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Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann (October 18, 1960 – April 22, 2017) was an American actress, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on the television sitcom ''
Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...
'' and its spin-off '' Joanie Loves Chachi''.


Early life

Erin Marie Moran was born on October 18, 1960, in
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...
, near Los Angeles, and raised in nearby North Hollywood. She was the second-youngest of six children born to Sharon and Edward Moran. Her father was a finance manager, and her interest in acting was supported by her mother, who signed her with a talent agent when she was five years old. Two of her brothers are also actors, John Moran and Tony Moran, the latter of whom played the unmasked Michael Myers in the movie ''
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'' (1978). She publicly accused her father of physical and mental abuse in 1992.


Career

Moran's first acting role was at the age of five in a television commercial for First Federal Bank. At the age of seven, she was cast as Jenny Jones in the television series '' Daktari'', during its fourth and final season in 1968. She made her feature-film debut in '' How Sweet It Is!'' (1968) with
Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...
, and made regular appearances on ''The
Don Rickles Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include ''Run Silent, Run Deep (film), Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958), ''Enter Laughing ...
Show'' in 1972, and guest appearances in '' The Courtship of Eddie's Father'', ''
My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seve ...
'', '' Bearcats!'', '' Family Affair'', and ''
The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural mountainous Western Virginia of the Appalachian Mountains / Allegheny Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains chain, during the economic hardships and mass unemp ...
'', in an episode titled "The Song", in 1975. She also appeared in the television series ''
Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...
'' (as Rachel Parker in “Lijah”). In 1974, at the age of 13, Moran was cast to play her best-known role as Joanie Cunningham on the sitcom ''
Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...
'', the younger sister of Richie Cunningham (
Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...
). Moran continued the role in 1982 in the short-lived spin-off series '' Joanie Loves Chachi''. Moran later stated that she had only reluctantly agreed to star in the series because she would have preferred to remain with ''Happy Days''. She won the Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a New Television Series for her role. After ''Joanie Loves Chachi'' cancellation in 1983, she returned to ''Happy Days'' for its final season. In 1983, Moran said in an interview that the ''Happy Days'' producers had pressured her to change from about the age of 15: They "suddenly wanted me to lose weight and become this sexy thing." In the following years, Moran made several other television guest appearances, including ''
The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...
'', ''
Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...
'', and '' Diagnosis: Murder'', and starred opposite Edward Albert in the cult sci-fi horror film '' Galaxy of Terror'' (1981). She became estranged from the ''Happy Days'' cast, with ''
People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' claiming that she called them "evil" in an interview, a statement she would deny on a later talk show. In 2008, she was a contestant on VH1's reality show '' Celebrity Fit Club''. Two years later, she made an appearance in the independent comedy feature '' Not Another B Movie'' (2010).


''Happy Days'' lawsuit

On April 19, 2011, Moran, three of her ''Happy Days'' co-stars —
Don Most Don Most (born August 8, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ralph Malph on the television series ''Happy Days''. Early life Most was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. He lived in Flatbush, Br ...
, Anson Williams, and Marion Ross — and the estate of
Tom Bosley Thomas Edward Bosley (October 1, 1927 – October 19, 2010) was an American actor, television personality and entertainer. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham (Happy Days character), Howard Cunningham on the American Broadcasti ...
, who died in 2010, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show. The suit claimed that cast members had not been paid merchandising revenues owed under their contracts. Revenues included those from show-related items such as comic books, T-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, games, lunch boxes, dolls, toy cars, magnets, greeting cards, and DVDs with cast members' likenesses on the box covers. Their contracts entitled the actors to be paid 5% of the net proceeds of merchandising if a single actor's likeness was used, and half that amount if the cast members were pictured in a group. CBS stated it owed the actors between $8,500 and $9,000 each, most of it from slot-machine revenues, but the group stated they were owed millions. The lawsuit was initiated after Ross was informed by a friend playing slots at a casino of a ''Happy Days'' machine on which players won the jackpot when five Marion Rosses were rolled. In October 2011, a judge rejected the group's claim of fraud, thereby eliminating the possibility of recouping millions of dollars in damages. On June 5, 2012, a judge denied a motion to dismiss filed by CBS, which meant the case would go to trial on July 17 if not settled by then. In July 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS; each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise from CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts.


Personal life and death

In 1987, Moran married Rocky Ferguson. They divorced in 1993. Later that year, she married Steven Fleischmann. After ''Happy Days'' and ''Joanie Loves Chachi'' were canceled, Moran moved from Los Angeles to the California mountains. She said in 1988 that she suffered from depression and was unable to secure acting roles. Moran confirmed news reports that her California home was foreclosed on in 2010, following media claims that she had been served eviction papers and moved into her mother-in-law's trailer home in Indiana. On April 22, 2017, authorities in Corydon, Indiana, were alerted about an unresponsive female, later identified as Moran. She later was pronounced dead at the age of 56. An autopsy report from the Harrison County coroner indicated the cause of death to be complications of stage-four throat cancer ( squamous-cell carcinoma). Toxicology testing showed that no illegal narcotics were involved in her death, and no illegal substances were found in Moran's home. Moran's husband, in an open letter released through her co-star Scott Baio, confirmed that she had first experienced symptoms of throat cancer around Thanksgiving 2016 and deteriorated rapidly from that point, and that the facilities that had unsuccessfully attempted to treat her cancer had not made anyone aware of how extensively the cancer had metastasized.


Filmography


Film


Television


Soundtrack


Film


Television


Awards and nominations


References


Further reading


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Erin 1960 births 2017 deaths Actresses from Burbank, California American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Deaths from throat cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Indiana Participants in American reality television series 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses North Hollywood High School alumni