The beloved series started as a single-camera show with a laugh track before adopting the multicam format with a live studio audience.

Ron Howard was ‘shaking’ in a closet before filming Happy Days in front of live audience for the first time, costars say

The beloved series started as a single-camera show with a laugh track before adopting the multicam format with a live studio audience.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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July 13, 2026 2:00 p.m. ET

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Ron Howard on ‘Happy Days’ in 1975. Credit:

- Ron Howard hid in the wardrobe closet on the *Happy Days* set before the show’s first live taping.

- Don Most and Anson Williams looked back on the classic sitcom during a panel at Fanboy Expo in Tennessee.

- *Happy Days* ran from 1974 to 1984, sparking numerous spinoffs and launching several careers.

It’s safe to say that Ron Howard experienced some stage fright before his first *Happy Days* taping in front of a live audience.

Castmates Don Most and Anson Williams reminisced about the iconic television show and Howard’s bundle of nerves during a *Happy Days* reunion panel in Tennessee on Saturday.

“Donnie, Henry [Winkler], and I, we had done theater and we were excited about this, because every Friday was like opening night, you know, a little nervous, live audience,” Williams said at Fanboy Expo Knoxville. “Ron Howard, on the other hand, had never had never done a stage show.”

Don Most, Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, and Anson Williams in Los Angeles in 2019.

Rachel Luna/Getty

Most added that the night of the show, they “couldn’t find Ron anywhere” — until they discovered him in a closet, ultimately fretting over nothing.

“There’s a wardrobe room, and there’s Ron in the corner, shaking, back turned to me,” Williams continued. “And I go, ‘Ron!’ And he just walks out. And kills that night! He found out he’s really good at the theater.”

Williams also mentioned the collaborative bonds the actors had on set and how they encouraged each other throughout the show’s production. “The other thing that made it great, we rehearsed and could improve the show,” he said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Here’s the page, just shoot the scene.’ We can improve it. And I think that’s another reason we stayed on a long time, because we were all able to collaborate.”

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*Happy Days* ran from 1974 to 1984. It won an Emmy throughout its tenure as well as three Golden Globes (one for Howard, two for Winkler).

Winkler also recently recalled Howard’s reaction to performing in front of a live audience. He told Ted Danson on the *Where Everybody Knows Your Name* podcast that Howard was nervous about the show switching from a single-camera format with a laugh track to a studio audience and a multicamera setup in an effort to boost ratings.

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“Ron Howard never [had] worked in front of the live audience,” Winkler said. “[He was] almost vomiting.” Once onstage, however, Howard steeled himself.

“When you see him, you would never know,” the *Barry** *actor added. “He could do anything, this man.”

Henry Winkler, Garry Marshall, Jim Knaub, and Ron Howard on ‘Happy Days’ in 1979.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Winkler, Howard, Most, and Williams reunited last year at Steel City Con in Pittsburgh. Winkler told the crowed that he was “emotional” because “this is the first time that we have appeared this way in 50 years.”

But, he added, “it feels like 50 minutes because we’re having so much fun hanging, and this was sort of our great excuse to come together, so thank you.”

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Comedy”