Happier Ojai Days with Anson Williams

Anson Williams grew up in a modest home in Burbank which his WWII-veteran father bought with a VA loan. His idyllic childhood unfolded against the sunshine and particular American optimism of the 1950s and 1960s. So when he and his friend Ron Howard were cast in "Happy Days," Garry Marshall's nostalgic look back at the 1950s, he fit neatly within the 1970s zeitgeist. The show, which ran from 1974 to 1984, made Williams' Potsie Weber, along with Howard's Richie Cunningham, Don Most's Ralph Malph and Henry Winkler's Fonzie, among the best-known characters of the era, viewed each week by nearly 70 million people. Williams soaked up lessons on set from Marshall and Howard and has now amassed 43 credits to date as a director, in addition to his 100+ acting credits. He now lives in Ojai, a place he's been visiting for decades and regards as a haven and sanctuary from the manic pace of the outside world. He's announced his bid for Mayor and is committed to bringing a collaborative, cooperative style to Ojai's pressing issues such as affordable housing, fire and drought threats and a spirit of civic goodwill and trust. We also talked about glider piloting, fishing with Henry Winkler, setting up innovative school programs, Annie Besant and much more. We did not talk about the Shoeless Joe Jackson and Black Sox scandal of 1919, the Haber-Bosch method nor lost metallurgic technologies of the Bronze Age.