Who is Anson Williams? What is his age?
Born Anson William Heimlich under the sign of Libra on 25th September 1949 in Los Angeles, California USA, Anson Williams is a 72-year-old Caucasian actor, director and soundtrack technician of Hungarian and Russian descent. While generally known for his 220-episode portrayal of Potsie Weber in the comedy musical TV series “Happy Days” (1974-1984), Anson draws popularity from various other roles too, and a fair bit from his directing credits, such as those of “ABC Afterschool Specials” from 1985. He has also had a multitude of other successes over the course of his often-lucrative career since 1971.
Early life: An unwelcome namesake
Anson was raised apparently an only child in Burbank, California, by his mother Rosalind (née Horowitz) and father Haskell Heimlick, both of Jewish origin. Williams’ uncle is world-famous Dr. Henry Heimlich, who invented the “Heimlich Maneuver” for helping people who are choking. For whatever reason, his father didn’t want to be associated with this sort of publicity, and so changed his surname from Heimlich to Heimlick when his son was still very young. Anson grew up interested in sports and dramatic arts, eventually becoming captain of the track team, and one of the go-to play actors at Burbank High School. He matriculated from there in 1967, and went straight into acting, skipping college altogether.
Career: The kid with a bright future
Williams got by working various jobs for approximately four years after high school, ultimately landing a single television appearance in a commercial for McDonald’s, alongside famous John Amos in 1971. He snagged a credited TV series role in the same year, as Steve Baggot in an episode of “Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law”, which was directed by the great Steven Spielberg. He was seen on-screen twice in 1972 and three times in 1973 in single episodes then, Anson finally reached the spotlight in 1974, when cast in the role of Potsie Weber in the highly acclaimed family comedy musical TV series entitled “Happy Days”, his greatest role. The show won a Primetime Emmy and 16 other awards, with 19 total nominations, and in 1983, earned Anson a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. Williams stayed in the series from start to finish, appearing in most of its episodes (219 out of 255) until 1984. He had a total of 15 credited roles between 1971 and 2000.
The new century
Anson entered the 2000’s with 15 roles, seven soundtrack performances, five as a producer and a staggering 76 directing credits under his belt. Although most people know him as an actor, Williams has dedicated a great part of his life to directing, which is especially noticeable past the year 2000. He’s appeared on screen in only five titles since then, notably as Councilman McKenna in two episodes of world-famous “Baywatch” in 2000. Aside from that, he’s credited as a director another 64 times, half of which took place within the first eight years of this millennium. Undoubtedly his most successful venture into the chair behind the camera was the last one – “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”, from 2008 to 2013, in which he directed 31 episodes of 121. Anson’s latest participation in a Hollywood project portrayed him as Clayton in an episode of “That Odd Couple” in 2016; he hasn’t been active in filmmaking since.
So, what happened to Anson Williams?
The actor-director hasn’t officially retired from the business, but remains outside of Hollywood for now. His latest career move is running for mayor of Ojai, California – on 1 July 2022 ,Anson stated during Ojai City Council’s public comments that he’d be running for mayor, adding that the city needs ‘leadership that inspires a collaborative team.’ As far as anyone knows, this is Williams’ first attempt at politics; to win, he will have to gain more votes than Betsy Stix, who is running for re-election. The race will be officially confirmed on 18 July 2022, when all candidacies in Ojai are formally declared.
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Love life: who is Anson Williams’ wife?
Williams’ first publicly known relationship happened with Lorrie Mahaffey – an actress and soundtrack performer mostly known for her work on “Mork & Mindy”, and co-starring with Anson in “Happy Days” for a year, which is presumably where they met. They dated for a while before tying the knot on 19 November 1978, however, after eight years of marriage and one child, whose name and profession is unknown, the two went their separate ways. Two years later, in 1988, Anson married a certain Jackie Gerken, with whom he had four children, none of whom are in the public eye. The union seemed perfect for a long time, but Williams filed for divorce after 31 years of marriage in 2019. He doesn’t seem to be interested in anyone in 2022.
Did Anson Williams go to court?
In 2011 Anson and his four “Happy Days” colleagues filed a $10 million lawsuit against CBS, citing breach of contract. They claimed that CBS owed them significant amounts for profiting from the numerous show-related items that contained their likenesses. CBS responded by saying they owed less than $10,000 to each actor individually, but the five insisted that millions in revenue were stolen from them. The magnitude of the lawsuit was reduced in October 2011, when a judge rejected the fraud claim it was based on. CBS tried to have it completely thrown out in 2012, but that was also denied. The lawsuit was settled a month later, at which point all five received $65,000 each, and a promise from CBS that their contracts will be duly respected. Williams then stated ‘I’m very satisfied with the settlement, and that’s all I can say.’
What is Anson Williams’ net worth?
Numerous sources place Anson Williams’ net worth at approximately $1.8 million, garnered from his successful career as an actor and director, which is very likely now a finished chapter. The by-far greatest contribution to his wealth has been the 10-year long portrayal of Potsie Weber in “Happy Days.”
