My Days Read online

  DL: Garry, with all the memorable characters and shows you have given the world, you will go down in history as one of the great storytellers of the late twentieth- and early twenty-first century. Will you share one or two of your favorite stories about Marion?

  GM: One of my favorite stories about Marion has nothing to do with acting or show business. It has to do with softball. I always put together softball teams with the casts and crews from all my shows. So with Happy Days, everybody on the show played—the entire cast. So she had to play, too. Our Happy Days team played all over the country—all over the world. Ronnie Howard and Donny Most were real ballplayers. They knew what they were doing. But Marion turned out to be a good player, too. She went out and got a glove and a bat that she was comfortable with, and I tell you, she could hit pretty good. She could hit and catch. I would always tell her how wonderful she was, and once she asked me why I gave her so many accolades on her softball playing but not on her acting. Well, she was a terrific actor, so I didn’t have to bother telling her that. I remember once she told someone, “My boss wants me to play softball! There’s my dream—softball!” But she was fearless, as an actor and as a softball player. I remember I used to tell her it was nice that such a great softball player also had a nice little hobby in acting.

  The other story I have of her is a play she did for me. I had written this play and asked Marion to read it because I thought she would be good in it. It was called Shelves. It was my first play, and I ended up changing the name of it to Everybody Say “Cheese!” She read the script and agreed to do it in Chicago, and she was wonderful in it. She really did me a gigantic favor by doing that show, and because of her, it got rave reviews. She certainly didn’t have to leave her home and family to do it. It was at a dinner theater, where she had to compete with people while they were eating their roast beef. But she did it for me as a favor, and I will always love her for doing that.

  I remember during the rehearsals for that show, the director wanted her to enter from this area where there was a table. So they had to move this table by the side of the stage, and all hell broke loose. The manager, or whoever the hell it was, said we couldn’t move the table. So I’m from the Bronx. I know how to handle these things. I asked him how much they would make on that table every night. He told me, and I said, “Fine! I’ll pay the money you’ll lose. Just get the table out of here.” So I bought the table so Marion could make her entrance. That’s what you do when you love someone. You want them to do well and be happy.

  One of the happiest times for me was when Marion met Paul. They were perfect together, and it made me very happy that she was happy. I also remember when she got her star on Hollywood Boulevard. I walked away from that ceremony and thought, Wow! She’s really come a long way.

  DL: As you know, Marion put off writing a book about her life for many years. Now that she has decided to do it, what do you hope readers will learn about her that they otherwise may have never known?

  GM: In her field, the genre of the television moms, Florence Henderson and Shirley Jones, the mothers from all those classic shows, like Ozzie and Harriet and Leave It to Beaver—they are the women people think of when they think of mothers. Marion and those other actresses who played the famous mothers did more for motherhood than anybody else. Marion was always a solid actress. She could always deliver whatever was asked of her. She could be the face of white-bread America in Happy Days, or she could do an ethnic role on Brooklyn Bridge, playing a Jewish woman.

  But, beyond being a talented actress, nobody ever found her in bed with someone in some sleazy cheap motel in Minneapolis. She wasn’t drugged out and insane. Now, maybe she would have sold more books if that was the case [laughing], but that wasn’t her. She was always sensitive when it came to people’s feelings, and she survived the difficult times she went through in the nicest way. She always lived her life in the way we would all want our mothers to live their lives. I have always admired Marion for making her way through the rough times in her personal life and through this business with her integrity intact. Marion got through working in this crazy business without a bit of a mess. You’ve heard the term “a hot mess”? Marion Ross is just the opposite of a hot mess!

  Chapter 17

  My TV Son Ron

  The pride I have in what my two children, Jim and Ellen, have accomplished in their lives is as great as any mother’s. But, honestly, I don’t think if you could actually measure the level of pride I hold for what Ron Howard has achieved, it would prove to be much lower than what I harbor for my biological offspring.

  When I was cast to do the pilot for New Family in Town, Ron was the only other actor I was aware of who was slated to work on it. I, of course, knew him for his role as Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show and was also aware he had played Winthrop Paroo, the little boy with the lisp, in the 1962 film version of The Music Man, which starred Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. What I learned after getting to know him was that by the time I had become aware of him as Opie, he had already chalked up numerous television appearances on shows such as The Twilight Zone, Dennis the Menace, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and The Cheyenne Show. He had also played the part of Henry Fonda’s character’s son in the ABC series The Smith Family and Jodar in Land of the Giants.

  Another thing I learned about Ron, because he talked about it all the time, was that while he enjoyed acting, his true passion was in filmmaking. He had wanted to become a television and film director since he was very young, and by the time we were cast together in Garry’s pilot, he was finishing up his senior year at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, with hopes of going on to film school. I knew he had applied to the USC School of Cinema-Television to study filmmaking, and it was while we were shooting that pilot that he received his letter of acceptance. He was ecstatic, as was I, although I kind of felt a tad bit guilty that I was there to share that moment with him rather than his own parents, Rance and Jean.

