Happy Days star Anson Williams announced plans to run for political office this week. Williams, 72, is hoping to become the next mayor of Ojai, California. He has at least one vote in the race against incumbent Mayor Betsy Six, as his Happy Days co-star, Henry Winkler voiced his support.
Williams made a commitment to running during the June 28 Ojai City Council meeting, reports the Ojai Valley News. He said the city needs “leadership that inspires a collaborative team.” Candidates for office have until July 18 to formally declare their candidacy by pulling papers at the City Clerk’s office. Williams hasn’t submitted the paperwork, but his representative told PEOPLE he will “turn in the paperwork with the required signatures, etc. before he is officially registered.”
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Williams starred as Warren “Potsie” Weber on Happy Days, earning a Golden Globe nomination. After the show wrapped, he became a prolific TV director, helming episodes of Hooperman, L.A. Law, Diagnosis: Murder, Robin’s Hoods, Xena: Warrior Princess, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Lizzie McGuire, Baywatch, Charmed, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Williams occasionally appears in front of the camera, most recently popping up in a 2016 episode of The Odd Couple.
Last year, Williams told Page Six that Happy Days executive producer Garry Marshall encouraged him, Winkler, and Ron Howard to all turn to directing. “He said, ‘You’re all young kids, take advantage of the studio, it’s a college,’” he recalled. “‘Wear many hats, learn all you can. You’re probably not going to act all your life.’ When I was educating myself as a director, I was able to shadow Roman Polanksi while he was shooting Chinatown on the backlot. I watched all the Grease numbers being filmed. I shadowed John Schlesinger. I got this amazing education behind the camera.”
Williams also said he keeps in contact with his Happy Days co-stars. “It keeps coming back and getting new fans,” he said of the show, which aired between 1974 and 1984. “There’s something about the cast, the chemistry that just hits people’s hearts. There’s a magic to the cast.” Unfortunately, only Season 2 of Happy Days is available to stream on Paramount+, but the show is available on DVD.
Winkler, who starred as Fonzie, endorsed Williams’ potential political run. He retweeted a journalist’s tweet about Williams running for mayor. “You have my vote,” Winkler wrote.
