Harris Kal was in a hotel on July 19 when he received word that famed director and producer Garry Marshall had died at the age of 81.
Kal appeared for four seasons on the Marshall-created “Happy Days” as Bobby, a goofball student in Fonzie’s auto mechanics class.
“It hits your heart,” Kal said. “I pictured my first day on the set. I was at that point not even a recurring character. I stayed about eight-feet from the bathroom because I was so nervous. And Garry came up to me, put his arm around my shoulder, and said (affecting Marshall’s distinctive Brooklyn accent), ‘You’re gonna do fine. We really like you.’ That was Garry.”
Kal, now a Vernon Hills resident, is president of Highland Park-based Harris Kal Productions, which produces and provides entertainment for private and corporate parties and events.
Marshall, a writer, director and actor, was behind several of the most beloved television shows and movies of the past 50 years, including, “The Odd Couple,” Laverne & Shirley” and “Mork & Mindy.” He also directed “Pretty Woman,” “Beaches” and “The Princess Diaries,” among others.
In its fourth season, “Happy Days” was TV’s top-rated series. It was in the top three over the next two years and produced several spin-offs.
In 1979, Kal was playing baseball in Highland Park, taking acting classes and working as a waiter at the Fulton Street Fish Market when he went on the first audition that would eventually lead to a spot in the cast of “Happy Days.”
“They were looking for fresh Chicago talent,” he said.
He joined the cast in 1980. Kal said he was welcomed immediately into the “Happy Days” family and credits Marshall for the set’s inclusive and mentoring atmosphere.
“He was just a nice man,” he said. “Whether you were Henry Winkler, or a guest star on the show or the guy at craft services who fed us lunch, he treated everybody with respect. To know him was to love him. I never saw him in a bad mood or get upset with anybody.”
Marshall, he said, also encouraged creative input from the actors. Kal recalled that in his third season with the show they were filming a beach scene when his character was to be hit in the head by a Frisbee. When the perpetrator, an adorable girl, asked if her Frisbee had hurt him, Kal ad-libbed a joke in his “very poor” John Wayne impression. Marshall, standing nearby, said, “That’s why we like you.”
In addition to his acting, Kal had something else going for him that endeared him to Marshall; he was an athlete. Within a week of his first episode, he was recruited to join the “Happy Days” softball team. Those games took Kal all over the country and the world. Marshall also invited Kal to play in Sunday morning basketball games at his house.
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More than three decades later, Kal is hazy on the celebrities whom he played alongside, but one, he recalled, was Hector Elizondo, who appeared in all 18 of Marshall’s films.
“Garry always called me ‘The Ballplayer,'” Kal recalled with a laugh.
When “Happy Days” ended its 11-season run, Kal returned to Chicago. After a stint as director of special events and promotions at the Multiplex in Deerfield, Kal founded his own company, which has been in operation for more than 20 years.
Kal reunited with Marshall two years later. The director filmed “Nothing in Common,” a 1986 dramatic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason in Chicago. Marshall offered Kal a tailor-made role in the film. He played a shortstop on a softball team that played against Hanks’ team. The scene was filmed, but cut from the film.
“But if you look in the end credits,” Kal said with a smile, “you’ll see my name. Garry left it in, being the nice guy he was. I still get the residuals.”
But Marshall’s influence on Kal has been an even more rewarding residual.
“He instilled a sense of goodness, pride and professionalism,” Kal said. “(He set the example) to come in on time and do the best you could do.”
Donald Liebenson is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.