The Hollywood star Anson Williams, who is best known for starring on the sitcom “Happy Days,” is speaking out this week to recall a scary encounter that he once had with a fan.
Williams Recalls Terrifying Fan Encounter
Williams, 74, became a household name when he portrayed the gullible aspiring singer Warren “Potsie” Weber on “Happy Days” for 11 seasons from 1974 until 1984. In a new interview, Williams revealed that while he’s had “many, many crazy” encounters with fans, there’s one that stands out above all the rest.
“Yeah, almost dying comes to mind,” Williams told Fox News. “I was doing a concert at the Del Mar Racetrack [in Del Mar, California]. Like a 4th of July concert, I forgot exactly — I think it was 4th of July. And there were like thousands of people there.”
“And I’m in the middle on this stage they rolled out,” he continued. “Well, at the end of the concert, the crowd swarms around this [stage], and I can’t get down. I can’t get off. So, I’m up there. I must have been up there for 15 minutes.”
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Situation Escalates
It didn’t take long for the situation to escalate in a terrifying way.
“And there’s security. Finally, I get down and they kind of make a pathway. Well, the crowd overwhelmed it. I ended up face-down. On the field. Literally, I couldn’t breathe,” Williams added. “Shirt’s being torn, bleeding. My manager finally picked me up and literally dragged me and threw me into this trailer that was kind of on the edge of the part of the field there. Yeah. I mean, I literally — I literally couldn’t breathe.”
“And I’m thinking, ‘I don’t know about this fame stuff,” he recalled with a laugh. “You know, might not be … the healthiest thing for your life.”
While Williams was left shaken by the experience, his injuries weren’t severe enough for him to require hospitalization.
“But I had scratches and like a face full of dirt,” he remembered. “I said, ‘Maybe, I’ll go back to engineering.’ You know, this is not so nice.”
Williams believes that this incident took place in 1976 or 1977, and it ended up being a major learning experience for him.
“I learned a lot, you know, where not to place myself during a concert,” Williams said. “That I learned. Don’t go in the middle of a field surrounded by thousands of people with no way out. It’s not a very smart place to put one’s body.”
Related: ‘Happy Days’ Star Reveals If He’d Consider Appearing On A Reboot
Williams Gets Married
In May of last year, Williams married the writer and real estate broker Sharon MaHarry in an intimate ceremony at the couple’s Ojai, California home, with his “Happy Days” co-star Donnie Most being his best man on the big day.
“Let’s make it a wedding just where it’s about togetherness with our friends,” Williams told People Magazine at the time. “It’s not over the top, but at the same time, it’s memorable and special.”
“At this age, to be able to find that kind of full connection for the first time, and what that means — it’s a miracle,” he continued. “I would trade my stardom, notoriety, all that bologna for Sharon in a minute. There’s no age limit on being loved. There’s no age limit on living life fully.”
We’re so glad to see that Williams is at such a good place in his life! While his memory of his scary fan encounter serves as a reminder that fame may not be all that it’s cracked up to be, it’s inspiring that he was able to overcome it and come out the other side.
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