Happy Days cast then and now: Ron Howard, Henry Winkler and Erin Moran

Ron was a child actor in the early 1960s, and got his big break in George Lucas’ 1973 film American Graffiti, after George saw the then-unsold pilot for Happy Days.

After the success of the film, Happy Days was picked up by ABC and Ron starred in the first seven seasons before leaving. He went on to begin directing, and has directed some of the most popular films of the late 20th century including Splash, Apollo 13, and A Beautiful Mind.

The 70-year-old has won two Oscars – Best Director and Best Picture – for A Beautiful Mind, as well as six Emmys including for Arrested Development, two Golden Globes including Best Actor for Happy Days in 1977 and a Grammy Award for the 2017 documentary, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week.

In 2003 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame that same year.

Henry, 78, helped turn Fonzie, also known as The Fonz, into one of TV’s most iconic characters of all time.

A recurring character in season one, he became a main star in season two and appeared in the entire series, until it ended in 1984. Henry studied at the Yale School of Drama, and spent the first years of his career working on Broadway before moving to Hollywood on the advice of his agent.

During his second week in Los Angeles, he auditioned for Happy Days, and his life changed forever as The Fonz went on to become the breakout star. His success, however, did not impact his friendship with Ron, with Henry once recalling that Ron had told him he did nothing wrong “except be as good as you could be”.

Henry was nominated for three Emmys for his work in Happy Days.

He also appeared in Heroes (1977) with Harrison Ford and Sally Field and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, and was also cast in Ron’s 1982 directorial debut, Night Shift.

Henry also formed a friendship with Adam Sandler over the years, and has appeared as Coach Klein in the 1998 film The Waterboy, and as Sandler’s father in 2006’s Click.

In 2003 he was asked to take part in one episode of Arrested Development, which Ron was narrating, and he ended up staying for five years as the bumbling lawyer Barry Zuckerman. He won an Emmy in 2018 for his work in Barry, and also has two Golden Globes and a SAG Award.

In recent years, Henry has become world renowned for his children’s books and the character Hank Zipzer, about the adventures of a dyslexic child.

Marion, 95, starred as Richie’s mom Marion. After the series ended, she went on to appear in The Love Boat, alongside several of her Happy Days cast.In the 2000s she appeared in Gilmore Girls, and more recently Nurse Jackie and Grey’s Anatomy.

But she kept her focus on voicework, appearing in the Cartoon Network television film Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, and voiced Grandma SquarePants on Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, and Mrs. Lopart on Handy Manny. 

She also guest-starred on The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, The Wild Thornberrys, Generator Rex, and King of the Hill

Marion retired in 2021, but in 2024, she returned to SpongeBob SquarePants, reprising her role as Grandma SquarePants in the season 13 episode “Don’t Make Me Laugh”.

In recent years, Scott has been a vocal Trump supporter, and has been accused of recirculating Sandy Hook conspiracy theories

Like Ron, Don left Happy Days after the seventh season and returned as a guest in the final season. He played Ralph Malph, who became a main character in the second season and he was close friends with Richie and Potsie.

After the show, he also appeared in The Love Boat for a few episodes in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and reunited with Scott for an episode of Charles in Charge and Ron in ED TV.

Don is also a musician, and he performed several times on the show as part of Richie and Potsie’s band.

In 2016 he released his first swing Christmas album, Swinging Down The Chimney Tonight and he has also toured the US with his swing band.

Happy Days was one of Anson’s first screen roles; Potsie was Eichie’s best friend and he had second billing in the first season.

Gullible but well-intentioned Potsie became a beloved character with his musical talents becoming center to his character development.

He appeared in all 11 seasons, and after the series ended Anson went on to become a prolific TV director, working on Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Lizzie McGuire and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Erin was signed by her talent agent when she was just five-year-old, and she has appeared in 14 TV shows before she joined Happy Days when she was 14.

However she claimed that by the time she had turned 15, producers “suddenly wanted me to lose weight and become this sexy thing”.

After the show ended she fell on hard times, and moved into a trailer with her then-husband in Indiana.

On April 22, 2017, Erin died at the age of 56 with an autopsy confirming the cause of death to be complications of stage four squamous cell carcinoma of the throat.

“OH Erin… now you will finally have the peace you wanted so badly here on earth …Rest In It serenely now.. too soon,” Henry tweeted.

Tom was an acclaimed stage actor when he joined the cast of Happy Days. He originated the role of Fiorello La Guardia in the Broadway musical Fiorello!, earning the 1960 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. 

He went on to star in several hit TV shows before being cast as the patriarch of Happy Days, Howard Cunningham. He went on to receive an Emmy nomination for his work in 1978.

When the series ended, he joined Angela Lansbury in the CBS mystery series Murder, She Wrote and as the title character in the NBC/ABC series Father Dowling Mysteries.

Tom died on October 19, 2010, at a hospital with his agent sharing that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.