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COVER STORY Sidebar: Plumb happy to leave `Brady Bunch' behind
Anson Williams admits to knowing a mediocre actor when he sees one. All he has to do is look at the old "Happy Days" episodes and see his work as Richie's nitwit sidekick, Potsie.
"I was a so-so actor," Williams admits. "The truth is the truth."
The 44-year-old former actor can afford to be self-deprecating now, especially since he has found a more rewarding way to make a living in Hollywood - as a director. Williams has long realized that there's more of need for leaders on the set than singing actors who play parts like Potsie.
"It's not an accident that it happened," Williams said of his latest career. "We attribute that to (`Happy Days' creator) Garry Marshall. He sat us down right at the beginning to say `anything creative we need is ours.' He told us to learn our craft because we might want to direct someday."
Williams' touch can be seen soon in ABC's Saturday morning lineup, where he directed seven of 13 episodes of the new live-action series "Fudge." Debuting locally at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 14, "Fudge" is based on Judy Blume's popular stories "Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing" and "Superfudge," and introduces Luke Tarsitano, 4, of Venice as Fudge and Jake Richardson, 9, of Santa Clarita, as his older brother, Peter. Eve Plumb (Jan on "The Brady Bunch") plays the boys' mother.
Williams calls the series a "quirky `Wonder Years.' " The stories are told through Peter's eyes, but...