"Happy Days" was a popular ABC sitcom set in a 1950s suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Sadly, with such a large cast, and considering the show’s so far in the rearview, several
stars have died in the years since.
Tom Bosley will forever be remembered as hardware store owner and doting dad Howard Cunningham
on "Happy Days." The actor played the Cunningham patriarch, father to Richie and Joanie, and
giver of fatherly advice to Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli for the entire 11-season run of
the series. Bosley never minded being associated with the sitcom character, despite boasting
a long stage and screen career that scored him an Emmy nod and a Tony Award.
"Good. You tell her just exactly what your mother told you. If she kisses a boy, she'll
go blind."
Bosley died at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California, on October 19, 2010 at age 83
while fighting lung cancer. His co-star Marion Ross said her TV husband was an actor so quick-witted
that he could improvise a better line or scene at "the drop of a hat," according to a Los
Angeles Times obituary for the actor. Bosley once said he did not mind being known to the
public as Mr. C, noting that it was a "compliment" that people remembered the character so fondly.
Erin Moran enjoyed fame as a child actor in the 1960s and '70s. Before scoring her life-changing
role as the Cunningham daughter Joanie on "Happy Days," Moran logged roles on "Gunsmoke,"
"The F.B.I.," "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," "My Three Sons," "Family Affair," and "The
Don Rickles Show," according to IMDB. After joining "Happy Days" in 1974, Moran teamed
up with co-star Scott Baio to headline the short-lived spinoff "Joanie Loves Chachi."
She continued to act sporadically through the 1980s and '90s, but nothing trumped her
fame as Joanie "Shortcake" Cunningham on "Happy Days."
Sadly, Moran was found dead on April 22, 2017 in Harrison County, Indiana after a 911 call
about "an unresponsive female" was placed, according to ABC News. She was 56 years old.
Moran's husband later announced that she died from cancer, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Four months before her death, the actor learned she had carcinoma of the throat, and she underwent
chemotherapy and radiation, but the illness quickly progressed and spread to her spleen.
Pat Morita enjoyed a successful TV and film career. After a recurring role on "Sanford
and Son," he played malt shop owner Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on "Happy Days" from 1975
to 1983. In the 1980s, Morita left "Happy Days" to star in his own TV series, the ABC
comedy "Mr. T and Tina." The show was short-lived, but Morita made history as the first Japanese
American actor to lead a TV series, as Entertainment Weekly later recalled.
Morita later followed his "Happy Days" heyday with a lead role in the 1984 movie "The Karate
Kid," and three of its sequels, playing Mr. Miyagi, the wise mentor to Ralph Macchio's
Daniel LaRusso. The role would make him a pop culture icon even beyond the fame of "Happy
Days."
Morita worked steadily as an actor until his death. He died on November 24, 2005 in a Las
Vegas hospital of kidney failure, Variety reported. Morita's wife Evelyn released a
statement to announce his death, and to remember a man who'd, quote "dedicated his entire life"
to the craft of acting. His "Happy Days" co-star Ron Howard later praised Morita, telling Entertainment
Weekly that the actor always had a, quote, "positive spirit," and a sense of humanity.
Al Molinaro was a television legend known for playing Officer Murray Greshler on the
1970s comedy "The Odd Couple." He was also a TV commercial regular who pitched everything
from frozen dinners to the skin cream Cortaid.
In what would be his longest-running role, he played Al DelVecchio, the second Arnold's
Drive-In owner, on "Happy Days." Molinaro began his run on "Happy Days" as a regular
in 1976 and played the role until the series' end, and then appeared on the "Joanie Loves
Chachi" spinoff as the same character. He also donned his "Happy Days" apron one more
time to play Al DelVecchio in the intro to the 1994 Weezer music video, "Buddy Holly."
Molinaro died in a California hospital on October 30, 2015, according to TMZ. He was
96 at the time of his death. The late actor's son told the outlet that Molinaro suffered
from severe gallstones, but elected not to have surgery due to his age.
Before she was a star on "Laverne & Shirley," Penny Marshall made her debut as her wise-cracking
character, Laverne DeFazio, on "Happy Days." The actor appeared in five episodes of the
ABC sitcom, playing the sassy Shotz brewery worker, from 1975 to 1979. The character was
popular enough to spawn the long-running "Laverne & Shirley" spinoff with co-star Cindy Williams.
Marshall also played Laverne in the "Happy Days" spinoffs "Mork & Mindy" and "Blansky's
Beauties," and later voiced the character in the ABC Saturday morning cartoon series
"Laverne & Shirley in the Army." After playing Laverne, she became a successful director,
making hits including "Big" and "A League of Their Own" behind the camera.
Marshall passed away in her Hollywood Hills home on December 17, 2018 due to complications
from diabetes, her publicist told The Hollywood Reporter. Marshall, who was 75 when she died,
had been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer nearly a decade before her passing.
In one of the final seasons of "Happy Days," Henry Winkler's Fonzie dated single mom Ashley
Pfister, played by Linda Purl. Child actor Heather O'Rourke played Ashley's daughter
Heather for 12 episodes on the show from 1982 to 1983. Fans would later recognize the blonde
child star for her role as Carol Anne Freeling in the "Poltergeist" horror movie franchise.
O'Rourke died suddenly at age 12, on February 1, 1988, at the Children's Hospital and Health
Center in San Diego, shortly after she finished filming "Poltergeist III." The young actor's
cause of death was an acute bowel obstruction, complicated by septic shock, according to
an obituary in The New York Times. Doctors later told The Associated Press that O'Rourke's
sudden death was, quote, ″distinctly unusual″ because she lacked prior symptoms of the bowel
defect that caused her death. "Happy Days" stars Winkler and Purl attended O'Rourke's
private funeral on February 5, 1988.
Before he landed his own sitcom, comedian Robin Williams once landed in Milwaukee — in
a spaceship. The actor's "alien" character Mork was first introduced on the 1978 "Happy
Days" episode "My Favorite Orkan". The character returned for a second episode in 1979 and
was popular enough for Williams to score a spinoff with Pam Dawber.
"Sliding lips sounds unappealing."
"Don't knock it 'til you tried it."
The "Mork & Mindy" pilot episode featured Williams and Dawber's characters meeting,
and later falling in love, after the Orkan alien was sent to Earth by his superior, Orson.
They even eventually had a son. Williams played Mork on the "Mork & Mindy" spinoff from 1978
to 1982, then went on to a successful movie career in films such as "Good Morning, Vietnam,"
"Dead Poets Society," and his Oscar-winning performance in "Good Will Hunting." His final
TV series was the short-lived comedy "The Crazy Ones" in 2014.
Fans were heartbroken when Williams took his own life on August 11, 2014. The beloved actor,
who was 63 at the time, suffered from severe depression and had been diagnosed with Parkinson's
disease shortly before his tragic death, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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