Anson Williams was part of our lives for years. For those of us who were teens in the 50s, we knew he was a devoted friend who visited weekly as Potsie Webber, an exuberant member of the Happy Days crowd. For those of us who missed that era, he brings us to the party. How did he get this role 45 years ago? Good question. He is a man serious about being funny. His open audition experience made me laugh and as you will hear, cracked up the people running the audition.
That was decades ago, and although Anson is well out of his teens, his work has continued with success in directing and producing. To hear him talk about his actually happy time on Happy Days, is a wonderful lesson in credit where credit is due and what it means to be generous as a performer.
After one terrifying experience with sleep overtaking him at the wheel, he became serious in a whole new area with a product to lessen the number of deaths due to drowsy driving turning deadly. His uncle Dr. Heimlich (yes, that one!) recommended keeping a lemon or a hot pepper in the car and whenever he started to feel drowsy he simply bit into it. Now Anson Williams is offering Alert Drops to help stave off fatigue – not only for drivers but for a host of other tasks that require vigilant attention. How the Heimlich maneuver got into the public consciousness is a story in its own right, and yes, Anson lets us in on that, too. It is one of those “go figure” historical moments.
To see Anson Williams talk about his career is a joy and a lesson in diligence, persistence and the benefit of throwing a little caution to the winds. Watching his delivery, I could not help but see the echo of our past comedy greats. I’m still smiling.