Who Is Henry Winkler's Wife? All About Stacey Weitzman

Henry Winkler and Stacey Weitzman have been married since 1978

Henry Winkler and his wife, Stacey Weitzman, first met in 1976.

The Happy Days alum walked into a clothing store in Beverly Hills that Weitzman just so happened to be at. One thing led to another, and the pair wed in a synagogue in New York City two years later.

In the years since their nuptials, Winkler and Weitzman have raised three children together and are grandparents to five.

"We enjoy fly fishing together. We enjoy grandchildren together. We enjoy going to the movies together. We truly enjoy each other every day," Winkler told PEOPLE of their relationship in 2019.

So, who is Stacey Weitzman? Here's everything to know about Henry Winkler's wife of nearly 50 years.

She opened her own PR firm after graduating from USC

Weitzman studied at the University of Southern California. After graduation, she started her own public relations firm and worked with clients like Van Cleef & Arpels, Jag and Jerry Magnin's, a clothing store in Beverly Hills.

She met Winkler in 1976

Winkler met Weitzman at Jerry Magnin's clothing store, which was one of her PR clients at the time. He was starring on Happy Days, and she later recalled that the two were introduced after someone said, "Hey, there's Fonzie."

The actor returned to the store a week later, telling PEOPLE, "I came back to the store the next week and she was there. And within 10 minutes, I learned how strong she is." The two went out for ginger ales and hit it off from there.

She and Winkler got married in 1978

The couple were together for two years before they got married at a synagogue in New York City. Winkler's career was on the rise, and in 2001, Weitzman told PEOPLE that the attention was sometimes a lot to deal with.

She said, "People would rush up to Henry and literally walk over my feet. One time I said, 'You've just completely ruined my stockings.' And this woman said, 'But I love Fonzie!' "

She is a mom of three

Two years after their wedding, Winkler and Weitzman welcomed their first child together, daughter Zoe, on Sept. 30, 1980. Their second child, son Max, was born on Aug. 18, 1983.

Weitzman is also mom to son Jed, who was 4 years old at the time she met Winkler.

The couple are now grandparents, too. They have both shared how much their grandchildren mean to them, with Weitzman telling PEOPLE that the two have a lot of fun with them. She said, "And as a grandparent, you always have a fall guy. 'You want a hot fudge sundae? Let's call Mom!' But they work us so hard!"

She co-founded the Children's Action Network with Winkler

Winkler has made working with children a big part of his life, and Weitzman has been right there alongside him every step of the way. In 1990, Weitzman and Winkler partnered with six other couples (including Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw) to found the Children's Action Network. The network's work includes offering vaccinations to children for free and running a national adoption program.

She and Winkler once took in Marlee Matlin

The pair met actress Marlee Matlin when she was just 12 years old after they saw her perform at the International Center on Deafness and the Arts.

Eight years later, Matlin needed a place to stay and asked Winkler and Weitzman if she could spend a few days with them. The Oscar winner ended up living with the couple for nearly three years and they welcomed her into their family, helping her grow as a person and maintain her sobriety.

"They gave me a foundation to build my career on," Matlin told PEOPLE in 2021. Winkler added that the actress was like a "second daughter" to him and Weitzman.

She believes "to grow up with someone" is the key to a long marriage

While speaking to PEOPLE in August 2019, Weitzman revealed the key to her long-lasting marriage with Winkler.

“The most wonderful thing is to really be able to grow with someone,” she said. “We’re not the same people we are when we got married. It does take work. There are glitches in the road, and you get a little off kilter, but if you have the ability and the stick-to-itiveness based on love, then your friendship and your relationship only gets better.”

Winkler says therapy made him a "more present" husband

In his memoir, Being Henry: The Fonz…And Beyond, Winkler admitted to being "adrift and insecure" after Weitzman was diagnosed with cancer in the early 2000s.

“I was not there,” he told PEOPLE of those years. “I was not whole.”

Today, after seven years of consistent therapy, Winkler feels like he's a "more present" husband.

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