from Oboyan due north to the northeast, toward Prokhorovka. Hoth had discussed this move with Manstein since early May, and it was a part of the 4th Panzer Army's plan since the outset of the offensive. By this time, however, the Soviets had shifted reserve formations into its path. The defensive positions were manned by the 2nd Tank Corps, reinforced by the 9th Guards Airborne Division and 301st Anti-tank Artillery Regiment, both from the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps.

Though the German advance in the south was slower than planned, it was faster than the Soviets expected. On 9 July, the first German units reached the Psel River. The next day, the first German infantry crossed the river. Despite the deep defensive system and minefields, German tank losses remained lower than the Soviet's. At this point, Hoth turned the II SS Panzer Corps away from Oboyan to attack toward the northeast in the direction of Prokhorovka. The main concern of Manstein and Hausser was the inability of Army Detachment Kempf to advance and protect the eastern flank of the II SS Panzer Corps. On 11 July, Army Detachment Kempf finally achieved a breakthrough. In a surprise night attack, the 6th Panzer Division seized a bridge across the Donets. Once across, Breith made every effort to push troops and vehicles across the river for an advance on Prokhorovka from the south. A linkup with the II SS Panzer Corps would result with the Soviet 69th Army becoming encircled.

Battle of Prokhorovka
Throughout 10 and 11 July, the II-SS Panzer Corps continued its attack toward Prokhorovka, reaching within 3 km of the settlement by the night of 11 July. That same night, Hausser issued orders for the attack to continue the next day. The plan was for the 3rd SS Panzer Division to drive northeast until it reached the Karteschewka-Prokhorovka road. Once there, they were to strike southeast to attack the Soviet positions at Prokhorovka from the flanks and rear. The 1st and 2nd SS Panzer divisions were to wait until 3rd SS Panzer Division attack had destabilised the Soviet positions at Prokhorovka; and once underway, the 1st SS Panzer Division was to attack the main Soviet defences dug in on the slopes southwest of Prokhorovka. To the division's right, the 2nd SS Panzer Division was to advance eastward, then turn southward away from Prokhorovka to roll up the Soviet lines opposing the III Panzer Corps' advance and force a gap. During the night of 11 July, Rotmistrov moved his 5th Guards Tank Army to an assembly area just behind Prokhorovka in preparation for a massive attack the following day. At 5:45 Leibstandarte headquarters started receiving reports of the ominous sound of tank engines as the Soviets moved into their assembly areas. Soviet artillery and Katyusha regiments were redeployed in preparation for the counterattack.

At around 08:00, a Soviet artillery barrage began. At 08:30, Rotmistrov radioed his tankers: "Steel, Steel, Steel!", the order to commence the attack. Down off the west slopes, before Prokhorovka, came the massed armour of five tank brigades from the Soviet 18th and 29th Tank Corps of the 5th Guards Tank Army. The Soviet tanks advanced down the corridor, carrying mounted infantrymen of the 9th Guards Airborne Division on the tanks. To the north and east, the 3rd SS Panzer Division was engaged by the Soviet 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. Tasked with flanking the Soviet defences around Prokhorovka, the unit first had to beat off a number of attacks before they could go over onto the offensive. Most of the division's tank losses occurred late in the afternoon as they advanced through mine fields against well-hidden Soviet anti-tank guns.

Although the 3rd SS succeeded in reaching the Karteschewka-Prokhorovka road, their hold was tenuous and it cost the division half of its armour. The majority of German tank losses suffered at Prokhorovka occurred here. To the south, the Soviet 18th and 29th Tank Corps had been thrown back by the 1st SS Panzer Division. The 2nd SS Panzer Division also repelled attacks from the 2nd Tank Corps and the 2nd Guards Tank Corps. Luftwaffe local air superiority over the battlefield also contributed to the Soviet losses, partly due to the VVS (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily – the Soviet Air Force) being directed against the German units on the flanks of II SS Panzer Corps. By the end of the day, the Soviets had fallen back to their starting positions.

Neither the 5th Guards Tank Army nor the II SS Panzer Corps accomplished their objectives. Though the Soviet counterattack failed with heavy losses, and were thrown back onto the defensive, yet they did enough to stop a German breakthrough.

Termination of Operation Citadel
On the evening of 12 July, Hitler summoned Kluge and Manstein to his headquarters at Rastenburg in East Prussia. Two days earlier, the Western Allies had invaded Sicily. The threat of further Allied landings in Italy or along southern France made Hitler believe it was essential to move forces from Kursk to Italy and to discontinue the offensive. Kluge welcomed the news, as he was aware that the Soviets were initiating a massive offensive against his sector, but Manstein was less welcoming. Manstein's forces had just spent a week fighting through a maze of defensive works and he believed they were on the verge of breaking through to more open terrain, which would allow him to engage and destroy the Soviet armoured reserves in a mobile battle. Manstein stated, "On no account should we let go of the enemy until the mobile reserves he [has] committed [are] completely beaten." Hitler agreed to temporarily allow the continuance of the offensive in the southern part of the salient, but the following day he ordered Manstein's reserve – the XXIV Panzer Corps – to move south to support the 1st Panzer Army. This removed the force Manstein believed was needed to succeed.

The offensive continued in the southern part with the launch of Operation Roland on 14 July. But after three days, on 17 July, the II SS Panzer Corps was ordered to end its offensive operations and begin withdrawing. This marked the end of Operation Roland. One of the panzer corps' divisions was transferred to Italy and the other two were sent south to meet new Soviet offensives. The strength of the Soviet reserve formations had been greatly underestimated by German intelligence, and the Red Army soon went onto the offensive. In his post-war memoirs Lost Victories, Manstein was highly critical of Hitler's decision to call off the operation at the height of the tactical battle. The veracity of Manstein's claims of a near victory is debatable. The extent of Soviet reserves was far greater than he realised. These reserves were used to re-equip the mauled 5th Guards Tank Army, which launched Operation Rumyantsev a couple of weeks later. The result was a battle of attrition for which the Germans were ill-prepared and which they had little chance of winning.

During Operation Citadel, Luftwaffe units in the area made 27,221 flying sorties with 193 combat losses (0.709% loss rate per sortie). Soviet units from 5 July to 8 July made 11,235 flying sorties with combat losses of 556 aircraft (4.95% per sortie). From a tactical perspective this might have been viewed as a success for the Germans, as they were surely destroying Soviet armor and aircraft with a better kill ratio of 1:6. The problem was that then the Germans were lacking strategic reserves when Western air power began viciously devastating the Luftwaffe and penetrating into Italy. By the fall of 1943 just 25% of Luftwaffe day fighters were in the Eastern Front, ending any hopes of German air superiority in the east.

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title: Operation Citadel