Henry Winkler made his first big splash as Mary Tyler Moore’s uninvited dinner guest

When Rhoda impulsively brings a date, Mary’s party ends up with more guests than chairs. Fortunately, that date turns out to be the future Arthur Fonzarelli, Henry Winkler, in his primetime TV debut. The Yale drama graduate plays Rhoda’s recently fired coworker, Steve Waldman, who she’s brought to the party in an attempt to cheer him up. When Mary points out there’s no room at the table, Rhoda suggests setting him up at the little side table at the far edge of the room. The idea is so outlandish that it gets a hearty laugh from the studio audience—and with no other options, that’s exactly where Steve ends up.

Even in these less than ideal circumstances, Winkler shows great charisma and unflappability. With only a handful of lines, he’s an unexpected standout in the midst of one of the most successful TV casts ever assembled. If Steve was downtrodden or depressed, Winkler’s role wouldn’t have been nearly as effective. Instead, he’s constantly smiling and helpful, opening the door, gathering coats, but always greeting people with a matter-of-fact recitation of his employment status: “I’m Steve Waldman. I’ve just been fired.”

“The Dinner Party” is yet another example of the always relatable, humanizing element that helped make Mary Tyler Moore so successful: Even when we want everything to be perfect, there’s always something that will get in the way. And often that very thing—like Steve Waldman’s appearance—winds up being more memorable than any ideal outcome would have been. The episode’s biggest laugh comes when the party guests “ooh” and “aah” over the veal and Steve rises from his seat to take a peek from across the room. The second-biggest is when he politely asks someone to pass the salt over to his table, and Murray gamely delivers. “He not only held his own,” Betty White said of Winkler’s performance, “you found yourself watching him, and not necessarily the action at hand… we all kind of fell in love with him that week, and the audience fell in love with him that night.”

Unsurprisingly, Moore’s production company quickly brought Winkler onto episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and Rhoda, which no doubt contributed to his casting the following year on Garry Marshall’s Happy Days as the Fonz. As on Mary Tyler Moore, Winkler proved to be a scene-stealing attention magnet there as well: He started out at sixth billing, but soon became the star of the show.

Winkler wasn’t the only guest star to use The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a springboard: Winkler’s fellow 1970s ABC sitcom star John Ritter got a similar boost after portraying the tennis-playing pastor who officiated Ted and Georgette’s wedding. Such was the excellence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show that the series had a “rising tide lifts all boats” mentality; the creators and performers were generous enough to let an exemplary first-time guest star like Winkler stand out, ultimately clinching the success of the episode overall.

Even though Steve Waldman couldn’t have been more different than the role that would eventually make Winkler famous, he had a similar, relatable small-screen appeal; Winkler’s innate charisma could not be denied, sparking the beginning of a legendary TV career. Henry Winkler’s decade-long Happy Days tenure came to a close in 1984. To help break out of the “Fonz” role, the actor returned to guesting on myriad TV series—as disparate as Arrested Development (produced and narrated by his old Happy Days pal Ron Howard), Parks And Recreation, Numbers, and Royal Pains. This led to his most recent gig on Barry, which won him an Emmy 32 years after his first nomination. But his long TV journey had a humble but memorable start with a few lines, an infectious smile, and a simple request for salt.