Anson Williams’ uncle created the Heimlich maneuver, and a certain hit sitcom was “a major reason for its success.”

Happy Days star claims show ‘helped save more lives than any other program in history’

Anson Williams' uncle created the Heimlich maneuver, and a certain hit sitcom was "a major reason for its success."

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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January 27, 2026 8:00 p.m. ET

Donny Most, Henry Winkler, Anson Williams, and Ron Howard on 'Happy Days'. Credit:

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

- Anson Williams' uncle created the Heimlich maneuver.

- The *Happy Days* actor brought his uncle, Dr. Henry Heimlich, to the studio when he guested on *The Merv Griffin Show* in the 1970s.

- Heimlich demonstrated the maneuver on *Merv Griffin* and later *The Tonight Show*, which led to the technique's surge in popularity.

Is *Happy Days* indirectly responsible for the proliferation of the Heimlich maneuver?

Anson Williams, who portrayed Warren "Potsie" Weber on the hit sitcom, believes that's the case. In a recent Facebook post, the actor, whose relative Henry Heimlich created the anti-choking procedure, explained the connection between *Happy Days* and the maneuver.

"My Uncle, Dr. Heimlich, created the Heimlich Maneuver," he said. "*Happy Days* is a major reason for its success. It's a long story, but the creators and cast of *Happy Days* have helped save more lives than any other program in history!"

Anson Williams on 'Happy Days'.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Heimlich developed his namesake technique in 1974 as an alternative to the then-conventional method of hitting choking victims on the back, according to clinical journal *Mayo Clinic Proceedings*.

Williams previously discussed the Heimlich maneuver's *Happy Days* connection in an interview with the Jeff Dwoskin's *Classic Conversations* podcast in 2022. The actor explained that his uncle had difficulty getting the word out about the Heimlich maneuver, and in the mid-1970s, Williams decided to bring Heimlich along when he guested on *The Merv Griffin Show*.

Williams explained that he brought his uncle with him in the hopes of demonstrating the technique on live TV, but the talk show's producers shot down the idea. However, his luck changed when he presented Griffin himself with an elevator pitch just before the interview began.

"'Hey Merv, my uncle, Dr. Heimlich, blah, blah, blah, blah,'" Williams remembered saying. "And he stopped me and he says, 'You know something? I heard about that. I actually heard about that. I read something. It's very interesting, Anson.'"

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Williams said Griffin then took matters into his own hands. "Unbeknownst to anybody, he tells the audience, 'You know, Anson told me something interesting. Is there a Dr. Heimlich in the audience?'" the actor remembered Griffin asking. "'I've read something about the Heimlich maneuver. Can you tell me more about it?'"

Heimlich then discussed his findings with Griffin on camera. "And then Merv said these words: 'Will you try it on me?'" Williams remembered. "And Dr. Heimlich comes on stage and does the Heimlich maneuver."

Anson Williams in 2021.

Michael Tullberg/Getty

That *Merv Griffin* appearance led to an invitation for him to show off the technique on *The Tonight Show* with Johnny Carson a few weeks later.

"Because of Johnny Carson's brother, who happened to be directing *The Merv Griffin Show*, who happened to talk to the producer at *The Tonight Show*, Dr. Heimlich is on *Johnny Carson* three weeks later," Williams said. "And there on the Johnny Carson show, he's doing the Heimlich maneuver on Johnny Carson. Okay, at that point, the Heimlich maneuver went crazy, like blew out, God knows how many thousands of lives have been saved."

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Williams later discussed the domino effect of *Happy Days*' success in a 2024 interview with *Milwaukee Magazine*.

"If Garry Marshall hadn't created a show called *Happy Days*, if there weren't superstars like Henry Winkler and Ron Howard, if all these people hadn't made that show a success, Henry [Heimlich] might have never gotten that call [from Carson]," Williams said. "There are people alive today because of *Happy Days*."

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Source: “EW Comedy”