Erin Moran dead: Happy Days actress dies aged 56

Erin Moran, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on the American sitcom Happy Days, has died aged 56.

TMZ report the actor’s body was found unresponsive by Indiana authorities on Saturday afternoon, the cause of death currently being unknown.

Moran appeared on Happy Days from 1974 to 1984, continuing the role on spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi alongside fellow actor Scott Baio. She later appeared on the TV shows Murder, She Wrote, Hotel, and Diagnosis: Murder.

Variety reports that, following depression and being unable to gain acting roles, Moran had fallen on hard times, being kicked out of her trailer-park home because of her hard-partying ways.

Henry Winkler — who played The Fonz in Happy Days — Tweeted out the message: “Oh Erin... now you will finally have the peace you wanted so badly here on earth… Rest In It serenely now… too soon.”

Fellow co-star Ron Howard also posted a message on social media, reading: “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.”

Don Most said in a statement: “I am so incredibly sad to hear about Erin. She was a wonderful, sweet, caring, talented woman.

“As I write this I can’t really comprehend this right now. A very painful loss. It gives me some comfort to know that she’s with Tom, Al, Pat and Garry. Rest In Peace, sweet Erin.”

Moran — along with Most, Anson Williams, Marion Ross and the widow of Tom Bosley — reportedly filed a $10 million lawsuit against CBS and Paramount in 2012, claiming they never received certain merchandising payouts owed through their contracts. The case was settled out of court.

Williams said in a statement on Moran’s death: “Erin was a person who made everyone around her feel better. She truly cared about others first, a true angel. I will miss her so much, but know that she is in God’s hands. RIP sweet angel.”