Henry Winkler Gets Surprised Live on the TODAY Show by his Kids

Henry Winkler’s kids showed their love for their father when he served as guest co-host of TODAY with Jenna & Friends on June 12.

“We have a surprise for you,” Jenna Bush Hager told Winkler, 79, while introducing a video of his children telling him how much he means to them as Father’s Day approaches.

The “Happy Days” star and wife Stacey Weitzman are parents to Zoe, 45, and Max, 41; Jed, 52, was born during a previous marriage.

“The way you were raised and in the household you came from, where you weren’t allowed to be yourself and you weren’t allowed to question or speak your mind. You did the exact opposite, and you raised us in the most loving home where we could be ourselves,” Zoe said.

“Fifty years of incredible memories, which is unbelievable,” said Jed.

“I’m gonna cry. I love you so much and happy Father’s Day,” continued Zoe.

“I wish you the happiest, happiest Father’s Day, and I love you so much,” Max said before blowing his dad a kiss.

The clip moved Jenna to tears.

“Now I’m crying. How beautiful,” she said.

“Thank you, really. Thank you, whoever put that together,” the Emmy-winning actor replied.

“I am so emotional,” he added.

Jenna then asked Winkler what he did “to raise such beautiful children,” prompting him to explain his secret, hearkening back to his childhood in New York City.

“The center of all relationships is the ear. It is not how you meant it. It is how it landed. It’s how it’s heard, and I was never able to say anything,” he said. “I never had a point of view growing up, right here on 78th Street. And my children could say what was on their mind.”

That policy of open communication is something Zoe says resonated with her as she became a parent.

“When I was growing up, I could always talk to my parents about anything,” she said on “The Puberty” podcast in 2022. “And there was one rule at our house — if you told the truth, you wouldn’t get in trouble. And so I really try to keep that in my house.”