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IT'S THE retroCRUSH INTERVIEW ARCHIVE AUDREY LANDERS JUDY LANDERS
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ERIN MORAN
A retroCRUSH
INTERVIEW WITH "JOANIE" FROM HAPPY DAYS
Did you audition for Happy
Days? I went on and auditioned, but
I didn’t get it. Another girl had it, did the pilot, but I
don’t know the main reason. Evidently she was no longer playing
the daughter. I had done a movie of the week with Anson
Williams, Kay Lenz, and Anne Baxter prior to Happy Days
starting. It was called, Lisa, Bright and Dark.
Did you have any idea that Happy Days would be a bit hit? No, I had done several series
before that and I also had done a pilot in between Daktari
and Happy Days and it didn’t go. You never know about
these things, of course I did guest stars on shows that have
gone on forever like Gunsmoke, Death Valley Days,
Family Affair, My Three Sons, Loveboat,
and Hotel. You have no idea it’s going to
happen. You go for a year and then you get another year. Then
next year it’s a big huge hit and you keep hearing these
ratings and they’re at the top of the roof, but its like, "Oh,
this is good." I never took it to heart like, "Oh my God. I’m
in a hit series." No, it was just doing well and I was having
fun doing it. Did you get the star treatment? Well, just being recognized. I
don’t know about star treatment. Being a celebrity of course
there’s openings of movies, premieres, and all that. You’re a
celebrity. As far as star treatment I was a kid so it wasn’t
like, "Come this way Ms. Moran." It was who I was and it was
all set up to do functions that go along with promoting the
show. Did you open supermarkets?
How old were you when you started Happy Days? I started when I was 12 on
Happy Days and it ended when I was 23 in 1983. Its 11
years. Was there a particular person you liked the best on the set? I hung out with Marion quite a
bit. We’d go in her dressing room and have tea. She was my
mentor as well as being my friend and my second mom. I was
getting advice from her on how to grow up, how to deal with it
all. Did you ever want your role as Joanie to expand? Having to be tutored I wanted
to be on the set more. I couldn’t be so that was very
difficult. Not having more to do acting because I love it so
much. Is there an episode you’re particularly fond of? There are a couple of episodes
that are my favorites. When Joanie becomes friends with Susie
Quatro, and wanting to go away and tour with them which I
couldn’t. The other one is "Potsie Love" I had a big crush on
Potsie. That whole deal was pretty darn nice because we all
have crushes and to act it out was even more so. I had another
nice scene with Ron at the end of Arnold’s where it was very
touching and like a real brother and sister. Those are my two
favorite episodes. Did you film a lot during the week? The first two years it was one
camera so it was filming everyday and all day. Then it went to
three cameras in the third year so the only filming that
happened was Friday night when we filmed in front of a live
audience. Have you ever wanted to be behind the camera?
A lot of people feel the first two years of Happy Days
were more true to the 1950’s era. We all feel that way. It’s so
true to the era that it seemed like that was the 1950’s. Then
of course you go to a live show and it’s going to take away
more. You can’t get in as much of the depth like "American
Graffiti" for example. We all feel the same way. They were my
favorites. They’re hysterical. As the show progressed the hairstyles became more 1970’s. I get that all the time. It
wasn’t true to the era. Well, you know they have to fudge here
and there with that kind of stuff. I read that after the first two years the show was in danger
of being cancelled. That’s with every show. What
Jerry Paris, the person who directed almost every episode
except for maybe a few. He was the neighbor on The Dick Van
Dyke Show, so he came from a 3 camera live show. He
suggested, "Well, lets do that and we’ll see where it goes." He
was right it took off. You can have a lot more shtick, things
can be bigger. Live shows that’s what they’re about and
obviously they’ve worked in the past. He knew, he was right, it
worked. Has there been talk about a Happy Days movie? We’ve heard very little of
that, but we have heard it. It’s not like it’s not out there. I
don’t know if it’s going to happen or not. I know the fans want
it with all their heart and soul that’s for sure.
