Zoneboy
09-15-2008, 04:48 AM
Link (http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=c0ba2b06-aa01-4271-b35b-f0da8287def6)
Erin Moran was smart, sassy sitcom sister Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days. She says the cast was more than co-workers, "It was my second family, that's the way it was with us." For the Cunningham family in Milwaukee, Wis., every day in the 1950s was a happy day. The show first aired from 1974 to 1984. I really liked meeting Erin Moran. Out of the thousands of stars I've talked to, she is most normal. There was no indication of an outsized ego. In fact, it was the opposite. She is a lot like Joanie, quick-witted and up-front.
Moran was a sitcom sister in training from the start. She grew up in Burbank, Calif., with five siblings. "I started acting when I was four. The first audition I went to I got. It was for First Federal Bank. And I've worked ever since."
When Moran was six, she landed a series called Daktari, playing Jenny Jones. One of her co-stars was a chimp named Judy. She became very protective of Moran. "Judy took me in as her baby. She literally put me in front of her and would pick through my hair."
If you were a couch potato in the '60s and '70s, you may have caught Moran on The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Three Sons, Death Valley Days or the two episodes of Gunsmoke she guested on in 1971.
Moran's life changed forever when she landed the part of Cunningham on Happy Days.
Moran started to clue in to the fact the show was a hit when she began receiving three to five bags of fan mail every week. She cries when she talks about how the show affected some people. "A girl wrote in, and she said, 'Thank you so much, for helping me talk to my dad.' Because there was one particular show where I refused to be sent upstairs and I finally confronted Tom Bosley who played my dad and talked it out. So she wrote this fan letter saying, 'Now we communicate.' It was absolutely wonderful."
The fame was great, but for Moran the best part about being on Happy Days was the strong bonds she developed with her castmates.
When Moran was on the show with Scott Baio, who played her boyfriend Chachie, they hooked up in real life. She says she took his virginity. "Yes, Scott and I really went out. I had no choice. He wouldn't leave me alone. Brat."
So whatever happened to Erin Moran? The money she made on Happy Days did not set her up for life. "Back then, no stars made the money like they do now. When I started Happy Days, I got $699 a week, and then it moved up to $1,500. The very last season, I ended up (making) $30,000 a week." In the '90s, TV work dried up, so Moran went on the road doing theatre productions. In 2002, Moran performed to sold-out audiences in The Vagina Monologues. "Yes, I'm the particular character that has the orgasm."
These days, Moran is getting back to feature films. She wrapped a movie in Texas called Broken Promises, and she stars in the upcoming Code Enforcer playing a private detective.
Looking back on 40 years in the business, Moran says her happiest days were as a sitcom sister, but she does like being known for herself now. "That they relate to me so much so they know my real name. Erin Moran. It's great."
Erin Moran was smart, sassy sitcom sister Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days. She says the cast was more than co-workers, "It was my second family, that's the way it was with us." For the Cunningham family in Milwaukee, Wis., every day in the 1950s was a happy day. The show first aired from 1974 to 1984. I really liked meeting Erin Moran. Out of the thousands of stars I've talked to, she is most normal. There was no indication of an outsized ego. In fact, it was the opposite. She is a lot like Joanie, quick-witted and up-front.
Moran was a sitcom sister in training from the start. She grew up in Burbank, Calif., with five siblings. "I started acting when I was four. The first audition I went to I got. It was for First Federal Bank. And I've worked ever since."
When Moran was six, she landed a series called Daktari, playing Jenny Jones. One of her co-stars was a chimp named Judy. She became very protective of Moran. "Judy took me in as her baby. She literally put me in front of her and would pick through my hair."
If you were a couch potato in the '60s and '70s, you may have caught Moran on The Courtship of Eddie's Father, My Three Sons, Death Valley Days or the two episodes of Gunsmoke she guested on in 1971.
Moran's life changed forever when she landed the part of Cunningham on Happy Days.
Moran started to clue in to the fact the show was a hit when she began receiving three to five bags of fan mail every week. She cries when she talks about how the show affected some people. "A girl wrote in, and she said, 'Thank you so much, for helping me talk to my dad.' Because there was one particular show where I refused to be sent upstairs and I finally confronted Tom Bosley who played my dad and talked it out. So she wrote this fan letter saying, 'Now we communicate.' It was absolutely wonderful."
The fame was great, but for Moran the best part about being on Happy Days was the strong bonds she developed with her castmates.
When Moran was on the show with Scott Baio, who played her boyfriend Chachie, they hooked up in real life. She says she took his virginity. "Yes, Scott and I really went out. I had no choice. He wouldn't leave me alone. Brat."
So whatever happened to Erin Moran? The money she made on Happy Days did not set her up for life. "Back then, no stars made the money like they do now. When I started Happy Days, I got $699 a week, and then it moved up to $1,500. The very last season, I ended up (making) $30,000 a week." In the '90s, TV work dried up, so Moran went on the road doing theatre productions. In 2002, Moran performed to sold-out audiences in The Vagina Monologues. "Yes, I'm the particular character that has the orgasm."
These days, Moran is getting back to feature films. She wrapped a movie in Texas called Broken Promises, and she stars in the upcoming Code Enforcer playing a private detective.
Looking back on 40 years in the business, Moran says her happiest days were as a sitcom sister, but she does like being known for herself now. "That they relate to me so much so they know my real name. Erin Moran. It's great."