Report: Erin Moran likely died of throat cancer, not drugs
Erin Moran, who became a mainstay of American TV playing Joanie Cunningham on “Happy Days,” but who struggled in recent years with financial troubles and lack of acting opportunities, likely died from complications of advanced throat cancer, according to a Harrison County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Department report.
People magazine, citing Moran’s former “Happy Days” co-star Anson Williams, reports that her treatments for Stage 4 throat cancer included a gastrointestinal tube being inserted in her throat to keep her alive during her final days. The device is used to aid feeding and removing fluids.
Still, Williams told People he thought Moran was going to make it.
“It’s hard to wrap your arms around it,” he said. “She seemed to be fighting it, really doing well. I was just shocked when I got the call she had passed. I had no idea it was that bad.”
The sheriff’s office findings said toxicology reports are pending but added “no illegal narcotics were found at the residence.”
The former teen star was just 56 when she died in the Southern Indiana trailer park home she shared with her husband, Steven Fleischmann ,a Walmart employee, and his elderly mother.
Moran shot to fame playing the kid sister of Ron Howard’s Richie Cunningham on the popular sitcom, which ran from 1974 to 1984. She also starred in the short-lived “Happy Days” spinoff, “Joanie Loves Chachi.”
Unfortunately, she was more in the news in recent years for her financial struggles, battles with depression, accounts of homelessness and a possible drinking problem.