Still Here Hollywood
Still Here Hollywood
Steve Kmetko, Still Here Network
Anson Williams "Happy Days"
1 hour 1 minutes Posted Oct 5, 2026 at 10:00 am.
Anson Williams joins Still Here Hollywood
Growing up in Los Angeles and trying to break into show business
The disastrous audition that launched his career
His first real break
How a sit-in at a talent agency changed everything
His first acting job, directed by Steven Spielberg
Would social media have changed his career?
Happy Days becomes his big break
The real story of the original Happy Days pilot
Why the Happy Days cast became so close
What made Garry Marshall special
How Anson turned Potsie into a second career
How Happy Days helped spread the Heimlich maneuver
Who made Anson laugh hardest on Happy Days?
John Lennon secretly visits the Happy Days set
What changed after Ron Howard left
Working with Bette Davis
Remembering Marion Ross
Becoming a television director
Growing up around Hollywood legends
Working with Ethel Merman
Remembering Erin Moran
The most important lesson he learned as a director
Learning to direct science fiction
Crazy Mama and Linda Purl
Anson Williams looks ahead
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Show notes
Anson Williams became a television icon as Potsie Weber on Happy Days, but his Hollywood story goes far beyond Arnold’s Drive-In.
Anson joins Steve Kmetko for a revealing look back at more than five decades in show business, including how he stumbled into his first acting job with a young Steven Spielberg, what Garry Marshall taught the Happy Days cast about surviving Hollywood, and the extraordinary day John Lennon secretly showed up on the Happy Days set with his son Julian.
Anson also tells the remarkable story of how his connection to Dr. Henry Heimlich helped bring the Heimlich maneuver to national television, remembers his late Happy Days co-star Erin Moran, talks about working with Bette Davis and Hollywood legends including Milton Berle and Ethel Merman, and explains how Ron Howard helped inspire his second career as a television director.
Plus, Anson discusses his newest project, Crazy Mama, starring Linda Purl.
It’s an hour of Hollywood history from someone who was there for an astonishing amount of it.
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