Tragic Details About The Cast Of Happy Days

Running from 1974 to 1984, "Happy Days" was the most popular sitcom during its heyday, entertaining families young and old with the adventures of the Cunninghams, an ordinary nuclear family in an ordinary American town in the 1950s. With a strong ensemble cast, it was a ratings monster for 11 seasons and remains one of the most rewatchable sitcoms ever made, while nearly every actor in the series can call their "Happy Days" character the most iconic of their respective careers. But no matter how happy-go-lucky their characters might have been, from Marion Cunningham to Potsie and Chachi — the actors themselves often faced tragedy at some point in their lives.

Whether it was addiction or disease, abuse or allegations against them, everyone from Ron Howard to Tom Bosley has been faced with a difficult ordeal in their life. Thankfully, most of them came out the other side of it stronger for it, able to find a positive out of something terrible — just like their characters on "Happy Days." And as much as you think you might know about Henry Winkler and Marion Ross, there's probably more you don't — including these tragic details.

"Happy Days" may have had one of the finest ensemble casts ever in the history of sitcoms, but it was a side character who became the show's breakout star: Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzerelli, better known simply as The Fonz. The coolest cucumber you could ever meet, Fonzie was the quintessential ladies' man of the 1970s, and everything seemed to come easy for him. But in real life, Winkler himself was far from the character he played, and he'd had to overcome many obstacles to find success — including a rough childhood that left a lasting impact.

Though Winkler hasn't spoken much about the details of his early years, he has acknowledged it was a troubled time in his life. Early in his youth, Winkler had trouble in school, mostly due to learning difficulties caused by what we now know as dyslexia. Unfortunately, nobody in Winkler's life understood his learning differences, least of all his parents, who often dealt with him harshly. "They would punish me all the time for being lazy," Winkler said in an interview with PBS in 2023. "I couldn't watch TV, they went out. And I had to turn off the television. I had to judge it and turn it off in time. Because when those people came home, they put their hand on top of the TV. And if it was warm, I was grounded in another six weeks."

Thankfully, Winkler's childhood helped motivate him when he became a parent himself. When he had his own child having trouble in school, Winkler sought help, ultimately learning that his son had dyslexia — leading to his own diagnosis late in life.

"Happy Days" starred Ron Howard – a famous child actor who later found success in another field as director of cinematic classics like "Willow" and "Apollo 13." He played Richie Cunningham, a wholesome young man who was always grateful for the support of his mother, Marion Cunningham. Off the set, however, Howard and his real-life mother weren't quite as peachy as Richie and Marion, and it was only after his mother's passing that Ron Howard expressed regret for not showing her more love.

"I have so few regrets in my life, and to feel that in some way you didn't communicate to your mother everything she meant, it does hit me," he said in a chat with "In Depth with Graham Besinger." "It hits me hard." Howard and his mother didn't have a bad relationship, exactly, but later in life he began to appreciate all that she'd done to support his father's career in Hollywood, and then later for him. He admitted that it was his mother's support that changed the course of their entire lives, and that without it, he might never have had a career as an actor or director.

"It wasn't until later as I started to have kids myself and I began to see her deal with even more serious illness and I could see what a warrior she was," Ron told Besinger. "I misunderstood her, I underestimated her. And I think I told her, but not enough, and then she was gone."

Anson Williams, like his "Happy Days" co-star Ron Howard, has bigger of a career as a TV director than as a TV actor, helming episodes of "Beverly Hills 90210," "Star Trek: Voyager," and "7th Heaven" in the '90s, and "Lizzie Maguire" and "The Secret Life of an American Teenager" in the 2000s. But back in the 1970s he was downright iconic as Potsie on "Happy Days." In 2016, however, days weren't so happy for the then-67-year-old Williams when he was diagnosed with Stage 2 colon cancer. 

The disease wasn't a fatal diagnosis, and Williams was fortunate that early detection saved his life. But the experience wasn't easy for him, though it did lead to a positive outlook on life. "It was the wake-up call I needed," the actor told Closer Weekly a year after the diagnosis. "I needed to reprioritize my life. It actually became beneficial for me in that I became so much stronger about what I believe in."

