Actor Scott Baio rose to fame thanks to his role as the character Chachi Arcola on the widely popular sitcom “Happy Days” during the 1970s.
But, did you know there was a time where he almost got kicked off of the show? Well, he did. According to what he shared during a 2014 interview with the AVClub.com, here’s what happened.
Why he almost got fired from playing Chachi on “Happy Days” came down to a very simple factor, according to the actor. That factor? He wasn’t doing what the powers that be behind the show expected him to do. It’s as simple as that.
“And I was very close to getting fired from that show because I wasn’t doing my job. I thought the screaming audience was enough, and it wasn’t,” Baio said in 2014. “But because I thought it was, I stopped taking my job seriously. I stopped rehearsing, I stopped performing to my ability, and they were thinking of getting rid of me.”
The actor also said it was Garry Marshall who stepped up to save his job on “Happy Days.” Marshall urged others to have patience with the young Baio.
“But Garry said, ‘No, let him get through this,'” Baio recalled. “And I did.”
In Addition to ‘Happy Days’ Creator Garry Marshall Another Man Helped Scott Baio Keep His Job on the Show
Another individual also played a role in keeping Scott Baio on “Happy Days.” That person was his father. So, we all have Marshall and Baio’s father to thank for the many great Chaci moments on the show.
“But I only (made it) because of him and my old man,” Baio also said. “My old man verbally smacked me around. And deservedly so!”
While talking about almost getting fired from “Happy Days,” Baio talked about how thankful he felt to have had a successful career in Hollywood.
“Because to have any success in this business is… It’s a privilege. It’s amazing. But it was different then than it is now. There wasn’t YouTube, where you can urinate in the street and you’re famous all of a sudden, for some reason, even though you didn’t do anything to warrant it,” Baio also said to the AVClub.com. “I don’t understand that. But that’s the way it is. But to be on ‘Happy Days,’ where 40 million people a week were watching you and the country only had about 200 million people in it at the time… that’s a lot. So it taught me everything. Everything. It was a learning experience. People were amazing. There were little squabbles here and there, but that’s about it. I mean, God, it was my school.”
Scott Baio also said that he knows that it was “Happy Days” creator Garry Marshall who set him on the path to stardom and success.
“Garry Marshall created me, basically, and I owe everything to him,” he added.
