Four decades after Fonzie, Henry Winkler wins his first Emmy for ‘Barry’

After kissing his wife of 40 years, Stacey, and hugging Bill Hader and Alec Berg — the men who hired him for “Barry� — Henry Winkler made it to the stage to collect the first Primetime Emmy of his celebrated career.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,� he said, taking in the moment. “I only have 37 seconds. I wrote this 43 years ago. “

Winkler, 72, earned his first Emmy nomination in 1976 (his onstage math was off a year) for his iconic turn as “the Fonz� on ABC’s hit “Happy Days.� He was nominated twice again for the series and picked up a pair of nods in 2000 for guest actor spots.

1/27

Claire Foy won lead actress in a drama series for “The Crown.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

2/27

Matthew Rhys won lead actor in a drama series for “The Americans.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

3/27

Winners for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel� include Michael Zegan, left, Daniel Palladino, second from left, Amy Sherman-Palladino, center, and Rachel Brosnahan, right.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

4/27

The cast of “Game of Thrones� won drama series.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

5/27

The cast of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story� won limited series.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

6/27

Darren Criss won lead actor in a limited series for “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

7/27

“RuPaul’s Drag Race� won reality-competition program.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

8/27

“RuPaul’s Drag Race� won reality-competition program.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

9/27

“RuPaul’s Drag Race� won reality-competition program.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

10/27

Joel Fields, left, and Joe Weisberg won drama writing for “The Americans.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

11/27

John Oliver and Liz Stanton after winning variety talk series for “Last Week Tonight.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

12/27

John Oliver poses after winning variety talk series for “Last Week Tonight.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

13/27

Lorne Michaels and his cast win variety sketch series for “Saturday Night Live.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

14/27

Lorne Michaels accepts variety sketch series for “Saturday Night Live.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

15/27

Lorne Michaels, winner of variety sketch series for “Saturday Night Live.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

16/27

Regina King, winner of lead actress in a limited series or movie for “Seven Seconds.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

17/27

Thandie Newton, winner of supporting actress in a drama series for “Westworld.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

18/27

Glen Weiss proposed to Jan Svendsen when accepting the award for directing for a variety special for his work on “The Oscars.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

19/27

Jeff Daniels, winner of supporting actor in a limited series or movie for “Godless.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

20/27

Peter Dinklage, winner of supporting actor in a drama series for “Game of Thrones.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

21/27

John Mulaney, outstanding writing for a variety special.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

22/27

Rachel Brosnahan, outstanding lead actress in a comedy series award for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

23/27

Charlie Brooker, left, and William Bridges, outstanding writing for a limited series, movie or dramatic special for “Black Mirror: USS Callister.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

24/27

Merritt Wever, outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie for “Godless.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

25/27

Alex Borstein, outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

26/27

Amy Sherman-Palladino, outstanding writing and outstanding directing for a comedy series for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.�

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

27/27

Bill Hader, left, outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “Barry� and costar Henry Winkler for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series.

  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

FULL COVERAGE: Live updates | Winners list | Show highlights

He finally won for his hilarious, heartfelt turn as the narcissistic acting teacher on the dark comedy “Barry,� the first-year HBO series that also earned Hader a lead comedy actor Emmy.

Accepting the trophy, Winkler quoted prominent entertainment lawyer Skip Brittenham: “If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you, and tonight I got to clear the table.�

Backstage, Winkler was still beaming.

“It feels wonderful,� he said, joking that he was “wearing rubber pants in anticipation of the shock of winning tonight.�

“And I used a little powder, but I had control,� he continued, smiling. “I think I had the longest drought between nominations than anyone else in the academy.�

Winkler’s category was competitive. The other nominees were three-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel�), Kenan Thompson and Alec Baldwin (“Saturday Night Live�), Brian Tyree Henry (“Atlanta�), previous winner Louie Anderson (“Baskets�) and Tituss Burgess (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt�).

Winkler recently had prominent roles on celebrated comedies such as “Arrested Development� and “Parks and Recreation.� He recognized immediately that the role on “Barry� was something special.

“When I was 27, I got the Fonz,� Winkler told The Times in an interview earlier this year. “And because I changed my voice, I changed my body, it was like a key that unlocked my imagination. And at that moment, after all of my training, I realized that I really am just a character actor. I am not a leading man. But I knew, without the change of voice, without the detail of the Fonz, I wasn’t the actor I wanted to be in my mind or in my imagination.�

“So that was 27,� he continued. “And now I’m 72, so I’ve flipped the numbers, and I am closer to the actor that I thought about being when I was 27. Some people can do it right away: Ryan Gosling, Jack Nicholson, there is no distance — Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright. There is no difference between the character and their soul. There’s no space. You can’t even slide a piece of paper between the two. And I dreamed of that, but I couldn’t accomplish that.

“And maybe I’m just getting there now.�

[email protected]