  I knew Ron was very serious about his future, and while we were doing Happy Days, I realized it was from Rance that he had inherited that seriousness. His father was all business when it came to Ron’s work on Happy Days. He made it a point to remain aloof from the cast and was always just quietly watching everything that was happening. He also made sure in those first few years of Happy Days that as soon as we were wrapped each evening, it was back home to Burbank for Ron. While Ron was of legal age by that time, Rance was not going to hear of his son going partying and getting into any child actor mischief. The Howards were staunch family people with roots in Oklahoma, and both Ron and his younger brother, Clint, who was also a child actor, best known for the role of Mark Wedloe in the television series Gentle Ben, which was based on the Walt Morey novel, were raised in a loving yet strictly disciplined environment.

  I have many times said that two of the greatest blessings of my life are my children, but whenever I have said that, I have always caught myself and thought that I was fortunate to have those blessings doubled by also being a “mother” to Erin and Ron. I have been so proud of what he has accomplished as a filmmaker, and I’m just amazed when I think of the films that, under his creative leadership as a director, have been brought to life, classics such as Splash, Cocoon, Backdraft, Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Beautiful Mind, for which he won two Academy Awards, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Rush, In the Heart of the Sea, Inferno. The list just seems to go on and on.

  “Marion possesses an equilibrium that can balance things in a calm fashion, and she is capable of exuding that calming balance to people who come into her orbit.” —Ron Howard

  David Laurell (DL): Ron, do you recall your first meeting with Marion?

  Ron Howard (RH): It was when I showed up to my first day of work on the pilot for what would ultimately become Happy Days. The pilot we shot had a very different tone than what the show became once it had been picked up. For anyone who has ever seen the pilot, which aired as an episode of Love, American Style, t
hey know it was more to the theme of the film Summer of ’42 than American Graffiti. It was shot in the single-camera format on film, so it had the look of a feature film, and the entire tone of it was softer and very nostalgic.

  DL: When you think back on doing Happy Days, what are the things that come to mind?

  RH: That we really all got along and cared for one another. We did that through the run of the show, and that has been something that still continues to this day. I was lucky in my career to have been involved with two experiences like that. The way the cast cared about one another was the same on The Andy Griffith Show.

  DL: There are, sadly, way too many child actors who achieved various levels of success in the business and then, for myriad reasons, saw their lives take a horrible downturn or worse. How did you manage to avoid the pitfalls that took down so many others?

  RH: I’m asked that quite a bit. A lot of people are curious as to how I navigated the business, grew up in it, and maintained my sanity. My answer is, first and foremost, that I had great parents who never let me or my brother get out of control. Then I was, again, so lucky to be involved with the shows I did, both of which provided me with such a nurturing environment. I know that people in Middle America don’t think of Hollywood as providing a nurturing environment, but it does happen. It’s just like anything else. There are bad players in the entertainment business, just like in every other business. I have been in show business for as far back as I can remember, and I have found that there has always been a lot of really good people in this business.

  That was especially true about Happy Days. Here was a show that took off like a rocket. It exploded and became kind of a national event. We were one of the highest-rated shows ever for a really long time. And yet, in spite of all the commotion and outside noise, all the changes, the excitement, the pressures, the various voices and the business factors—the internal business part of doing a show—everyone associated with Happy Days loved working together and loved what we achieved as a team. There was always an ensemble feel to that show, no matter who had the best part in any weekly episode. Even when Henry just exploded as the Fonz, and that kind of took over for a while, we may have gotten frustrated at times, but we all kept that in perspective and knew it was great for all of us in the bigger picture.

  I think that in her own winning and unobtrusive way, Marion had a lot to do with creating that ensemble feel and the collegial perspective. Of course, our director Jerry Paris was responsible for that and, of course, Garry Marshall also set that tone—Garry in his energetic and sometimes outrageous way. He was probably the greatest boss I’ll ever come across. He was a remarkable leader. But I think Marion did a lot, not just to make Happy Days such a great show, but to help everyone from Garry on down to approach our work, and one another, in a way that would not have happened without her there.

  DL: What was it about Marion that created that environment?

  RH: Oh gosh, David, so many things. Marion possesses an equilibrium that can balance things in a calm fashion, and she is capable of exuding that calming balance to people who come into her orbit. She has great wisdom that she applies with a very humanistic viewpoint. I think, when you take those qualities into account, you can understand what those who know her really well know: that she is a fantastic communicator and a great person to confide in. She was always such a positive force on the set, even when tensions got high. She always maintained this great tone that was positive and upbeat, but also just wiseass enough that it never felt forced or overly sentimental. I don’t think I have ever met a person whose positivity is as organic as Marion’s.

  DL: You say she was a great person to confide in. Did you ever share any of your concerns with her?

  RH: I think everyone did! People went to her with tough questions to get good answers. She was always a great listening board, whether it was a personal problem or some frustration with the show or over some professional career matter. She is one of the best listeners I’ve ever known, and I think the greatest quality she brought to our show was that she knew how to defuse things in an extremely uncontrolling way. She never stepped in and took charge—that would not be her at all.