Growing up everybody loved Happy Days and there were
lunch boxes. Board games, a Joanie doll
came out a couple of years ago. My husband and I go and do
appearances and this doll came out and was presented to me and
I went, "There’s a Joanie doll!" and they wanted me to sign it.
It looks pretty darn close as opposed to some of them that
don’t. I was just thrilled to death that there was a Joanie
doll. I think it would be weird to see yourself as a doll. I love it! I think it’s great.
You also did a made for TV movie Twirl with Lisa
Whelchel? That was awesome. I loved it,
Lisa Whelchel and
Stella Stevens who was
a love. I’ve met up with her recently in the last year and
she’s still exactly the same. She’s a sweetheart. She’s so nice
and Charles Haid who is from Hill Street Blues and is
very good friends with Henry. Did you practice Baton Twirling? They had an expert in and we
had sessions. We learned just what they wanted me to do; I did
not go any further. Of course they brought in a double who
could really do the work. They got a great double and got all
the stuff I couldn’t achieve unless I had been doing it for
years and been a twirler.
Did you film that during Happy Days? Yeah, it was. I also did a
sci-fi, Galaxy of Terror with Edward Albert Jr. and Ray
Walston. That I did while I was on Happy Days as well.
That was Roger Corman. It was a kick I loved it. It was your worst nightmare coming true. It was kind of like that. It
was inner things that would come in to haunt you and they
weren’t real. You had to deal as such and get a hold of them
and not let them take over you because that was the planet that
we were on, "Galaxy of Terror" go figure. We had to grasp it
and get a hold of our innermost fears.
I don’t have too much of the
innermost fears or that kind of thing. It could even be spiders. No, well were I live we get
tarantulas, scorpions, and rattlesnakes. They’re not that kind
of a fear for me. Spiders are no big deal. I don’t freak when I
see them. The only fear I have is if my animals are involved.
My dog was bit by a Mojave Green which is more deadly than a
rattlesnake. It scared the heck out of me. I didn’t want
anything to happen to her and we rushed her to the emergency
vet. We took care of it and did everything that needed to be
done to counteract it. Yeah, losing my animal over it, that was
a fear. That one particular time, yes. Is there a particular actor or actress you liked while
growing up? I liked Cary Grant. I liked
Natalie Wood, Katherine Hepburn. There’s many, but those are
pretty tops. Audrey Hepburn is another favorite of mine,
Gregory Peck. Was there a point on Happy Days when you were tired
of being on it? I think those are the years
every actor goes through. Being the age that I was of course, I
wanted to do that age thing. Being 18 and before that being 16.
You want to go to the high school parties although that didn’t
work out because I was working too, wanting to expand and do
more things. The cast and crew when you
have a good family unit it’s hard at 18, you know you should go
and do your own thing, be an adult. The same with Happy Days, I
never wanted to leave and permanently get out of it because it
was such a great experience and felt like a family. I did have the experience that
I did have to leave for about 13 shows. Right in between I did
Joanie loves Chachi. We shot at the extreme other end of
the Paramount lot and I couldn’t be on our stage with my
family. That was hard. It was hard for Marion as well. She
said, "I miss you! I miss you!" and I said, "Well, I miss you
too." It was hard not to have them around everyday like they
were. It was wild. Everybody thought since you were a popular character that
the show was going to hit huge. It was never meant to go. It
was a mid season replacement. It was really on purpose what
they accounted for. The show that it was, they had no intention
of it to go.
Ah, he was alright.
Just okay? My husband is the best.
Were there other guys that you dated at the time? No, not really. Only because
of who I was and what I was doing. The intimidation factor of
course is always going to be there and understandably so. There
was little to none. Did your parents keep you on a pretty tight leash? They were real strict. I went
to a catholic school for 8 years. They were very protective.
There are people out there that are a threat to all actors
since the beginning of time with movies, shows, and all that. I
couldn’t date until I was 16, of course that didn’t happen,
that was okay too. They were good about it. In general they
were real good about keeping the reigns not too tight and not
too loose where I got the morals and the rights and the wrongs.
