Dave R. wrote...
This is an alternative, but isn't as good because it doesn't count
numbers
unless they are formatted as text (and reentered) or entered as text.

=COUNTIF(A1:A6,"*")
....

There are times 2 functions make more sense than one.

=COUNTIF(range,"*")+COUNT(range)
Both function calls skip cells evaluating as error or boolean values.