Moran was just 14 when she signed on to play Joanie, the feisty little sister of Ron Howard’s character Richie Cunningham on Happy Days.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFACTRESSES ERIN MORAN (left) and Marion Ross from ‘Happy Days’ arrive at an event in Los Angeles.(photo credit: FRED PROUSER/REUTERS)
Erin Moran, the actress who played Joanie Cunningham on the 1970s hit TV series Happy Days, has died at the age of 56. She was found dead on Saturday afternoon after Indiana police responded to an “unresponsive female” report. The cause of death is not yet known.According to Variety, the California-born actress had fallen on hard times in recent years.She was reportedly kicked out of her trailer park home in Indiana because of her hard-partying ways.Moran was just 14 when she signed on to play Joanie, the feisty little sister of Ron Howard’s character Richie Cunningham on Happy Days.She shot to fame in the role, which started in 1974 and ran for almost a decade.She continued the role in 1982 in the shortlived spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi, alongside Scott Baio, until its cancellation the following year.After Joanie Loves Chachi, Moran’s career essentially stalled, with the exception of several television guest spots, and an appearance in the 2007 independent comedy feature Not Another B Movie.In 2008, she was a contestant on VH1’s reality show Celebrity Fit Club.Henry Winkler – who played The Fonz in Happy Days – tweeted “Oh Erin... now you will finally have the peace you wanted so badly here on earth... Rest In It serenely now... too soon.”Howard also posted a message on social media, reading: “Such sad, sad news. RIP Erin. I’ll always choose to remember you on our show making scenes better, getting laughs and lighting up TV screens.”