With a large family that includes his wife of 30 years, Jackie Williams, and five children and a pair of grandkids, the cancer diagnosis crystallized what was really most important to him. "I learned to have a deeper appreciation for my family ... I always knew I loved them and they were important, but now it's at a whole new level." It should come as no surprise, then, to learn that Williams largely left Hollywood behind around the same time — even briefly running for public office in 2022.

There are plenty of iconic characters and moments in "Happy Days" but one of them is more infamous than famous — the moment when the show coined the term "jumping the shark." That moment saw Henry Winkler's Fonzie literally jumping over a shark on waterskis, and by the 1990s, it was known as the moment that "Happy Days" began to decline in quality. Rightly or wrongly, actor Ted McGinley often got the blame because that moment roughly coincided with when he joined the series later in its run.

Worse yet, McGinley began getting the reputation as a so-called 'sitcom killer' because, after "Happy Days," he had a penchant for replacing longtime cast members on successful sitcoms that then saw a decline. His apparent negative impact on further shows like "The Love Boat" and "Married... With Children" seemed to solidify this reputation, which gained steam in the 1990s thanks to Jon Hein, who ran a website called "Jump the Shark." 

Surprisingly, however, McGinley himself believes the opposite: that his own presence on a long-running show may actually have kept those shows alive. "After I came onto 'Happy Days' it went four and a half more seasons," McGinley said in an interview with NBC News. "Nowadays, if you could get two shows on the air, you've won." And the good news is, McGinley is still getting work, more recently co-starring in the Apple TV+ series "Shrinking" alongside Jason Segel and Harrison Ford and leading the Amazon Prime sitcom "The Baxters."

"Happy Days" mostly followed the day-to-day adventures of a group of teens in the 1950s. While much of that action centered on Richie Cunningham and his friends, there was also Richie's sister Joanie, played by Erin Moran. One of the youngest stars of "Happy Days," Moran was also sadly one of the first to lose their lives, passing away in 2017 at the age of 56 from cancer. But the real tragedy of Erin Moran is how the last years of her life played out, as the one-time star of one of TV's biggest sitcoms ever made was near penniless and living on the streets.

The Daily Mail detailed Moran's struggles after her passing, who they learned had spent her final years homeless. She'd blown through a reported $65,000 in settlement money she'd received from the sale of a home in 2010 and was later kicked out of a trailer home owned by her mother-in-law after what the outlet described as a "drunken brawl."  

What's worse, however, is that Moran wasn't without friends willing to help, including her former "Happy Days" family: Henry Winkler reportedly tried to get her a role on Ron Howard's avant-garde comedy "Arrested Development" after he'd discovered the dire situation she was in. She'd even rejected help from former child star Paul Peterson, who had founded a support group in 1990 for struggling former child stars, A Minor Consideration. Ultimately, her struggles led to a late cancer diagnosis, by which time the disease was deemed terminal. She passed away on April 22, 2017.

"Happy Days" had its ups and downs, with several cast members coming and going throughout its 11-season run. One of the first major cast shakeups was in Season 5, with the addition of teen actor Scott Baio, playing Fonzie's wide-eyed cousin who arrives with a crush on Joanie (Erin Moran). The pair even got their own short-lived spin-off series you probably forgot about, "Joanie Loves Chachi," but it was on the sitcom "Charles in Charge" that Baio found real stardom. In the years since, however, his career has stalled, and decades after his success on TV, several child actors from the cast of "Charles in Charge" came forward to accuse the actor of sexual abuse during his time on the series.

In 2017, co-star and former child actor Nicole Eggert filed a report with police alleging that Baio had sexually abused her when she was still underage. As reported by ABC News, Eggert had previously tweeted that Baio began his abuse when she was 14 that it was a repeated pattern of behavior that persisted for years. Those claims were later corroborated by another former child actor, co-star Alexander Polinsky — who was even younger than Eggert — who claims that he witnessed Baio being sexual with Eggert. Polinsky also accused Baio of subjecting him to sexual harassment.

"Mr. Baio repeatedly told me about gay sex acts that he told me I would grow up to perform," Polinsky said in a statement published by ABC. "I would protest and asked him to stop saying these things, but he said it was for my own good." 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Every family sitcom needs a patriarch, and in "Happy Days" that role was filled by Tom Bosley, who played husband and father Howard Cunningham. An irrascible sort, he didn't always understand his kids and their generation, but he loved them all the same. Sadly, Bosley lost his life after being diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 83. After months of chemotherapy to treat the disease, Bosley's official cause of death was heart failure, according to a CNN report at the time of his passing.

