Erin Moran rose to stardom when she was just 13 after landing the role of Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days in 1974. However, behind-the-scenes, Erin was feeling Hollywood pressure: in a 1983 interview, Erin claimed that by the time she had turned 15, producers “suddenly wanted me to lose weight and become this sexy thing.”
In 1982, Erin began starring in the spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi and later claimed that she would have preferred to stay as a cast member of Happy Days. “I liked working with the people. But I didn’t even want to do it,” she said. “I wanted to stay on Happy Days.”
The show was canceled after 17 episodes, and Erin’s career never recovered; she struggled financially, and in 2011, she joined several co-stars in a $10 million lawsuit against CBS for unpaid royalties. In 2012, they were each awarded $65,000 after settling out of court.
That same year, it emerged that Erin had been served eviction papers and her California home had been foreclosed on in 2010. She and her husband, Steve Fleischmann, were effectively homeless before they moved into a trailer park in Indiana with his ailing mother.
In late 2016, Erin was diagnosed with stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma (throat cancer), a diagnosis she didn’t reveal publicly. She died on April 22, 2017, at age 56, with police in Harrison County, Indiana, confirming “no illegal narcotics were involved in her death.”
The clarification came after speculation around her cause of death was amplified by comments made by her former co-star Scott Baio, who said: “For me, you do drugs or drink, you’re going to die. I’m sorry if that’s cold, but God gave you a brain, gave you the will to live and thrive, and you gotta take care of yourself.” An autopsy confirmed she died of natural complications from advanced cancer.
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