TV show ‘Happy Days’ credited with saving millions of lives

SALT LAKE CITY — Celebrities will descend upon Salt Lake City starting Thursday to attend this year’s FanX Comic & Pop Culture Convention.

Among them are a few actors from the 1970s TV show “Happy Days“: Don Most, Henry Winkler and Anson Williams. The show, created by Garry Marshall, ran for eleven seasons between 1974 and 1984 and launched the career of actor and comedian Robin Williams.

However, Anson Williams said the greatest legacy “Happy Days” leaves behind is “bringing attention to the Heimlich Maneuver and saving millions of lives.”

Fateful appearance on a talk show

During an appearance on the Merv Griffin Show, Williams mentioned his cousin, Dr. Henry Heimlich, was in the audience and explained the maneuver he created. After a commercial break, Williams said Griffin asked Dr. Heimlich to come on stage and demonstrate.

“And do you know who the director of the Merv Griffin Show was?” Williams asked. “Dick Carson, the brother of Johnny Carson,” he said.

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Dick called his brother and pushed him to have Heimlich on “The Tonight Show.” A few weeks later, Heimlich performed his maneuver on Johnny Carson, and the rest was history.

While Williams claims millions of lives were saved with the Heimlich Maneuver, a 2016 Cornell University article reported the maneuver had saved more than 100,000 lives. 

Controversial procedure

In 2006, the American Red Cross and American Heart Association began referring to the technique as abdominal thrusts. Williams said those organizations do not like his cousin because he was an activist.

“(Heimlich’s) friend choked to death,” Williams recounted. “At the time, the standard procedure advocated by the Red Cross for a choking victim was to slap them on the back several times. But Hank knew that was wrong,” he stated.

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Heimlich believed slapping someone on the back forced more air down their lungs, whereas thrusting on their abdomen forces air out along with whatever is stuck.

“For a long time, the Red Cross refused to teach the Heimlich Maneuver.” Williams continued. “It wasn’t until he gained fame through his appearances on Merv Griffin and with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show (that) they had to change their tune.”

According to a blog “In-Home CPR,” the Heimlich maneuver was fully incorporated by 1976 when teaching how to save a choking victim, alongside slapping on the back. Both the American Heart Association and American Red Cross completely dropped back-slapping for choking victims in 1986. Although the Red Cross began teaching back-slapping with abdominal thrusts again in 2006.

Williams said he was taught very early in his career that if you have a platform, it should be used for the greater good. “So, that’s the biggest thing that ever happened for me because I knew someone who could save lives and used my fame to bring that information to the world,” he said.

Future projects

The next project for Williams is a podcast starting in October called “Singing to a Bulldog.” He said the title comes from an episode of “Happy Days” where he asked if he could use his singing talent on the show. Director Garry Marshall said, “Sure, but you’ll have to sing to a bulldog for laughs.”

“The episode itself didn’t save any lives, but it opened up my world. I got a record deal and became even more recognized, and it changed my life. So the podcast will ask guests, ‘What is your bulldog moment? What is the moment that changed your life?'”

Williams said he hopes the show will be inspiring to people and encourage them to find their moment to be successful. He invited everyone to come to FanX and say hi. “We’re still alive! We’re still here! I might even sing to the crowd.”

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