Bosley was already well-known as a father figure before he joined "Happy Days," having voiced the title character in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series "Wait Till Your Father Comes Home." And after "Happy Days" he had a long and successful career, with a role on the long-running Angela Lansbury classic, "Murder, She Wrote," and later led his own detective series, "The Father Dowling Mysteries." One of his final sitcom appearances was in an episode of "That '70s Show" in 2006, where he guest-starred as a therapist, Dr. Hammond.

"Remarkable on so many levels, Tom's insight, talent, strength of character and comic timing made him a vital central figure in the 'Happy Days' experience," said Bosley's "Happy Days" co-star Ron Howard, after Bosley's death hit the news. "A great father and husband, and a wonderful artist, Tom led by example, and made us all laugh while he was doing it."

Actor Pat Morita is probably best known as Mr. Miyagi in the "Karate Kid" films, where he mentored a young Ralph Macchio — who's still demonstrating all the moves he learned in "Cobra Kai." But before "Karate Kid" made him a movie star, Morita was a TV star, with a recurring role on "Happy Days" as Matsuo Takahashi, the second proprietor of Arnold's Drive-In beginning in the show's third season. What even fewer know about Morita, though, is that he endured years of treatment for tuberculosis of the spine.

Born Noriyuki Morita, the "Happy Days" star was diagnosed with the disease when he was just two years old, and was immediately removed from the home for extensive treatment, and was repeatedly told he'd never be able to walk. Morita spent years of his life at the Weimar Institute, a regular home for those with tuberculosis, and even spent time in a full-body cast. In his darkest days, the young Morita even contemplated ending his own life.

Much to his caregivers' surprise, Morita did walk and was eventually released when he was nine years old — only to find America embroiled in conflict with his native Japan. And that meant he was forced to move, with his family, to one of the many Japanese internment camps that remain a dark spot in American history.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Cathy Silvers starred on "Happy Days" as Jenny Piccolo, Joanie Cunningham's unseen best friend who finally appeared on screen in Season 8 and became a recurring character until the show's end. Silvers' acting career wasn't long; she only made sporadic on-screen appearances after "Happy Days" before retiring from Hollywood in the late '90s. She later went to college and then started her own successful business. In early 2020, however, she endured a terrifying ordeal while on a hike in Santa Clarita, California when she broke several bones in her leg and required a helicopter to get her safely to a hospital.

According to TMZ, Silvers decided go rock climbing while out on a bike ride with her boyfriend. Upon hearing a "crack" in her leg, Silvers had to be carried more than an hour down the mountain before her partner could make a call to emergency services. Even then, however, it was still a number of hours before authorities could locate the pair, and it took a rescue helicopter two hours to find them and get her help. Talking to the outlet, Silvers described "unbearable pain" from the injury, but thanks to the efforts of her boyfriend and rescue personnel, the injury wasn't life-threatening. And according to Silvers, the ordeal was the pair's second date.

While Lucille Ball might be the queen of sitcoms, Marion Ross is undoubtedly the mother of it, arguably the greatest TV mom of them all — the one all kids want and all mothers aspire to be. She starred in "Happy Days" as Marion Cunningham, the kind, gentle, forgiving — but always firm and no-nonsense — mother of Richie and Joanie. One of Hollywood's nicest people, too, it's hard to imagine her ever even saying anything mean to anyone. Yet, early in her career she had cause to get tough off-screen, as she described how at least one studio executive sexually harassed her while she was trying to get work in television.

While speaking at an event held by The Acting Center LA, Ross described meeting a man at a party who offered to help her get into show business. When she went to see him at the address on his card, "Studio B" turned out to be his apartment. It soon became clear that to get a part, she'd have to offer sexual favors. "He says "how do you think you're going to get ahead in this town?' [...] took me forever to get this message." But get the message she did, and despite the pressure and despite her dreams of acting, Ross — who was already married at the time — held her ground and insulted the executive to his face. "I said you have no character." It's no wonder she's TV's greatest mom.