ANSON WILLIAMS Everyone HAS A PURPOSE

The director and former Happy Days star believes that everything happens for a reason

- Amanda Champagne-Meadows

Anson Williams got caught in a huge thunderstorm on the afternoon of his audition for Happy Days. “I drove this little funky Corvair, and it conked out. I had to wait two hours for Auto Club, so I was hours late for the audition and soaking wet!” he recalls to Closer. “At that point, I thought, 'Just forget it. It's done.' But something inside me said, “No, go.””

Of course, Anson, 72, went to the audition and won the role of best friend Potsie Weber on the beloved 1950s-era comedy. He and co-stars Marion Ross and Tom Bosley, who played Marion and Howard Cunningham, were the only actors to play main characters on the show through all ll seasons. Anson went on to become the director of other successful TV shows, including Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Lizzie McGuire and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. He admits he could never have done it without Happy Days. “It really opened up the door," Anson says.

When you were growing up in Los Angeles, did you always want to act?

I think it was always there – like deep, deep inside. When I was 18, it just hit me so hard. I felt inside that it would work.

Was your family supportive of your desire to go into show business?

Oh, they almost kicked me out. It was, “Are you out of your mind?” So I walked out as an 18-year-old with nothing. I didn't know anybody. But it just shows [what you can do] when you have that fire in your stomach. I feel that we are directed places if we are just open enough to feel it. That's what happened in my life.

It took a long time for Happy Days to get on the air, didn't it?