His time off is for the dogs . . . and theater

THE indie film has been in the can for months, but judging from Henry Winkler’s enthusiasm, you’d think he had just stepped off the set.

“It’s a wonderful movie called ‘Berkeley,’ and it takes place in the ‘60s, with all the music and clothes and politics of the time,” said the actor, who lives in L.A. with wife Stacey. “I play a father who sends his son to UC as an innocent, rule-following preppy, dreaming of him becoming an accountant, only to see him get caught up in the cultural upheaval. He goes from tweed jacket and gray slacks to Army-surplus fatigues right before my eyes.

“It was very much guerrilla filmmaking.”

“Berkeley” opens Friday in limited release.

Burger and a movie

Fridays are movie nights for me and my wife, and we’d probably go off to the new Landmark West L.A. on Pico and Westwood boulevards. Another great one is the AMC Century City 15, which is also good because you can have a Fuddruckers cheeseburger before the movie. Then after the film, I go home and walk on the treadmill to help digest all the popcorn I ate.

Pool to playhouse

A perfect Saturday in my mind would be fly-fishing for trout at the Firehole Ranch in Montana, just outside of West Yellowstone. But a close second to that would be to stay home and watch the swimming class we have every week in our pool for the kids of neighbors and friends. I take pictures of their progress.

I’ll then play ball for a while with our dogs Charlotte, a Labradoodle, and Linus, a rescue who was supposed to be a Lab but it turns out is a Lab/Great Dane mix. We sometimes use him as a table in the breakfast nook; he’s gigantic, and we just pull up chairs and have breakfast.

Later, we’d have tickets to the 2 p.m. performance of the L.A. Philharmonic, and it’s just an incredible way to spend an afternoon. For dinner, we’d go to Yang Chow or maybe Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills, the mothership of all sushi restaurants. The staff is unbelievably warm and attentive, and the food is terrific. My wife and I have had our anniversary lunches there for 28 years. In the evening, we might go to the Geffen or Mark Taper. I love live theater.

Sun, sand, dogs

On Sunday morning we’ll take the dogs to Long Beach, where there’s an off-leash dog park that I know of that’s right on the beach. My Labradoodle wears herself out swimming from the beach to Catalina while chasing a tennis ball. I don’t know the name of the park, and I don’t even want to say exactly where it is. My secret.

Then we’ll come home and read the paper and watch some football, and later the kids (Jed works in the music biz; Max is a writer-director; and Zoe is a teacher) will come over and we’ll have barbecue takeout from Mr. Cecil’s. But if we feel like going out, it’ll be the Apple Pan in West L.A. Terrific cheeseburgers.

-- Mark Sachs