What’s good and what’s bad. Happy Days is such a wholesome show, yet in the
1970’s kids were experimenting with Marijuana and drugs. Since the 1960’s dude, it’s
been around for longer than that, since the '30s. Of course
it’s always there and it’s up to your discretion and your
parental guidance, what you’re going to do with it and how far
you go with it. I remember in elementary school smoking pot. With elementary school I
believe that is the way with most kids. That’s not unusual,
experimentation and all that. I think every kid is
experimenting whether he goes near it or not. It’s around and
whether he does he does. That’s just life. That’s part of life.
That’s what is in life. Just like alcohol, everything,
cigarettes, what have you, prescription drugs. It’s all there
available. It’s all around you. There’s no getting away from
it. So you did experiment a little? Not much at all. It was around
me and I didn’t want to go there because it just never felt
right. I saw it around me and I didn’t want any part of it,
that wasn’t me. The only thing that was there was alcohol and
cigarettes. In my family with 6 kids and all there were no
drugs. No one had a drug problem. No one got into it. Thank
goodness with my family that wasn’t there. Of course friends in grade
school experimented. It was around me, but I didn’t want a part
of it. It was there and I didn’t care for it. I didn’t need to
go there. I had so much energy and happiness. I saw what it did
and how it affected them, pot and quaaludes where a big deal. I
didn’t like what I saw.
No Hollywood parties? It was more the premieres of
movies. Jerry Paris would invite all of us over, the cast and
we’d play team charades. That was our Hollywood parties. I
wasn’t at Hollywood parties. I didn’t do that. A lot of people wonder what happened to Chuck Cunningham?
Well, there were two of them.
There was enough of the cast that worked. They didn’t need him.
There wasn’t any more of an addition. That’s as simple and as
basic as it gets. They didn’t need that additional character.
What about Linda Purl later on? That is so weird that you say
that. She is a wonderful lady. My husband and I had just gotten
back from a two week cruise of the Greek Aisles with Marion
Ross, Florence Henderson, and Susan Olson. We christened The
Emerald Princess. We were waiting outside for our ride to take
us back home and she had come out the door and I went, "Linda!"
She said, "Oh my God!" because she had just come from abroad
doing something else. We hugged and I introduced her to my
husband. She’s a lovely woman. She’s awesome. I think she does a lot of Lifetime now. Yeah, she does. She’s a
wonderful actress. God she’s good. We would LOVE to talk with her. You’d enjoy yourself talking
to her. She is so warm and down to Earth. Have you had any stalkers? Oh yeah. I have, Scott as
well. He had to hire a bodyguard while we were on the Paramount
lot while we were filming all those years. That’s all he got
were threats, Henry Winkler as well, but not to the extreme as
Scott had. Just recently I was experiencing a stalker.
I’m so sorry. That’s life. That happens. I’m
fortunate enough I’ve had a good life, a wonderful husband, and
you keep it good and you don’t go there. Not to say you don’t
acknowledge it. It’s wrong. Acknowledging it and know where
it’s at. Don’t give into it because you’re not going to have a
life and I’m not going to do that. You can take care of it.
It’s just a matter of being aware and being smart about it.
Was Robin Williams as Mork pretty cool to watch? Excellent and funny, thank
goodness I was done with my 3 hour schooling. Being a child you
have to have 3 hours of tutoring a day until you’re 18. I was
done with my 3 hours and I got to spend time on the set. Man,
this guy is hysterical. He had us on the floor. Sticking to the
script wasn’t really the deal with Robin. He’d stick to it
enough, but every time he did a scene it would be different. It
was hard to go on with it because he was constantly coming up
with these funny words and expressions. He’s hysterical and so
brilliant. His mind races so much. Everyone’s mind just races
where sometimes on the bad side you can’t get anything done.
This guy it didn’t stop and it was brilliant all the time. It
all stuck within the realm of where it should be. He was funny.
