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Erin Moran, who played Joanie on Happy Days, dead at Age 56

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  • Apr 26th, 2017 11:49 am
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Erin Moran, who played Joanie on Happy Days, dead at Age 56

Erin Moran, who played Joanie on Happy Days, died at age 56 from cancer. Sadly her post Happy Day life was not "happy" as she suffered from homelessness, depression, and other problems..

R.I.P.

From NY Times:
Erin Moran, the former child actor who played the sweet but mischievous Joanie on the television series “Happy Days” and “Joanie Loves Chachi,” has died. She was 56.

The Harrison County Sheriff’s Department in southern Indiana confirmed her death. Ms. Moran was found unresponsive Saturday afternoon and died in her home in New Salisbury, Ind., the authorities said.

An autopsy showed that she most likely died from complications of cancer, the sheriff’s department said in a statement on Monday.

Ms. Moran, who started acting at 5, got her first taste of television in a commercial for First Federal Bank. She went on to play minor characters on television and in film in the late 1960s and early ’70s. At 12, she landed her biggest role: Joanie, the freckle-faced troublemaker and sister of Richie Cunningham, the all-American teenager played by Ron Howard.


Over the 11-season run of “Happy Days,” a Garry Marshall creation that would become one of the most popular sitcoms in television history, Joanie was transformed from a young teenager who complained about being sent to her room to a major character on the show. In later seasons, Joanie’s love interest with the aspiring musician Chachi Arcola, played by Scott Baio, became a major story line.

In 1982, the two characters were given their own show, “Joanie Loves Chachi,” a widely panned comedy that followed their romantic adventures and musical pursuits in Chicago. While “Happy Days” was a No. 1 hit, the spinoff — one of several spawned by “Happy Days” — lasted only 17 episodes.

The show’s failure ushered in a swift end to Ms. Moran’s acting career and her opportunities in Hollywood. She was only 22 when the show ended, but despite minor appearances on other shows, she never held another leading role.

After the shows were over, Ms. Moran was candid about the downsides of growing up on screen under the Hollywood spotlight. She said that shortly before her 15th birthday, producers on “Happy Days” began to pressure her to watch what she ate and to wear more revealing outfits. “They suddenly wanted me to lose weight and become this sexy thing,” she said in an interview in 1983.

In the mid-1980s, Ms. Moran swore off Hollywood and left Los Angeles for a home in the California mountains. She told The Toronto Star in 1988 that she had suffered from depression after the two television series ended and acting offers dried up.

“I wanted time off to reassess my life and career,” she said. “I had to ask myself, ‘Do I really want to keep doing this, or do I want to sit back and take it easy for five years, 10 years?’ ”

Erin Marie Moran was born on Oct. 18, 1960, in Burbank, Calif., and raised in North Hollywood with five siblings. She was the second-youngest child of Sharon and Edward Moran. Her father was a finance manager. Her mother encouraged her acting career and signed her up with an agent at 5.

Before playing Joanie, Ms. Moran played an orphan on “Daktari,” a late-’60s drama about a veterinarian protecting wildlife in East Africa, and a daughter on the sitcom “The Don Rickles Show.” She also appeared in “Family Affair,” “Gunsmoke,” “My Three Sons” and “The F.B.I,” among other shows.


Ms. Moran, who started acting at 5, got her first taste of television in a commercial for First Federal Bank. She went on to play minor characters on television and in film in the late 1960s and early ’70s. At 12, she landed her biggest role: Joanie, the freckle-faced troublemaker and sister of Richie Cunningham, the all-American teenager played by Ron Howard.
Have a nice day!


5 replies
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May 22, 2016
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Classy Scott Baio blaming drugs and then saying "if" to every reply. Charles was not in charge.
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Jul 23, 2007
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sprung wrote: Chachi (Scott Baio) doing furious backpedaling on his victim blaming earlier
Some choice Baio quotes from the recent past

Q:How about Erin Moran? When’s the last time you’ve seen her?
A: A long time ago, thank God. She’s got her own problems that I don’t want to deal with.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/s ... ech-917765

"I feel bad, but sometimes you make your bed and you have to sleep in it. That is unfortunate. I have extended myself a couple of times and at a certain point you have to say, 'You know what? I have got my own life to live. I am not going to worry about this."

http://www.today.com/popculture/scott-b ... run-926441

"I don't know what her situation is. I have a job to do, I have a wife and child to take care of. So I don't pay attention to things that I don't know anything about. I've got my own situation to deal with."

http://thefix.nine.com.au/2014/12/09/05 ... oesnt-care

So his initial non-judgemental tweet really was the outlier
To be fair how far would we willing to go for a former co-worker from decades ago.
Still I'd hope we'd be a fraction less callous or exploitative of someone we gave up on long ago.
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Not that I agree with Scotty's way of responding and handling the situation...I can understand his answers to questions with a specific context in mind (and I wouldn't have answered thank god its her problem not mine)...

I have a close female relative (same age) that I grew up with since we were little kids....same middle class upbringing....

Once adolescence hit, this person underway mental changes that made me not recognize who this person was and she went down the path of self destruction with drink....basically withdrawn from close family, always fighting with her parents and binge drinking like no tomorrow...

Unfortunately turns out she suffered/suffers from depression....can't hold down a steady job and made some really odd choices in life..people she had dated, getting fired from numerous jobs due to caught drinking on the job...one was a really good job as a teacher, the other a relative helped secure which ended up costing the relative their job too...

As family, we are there for support and to help her....but at times we struggled to know how to help and I think ultimately it is really the person themselves that wants to change/cope with what they are dealing with.

This person has gone to CAMH, seen professional help, took meds, therapy and at times nothing seemed to help...

Fast forward to today, person is doing better mentally...still doesn't hold a steady job...bad credit as she was delinquent on many CCs....there are still ups and downs and it is a constant journey..but at least they do have some semblance of regularity in their life....this person moved out of their parent's house and lives in a family owned condo (not sure how the rent situation is worked out, I don't ask).

Along the way, this person has burnt many bridges of friendships...friends who tried to help but eventually ended up feeling taking advantage of (either money wise or time wise) and now stay away.

As family, we are still here (that's what family is) and we try to be there for this person as much as we can....that's all we can do.

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