  But she had this way of going around to individuals, very quietly, like a little hummingbird or something going from flower to flower, and giving each of us a little dose of whatever she felt we needed to calm down and move forward. She never had any sort of an agenda other than being a caring, interested friend. My bet is that, at one time or another, every cast member, heck, maybe everyone involved with the show, went to Marion for advice on one thing or another. She was never judgmental, just endearing and always very encouraging.

  DL: You know that Garry, on occasion, when things got a bit hairy, would seek out Marion to help him calm the waters.

  RH: I didn’t know that he actually did that, but I’m not surprised that Garry would have gone to her. I’m not surprised at all that he would seek her out to get the skinny on a situation or on someone and understand what was going on in their head.

  DL: It seems that, to a very large extent, Marion has had almost the same level of interest and pride in you and your career as she has had with her own children.

  RH: I think that was true of all the younger members of the Happy Days cast. She was definitely that way with me. She had been with me when I opened the envelope and learned I had been accepted to the USC film school, and from then on she was always encouraging and supportive of me. She knew that while being on Happy Days was a great opportunity for me, my real passion existed in directing. So, in 1980, while we were still doing Happy Days, I got my first chance to direct a film. It was this low-budget movie I did for Roger Corman called Grand Theft Auto. Marion was so excited that I had gotten that chance, and I asked her if she would be willing to play a role in it. We paid her a tiny fraction of what she was making for just one episode of Happy Days, but she didn’t care. She was there for me on this crazy film, where we had her running around and falling down in the desert. She gave it her all in that movie, and she was so proud of me.

  DL: Let’s talk about Marion as an actress. What do you think she brought to the role of Mrs. C?

  RH: Well, she has become one of the most iconic television moms in history. I think that was because she made Mrs. C a multidimensional character. Tom Miller, who was our executive producer, just loved Marion. He loved the character, and he always felt that the mom was as important as anyone in the show. Tom had been born and raised in Milwaukee, and so he knew real-life Mrs. Cs and what they were like and all about. I remember when we were first starting out with the show, he told me a lot about her that I hadn’t known. He had seen her do a Tennessee Williams’s play and had been really knocked out by her performance. He considered her to be a great stage actress, and he was thrilled that they had gotten her to play Mrs. C.

  As for what she brought to the role, like I said, she made Mrs. C a multidimensional character. She gave her an impish side that was even a little flirtatious. Because Marion had such great acting chops, she knew how to shade a character and give her depth. She gave Mrs. C a wit that kept her relevant and current and unfettered by false sentimentality. Marion had been trained as a dramatic stage actress, and yet she embraced the sometimes slapstick and broad comedy of Happy Days. She had a tremendous résumé as an actress, but she really didn’t have much experience in comedy. She wasn’t a comedic actress, but she had a sense of humor that, with no problem, had her holding her own with Jerry Paris and Garry Marshall and Henry Winkler, guys who had these great wits and who could be incredibly funny.

  If Marion only had three lines in the episode, she was the same as if she was carrying the entire episode. She was a consistent and consummate professional. I never heard her complain, not a single time. Yet if other people complained, which we all did [laughing], she could be totally nonjudgmental, empathetic and understanding.

  DL: It is rather amazing, when you look beyond her portrayal of Mrs. C, how versatile Marion was as an ac
tress.

  RH: Oh my, yes. Marion is an actress in the purest sense. She loved the process of acting—that was always evident. To her, acting was a means of expression, and also a way of life. I don’t mean it was all she cared about, but having the chance to create a character and perform meant a lot to her. She loved the work of being an actress and was always very ambitious about getting work. After Happy Days, she went on to do some great roles, and that wasn’t because she had an ego-driven desire to prove that she had more to offer than the role she was so well known for. It was because she loved the art and work of acting. Even when we were at the height of our popularity with Happy Days, when we would go on hiatus, she would go and grab a play just to keep stretching herself as an artist.

  DL: You know, perhaps as well as anyone, that Marion was extremely hesitant about writing this book. As someone who has known her so well for so long, what would you hope people will learn about her from reading this book that they otherwise would not have known?

  RH: Well, I’m very glad that she did decide to write this book, because she has a life story that is inspiring to anyone who has ever had a dream. Everyone, of course, knows that she made a fantastic Marion Cunningham and will always be known as one of the greatest television moms, but there is so much more to her than Mrs. C. I would hope that readers would learn about her career both before and after Happy Days and see that she cannot be underestimated as one of the great character actresses of our time—a true artist with an extraordinary range. I hope they will also learn that she was a real team player, on the show and also on the softball field [laughing]. She put on that uniform and got out there with the same gusto and enthusiasm as the guys. I don’t remember her driving in any key runs or making any game-saving diving catches, but just as in our work on the show, she was there for all of us, being a part of our team and always cheering us on. I think it is also important for people to know that she had a difficult private life and had to deal with a lot of challenges as a single mom with one foot in a very demanding professional world. She navigated it all with strength, grace, dignity and wisdom, and when you look back at her life, in its full context—both personally and professionally—you’ve got to be amazed at how she made it all look really easy. But how easy could it have been?