I always enjoyed him. Was there anyone dating on the set we’d be surprised to hear
about? No, I don’t think so. Scott
and I did. When he came on board right off the bat we got
together and we dated for a little less than a year, and then
stopped it. It was all pretty right and normal and stuff. Of
course Anson Williams, a girl that came on and did a part that
sang with him. They got together and got married, but then it
didn’t work. That’s not any surprise so that’s no big deal.
Scott seems like quite a ladies' man. Was that a challenge?
At the time I just wasn’t
ready for what he wanted to have in a relationship. I was very
young and so was he. Being Italian of course he wanted a
stronger and more in depth relationship. I wasn’t there for
that. Of course it changed years down the road because we were
very good friends. Getting more maturity, I would have liked to
have gotten back with him and so would he. There’s time for you and it
didn’t allow it. It was a little difficult in that respect. We
knew each other very well. We were good friends and it was very
comfortable being his friend and hanging out. After we turned
18 we couldn’t have it together. That was a little hard yeah.
Was there a direction you thought your career was going to
take once you left Happy Days? Actually, I didn’t have a
specific direction. I just wanted to work. I wanted to act. No
one would let me. Being typecast it made it quite difficult. I
did get to do Love Boat, Hotel, and stuff. It
didn’t suit my acting needs because it wasn’t enough. Of course
you want to delve into more drama or more comedy. I like to
act, but it wasn’t any specific direction no.
There might have been some other pilots you did after Happy
Days. Well, there was one. This
little show that became a huge hit was Married with Children
I remembered that at this very moment. I had forgotten all
about it. I was crossing on the lot and in crossing Linda Blair
was going out because she’d interviewed for it and I was going
in and she said, "Hi Erin" like we’d known each other for years
and I said, "Hi". I knew who she was because I went in and
interviewed for The Exorcist. To do what Linda Blair had
done. You were almost the possessed girl in The Exorcist? Was not almost, my mom didn’t
allow it. My mom said, "You’re not going to do this whether you
get it or not." She’s had a rough time with that one when you think about
it. Well, it’s pretty weird stuff.
She’s a great girl. I did a play with her. What a change that would be from your character of Joanie.
Tell me about it, quite the
exciting stuff. The other one was The Blue Lagoon of course
they cast it perfectly. I wasn’t right for that, but that was
another one.
You wrote a children’s book? No, I haven’t done that. I
want to write a movie more than a book. I’m not sure yet. I’m
in the process little by little it’s great. It’s different for
me. There’s a reality show I’m working on and it’s awesome.
We’re going to find out if they’re going to get picked up. I
believe they will. It’s a darn good show. It’s helping people,
giving them advice in their lives. What to do, how to deal with
their, for example mother in law or having another child,
adopting. These three women, well senior citizens will give
their advice on where they should go with it. Hopefully,
they’ll solve or at the same time create more of a direction
for them on where to go and not be stuck in their predicament.
We find out if that sells in the middle of July. That’s a reality show. It’s a darn good one. I don’t
know if you’ve ever heard of Hell’s Kitchen? Isn’t that the cooking show? I met with the president of
ITV and they do Hell’s Kitchen and I’m a Celebrity
Get Me Out of Here. There’s several. I met with the
president of ITV and they’re interested in me doing "Hell’s
Kitchen". I love to cook. The chef is brutal, but I don’t care.
It’s different and it’s fun. I might be doing that in
September. There’s another show called
Ventura County and I’m waiting to hear on that. I would
play the aunt. It’s a brand new show that will be on Cartoon
Network. They’ve already sold 155 shows. I’m just waiting to
hear on that.
What activities do you enjoy? I like hiking, I like cooking,
I love tennis, rollerblading, ice skating, horseback riding. I
love it all. When you talk cooking is there a food Erin Moran loves? I love spaghetti sauce and I
love tacos. Those two I make very well. Visit Erin's website at:
www.erinmoranofficialwebsite.com
or add her as a friend on myspace:
www.myspace.com/happydayserinmoran |
No,
I never did that. Now, Scott Baio did that. It was a whole
different situation with his upbringing as opposed to mind.
There are six kids in my family. I was working a lot. My
parents felt, "This was fine and enough already." 
What
are your innermost fears? 
