Anson Williams will be one of the many stars paying tribute to Garry Marshall in the new ABC special airing May 12. HL spoke with the ‘Happy Days’ icon about Garry’s profound impact on his life and more.
Anson Williams, 70, played Warren “Potsie” Weber in the beloved series Happy Days, which was created by the legendary Garry Marshall. Anson, along with his Happy Days co-stars and so many more celebrities who worked with Garry will be paying tribute to the Hollywood icon, who passed away in 2016, in the ABC special The Happy Days of Garry Marshall, which airs May 12. Happy Days was Anson’s breakout role, and he’ll happily credit Garry for making it all happen. “The thing is, how lucky were we as young guys? It’s really lucky to get a hit television show, but even luckier to have this incredible combination of talent,” Anson told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “Having gone behind the camera through the years and directing and all this, you just really learned just how special Garry Marshall was. They just don’t make them like Garry. He had a heart bigger than his shows. Doing a show for Garry, he got into your life. He got into your head as far as taking responsibility for your life. He was very instrumental in inspiring all of us to wear many hats. We’re on the Paramount lot, and he made it into a college. He wanted us to learn writing, directing, and production. He opened up the entire line to educate ourselves. If we wanted it, it was there.”
Prior to Happy Days, Anson had nabbed appearances on other series, but Happy Days was his big break. He talked about the moment in the audition process where he met Garry and how that went down: “When I finally got to the point where I read for Garry, his first question to me was: ‘Do you play baseball?’ I swear to God it was: ‘Do you play baseball?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘Are you good?’ I said, ‘Yeah. I was in the Little League All-Star Game.’ He goes, ‘What position? Thanks for coming in.’ And I got the part.”
Anson noted that Garry loved sports and it was “very important” for Garry to put together a Happy Days softball team. “He felt if we were a team, we would have a much different relationship than just being on a set, that you would always have your teammates’ backs,” Anson revealed. “There were a lot of ex-athletes. Ron Howard is an excellent athlete and Donny Most. If you were an extra and you wanted a line on the show, if you could play ball, you got a line on the show because we needed you on the team. He put together our softball team, and we played in every major stadium in the United States.
