In 1978, Garry Marshall wrote an episode of Happy Days to appeal to his son’s love of Star Wars. But when the original actor they cast decided he didn’t want to play an alien on TV, they were left with a casting quandary. One agent kept insisting that they read a client of his with no credits. He performs on street corners and passes around a hat, Marshall recalls his sister Ronnie, the show’s Casting Director, telling him. And it’s a pretty full hat!
Marshall finally acquiesced. He came into his office the next day to find a peculiar man sitting on his head in a chair outside. The man promptly flipped right side up and pretended to drink water through his extended finger stuck in a glass. They had their Mork.
At the live taping, Robin Williams got the show’s first ever standing ovation from the studio audience.