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‘Happy Days’: Marion Ross Described Final Talk with Joanie Actress Erin Moran Before Her Death

Happy Days stars Marion Ross spoke about her final conversation with Erin Moran before her passing.

Marion Ross portrayed “Mrs. C” on the hit television show while Erin Moran portrayed “Joanie.” She spoke with her television daughter prior to her death on April 22, 2017. Moran passed away at 56 from complications from Stage 4 cancer. However, she was previously suffering from substance abuse addiction over the years.

In 2018, Ross released her memoir, “My Days: Happy and Otherwise.” She spoke with her former co-stars for chapters in the book. She even wrote about her final conversation with Moran just before she passed away.

Happy Days Stars Get to Have One More Conversation

While the cast remained close over the years, this was admittingly the first time they spoke in some time. The book features numerous behind-the-scenes, personal stories from almost all of her fellow cast members.

“As I said good-bye to her and hung up, I felt so much better about her than I had on so many other occasions over the years,” Ross told Desert Sun. “She seemed to be not only upbeat but also at peace with the demons of depression, drugs and alcohol she had wrestled with for many years.”

“So, it’s quite a treasure, to me at least,” she said of the book. Moran was not the only Happy Days team member to pass away. The show’s creator Garry Marshall gave his last interview to Ross for her book. He passed away on July 19, 2016, from pneumonia.

The Sitcom’s Timeless Appeal

Happy Days aired between 1974 and 1984 and told the story of the Cunningham family. The show aired for eleven seasons in total. Happy Days is still popular over forty years later, so much so that they had a cast reunion in 2018.

Unfortunately, Marshall and Moran had already passed. The cast paid tribute to both of them and revealed that they continue to keep their memories alive.

“It will just be the family without Erin,” Ross told Country Living. “I was very close to her and she was a very dear, precious girl.”

Ross spoke about the dangers of the entertainment industry for children. “My warning would be for parents who put their kids in show business—be very careful of that,” Ross warned. “Ron Howard’s parents just took him off the set and [took him] straight home. I think sometimes it’s the parents that break, not the child. She was such a smart little girl and to see her end up this way was tragic for everyone.”