'Happy Days' star Anson Williams says he had to create a second career because sitcom pay wasn't enough

When playing Potsie Weber on "Happy Days" didn't pay well enough, actor Anson Williams came up with a side hustle: a music career.

In a recent interview on the "Still Here Hollywood Podcast," the 77-year-old actor revealed the singing sideline was simply a matter of 1970s economics.

"On 'Happy Days' we didn't have the same salaries they have today. Not even close," he said. "Nine hundred dollars an episode, $1,200 an episode. It was fine back then, but...it's not a lifetime of earnings there."

Williams said that after speaking to "Partridge Family" star David Cassidy and Barry Williams, of "The Brady Bunch," about how much money they were making by taking their singing acts off the show, he thought to himself, "Wait a minute. I sing. If I can convince Garry to put a band on the show, maybe I can get booked, and maybe I can get some extra income." 

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After speaking with the show's creator, Garry Marshall, about the possibility of putting together a band to perform at Arnold's, the burger joint where Fonzie held court, the legendary director gave him a chance. Marshall told him he would have to pick a song and sing it to a bulldog, telling him, "If you're good, I get laughs. If you're bad, I get laughs. You're going to sing the bulldog."

"So I do it and then the letters start coming in, and he goes 'The people like it. The people like it.' He goes, 'We'll do more. You're in charge of it though,'" Williams recalled. "Then I got a major agent for that and started getting booked at state fairs for 10 years."

Williams added that his idea to sing on the show "started this whole career" that ended up being better for him monetarily, and was "just a whole other life experience."

After finding success as a musician as well as an actor, Williams said that Marshall approached him to express how proud he was of the actor, telling him, "You found an opportunity, and you're helping the show."

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During an interview with Fox News Digital in March 2024, Williams revealed that while the show started as a hit with audiences, landing in the top 15 or 20, it slid down to 48th place at one point and was "on the verge of getting canceled."

"And Garry Marshall and Jerry Paris, our director, thought, ‘What if we changed the whole tone? What if we make it a live audience sitcom?’" Williams recalled. "So, half the season, one camera. The next season, one camera. The next season — two and a half in — they switch it to live audience. And the chemistry of the cast, the writing, was magic. That's the year we went to No. 1 in the world. That's when we exploded."

When the show became a huge success, Williams recalled Marshall advising him and his young co-stars to use their platforms for good, telling them to take the spotlight they found themselves in and "shine it on people that deserve it."

Following his time on "Happy Days," Williams pivoted to working more as a writer and director. He directed episodes of "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Lizzie McGuire," "Charmed," "The Secret Life of an American Teenager" and more.

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Through all his successes, Williams never forgot the advice Marshall gave to him during his time on "Happy Days."

"Ron Howard and I did a film called ‘Skyward,’ starring the first paraplegic ever in the history of television," he said. "We did films like ‘No Greater Gift,’ which doubled organ donorship cards. Henry did so many social issue movies of the week and after-school school specials, and charities."

"We really, to this day, try to shine the light to make things better," he added.