Former Happy Days actors Ron Howard and Henry Winkler have led tributes to their co-star Erin Moran, who has died at the age of 56.
Erin played Joanie Cunningham in the hit sitcom as well as its spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi.
Ron, who played her older brother Richie Cunningham but is now a film director responsible for blockbusters including Apollo 13 and The Da Vinci Code, wrote on Twitter:
Such sad sad news. RIP Erin. I'll always choose to remember you on our show making scenes better, getting laughs and lighting up tv screens. https://t.co/8HmdL0JKlf
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) April 23, 2017
Henry, who is best remembered as Happy Days heartthrob Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli, wrote:
OH Erin… now you will finally have the peace you wanted so badly here on earth …Rest In It serenely now.. too soon
— Henry Winkler (@hwinkler4real) April 23, 2017
The sheriff’s department in Harrison County, Indiana, said a dispatcher “received a 911 call about an unresponsive female. Upon arrival of first-responders, it was determined that Erin Moran Fleischmann was deceased. An autopsy is pending.”
Erin joined the Happy Days cast in 1974 when she was 13 and in 2009 she told Xfinity: “What happened with all of us was like we were this family.
“It was so surreal with all the cast members … They were my family, get it?”
The actress also appeared in The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, The Waltons and Diagnosis Murder.
In 2012, she received a settlement from US network CBS after joining various Happy Days cast members in a legal action claiming they were owed money from merchandising revenue.
