Steven Fleischmann had an uneasy relationship with Erin Moran, with the Happy Days star and her husband allegedly enduring addiction and homelessness before Moran’s sudden death this weekend at the age of 56.
Moran was found dead on Saturday after police responded to a report of an unresponsive woman. Though Moran’s cause of death has yet to be officially announced, the Daily Mail reported that it was believed to be a drug overdose .
“Authorities found Moran’s body in Indiana following a call about an ‘unresponsive female at around 4 p.m. Saturday,” the report noted. “A source told DailyMail.com that Moran, who lived in a trailer park in New Salisbury, Indiana, died of a suspected heroin overdose.”
Moran struggled to find her footing in the entertainment industry after Happy Days and her short-lived spinoff, Joanie Loves Chachi . She made a handful of other appearances, including appearing on the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club in 2008 but had no major roles for decades after Happy Days ended.
For Moran, the decision to leave Hollywood came after a considerable amount of pressure. She said in a 1988 interview that Happy Days producers wanted her to lose weight to look sexier, and she fell into a depression after the series ended.
“I wanted time off to reassess my life and career,” Moran told the Toronto Star (via the New York Times ). “I had to ask myself, ‘Do I really want to keep doing this, or do I want to sit back and take it easy for five years, 10 years?”
Erin Moran’s first marriage ended in divorce in 1993. Later that same year, she and Steve Fleischmann got married. The couple — who did not have any children together — would be together until Moran’s death.
Moran reportedly endured a series of hardships alongside Fleischmann. After her career came to an end, Moran and Fleischmann lost their California home to foreclosure in 2010.
After losing their home, Moran and Steven Fleischmann went to live in a trailer home with Steven’s mother-in-law, but Moran’s alleged addiction forced them out and left them homeless for a short time.
“Her downward spiral became evident in September 2012, when she was photographed looking worse for wear outside a Holiday Inn in Corydon, Indiana, after reportedly being kicked out of the trailer she shared with her husband Steven Fleischmann,” the Daily Mail report noted. “Erin was told to leave the trailer she’d been sharing with her husband by his mother, who was tired of her ‘hard-partying ways.’”
Moran and Steven Fleischmann reportedly lived an unstable life after that, with Radar Online reporting that the couple had to move from motel to motel after being kicked out of their home. Along the way, Moran made waves for more unstable behavior.
Radar Online spoke to one witness from a Corydon, Indiana, motel who said they came across the former Happy Days star seeming a bit unhinged.
“She said was heading over to the bar for a tequila shot, but actually stayed with us instead and hung out for the next three or four hours outside in the grass,” the source told the website. “She didn’t do any drugs or talk about them in front of us. She was definitely a little kooky and acted weird, saying odd things, and even offered to give me a back rub!”
There were later reports that Erin Moran and husband Steven Fleischmann were headed for a divorce a few months after losing their home, though nothing more came of the rumors.
#HappyDays ‘ Henry Winkler and Ron Howard pay tribute to Erin Moran https://t.co/SY2QdDkBGR pic.twitter.com/PfkcSwBMUN
— Variety (@Variety) April 23, 2017
While a number of Erin Moran’s co-stars posted messages of condolences and shared their memories of the Happy Days star, Steven Fleischmann had not yet issued a public statement on his wife’s death.
[Featured Image by David Livingston/Getty Images]