Anson Williams of Happy Days has opened up about the less-than-ideal pay he received for the sitcom. As reported by Page Six, he says the sitcom pay alone wasn't doing it for him - so he got creative. What happened next got him an aspect of his career he never would've expected.
On an episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast, Williams opened up about Happy Days. "On 'Happy Days' we didn't have the same salaries they have today," he explained. "Not even close."
"Nine hundred dollars an episode, $1,200 an episode. It was fine back then, but... it's not a lifetime of earnings there."
He said that the money felt especially sparse when he was talking to stars from Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch. David Cassidy and Barry Williams of the two shows said that their singing roles were where they made the most money.
"Wait a minute - I sing!" Williams recalled thinking to himself. "If I can convince Garry (the show's creator) to put a band on the show, maybe I can get booked, and maybe I can get some extra income."
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The 'Happy Days' Creator Gave Him a Chance
Garry Marshall was on board - but there was a catch, the Happy Days star explained. He had to sing a song to a bulldog. "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," he continued. "And he goes 'The people like it, the people like it!'. He goes, 'We'll do more. You're in charge of it though. Then I got a major agent for that and started getting booked at state fairs for 10 years."
Life-changing stuff, right? Well, Williams explained that the side hustle "started this whole career", was better for him monetarily, and in general was "just a whole other life experience".
After Happy Days got big, Marshall told Williams and his co-stars to use their new-found platforms for good - and "shine [the spotlight] on people that deserve it."
And he took that to heart. "Ron Howard and I did a film called 'Skyward', starring the first paraplegic ever in the history of television. We did films like 'No Greater Gift', which doubled organ donorship cards."
