Erin Moran

Erin Moran is a former child star best known for her role on the hit 1970s-1980s sitcom, Happy Days.  Moran went from one of the hottest young TV stars in the early 1980s until Happy Days was cancelled, at which point her career completely derailed until she attempted an-ill advised comeback on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp nearly 25 years later.  [Summaries of the Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp episodes may be found here.]

Erin Moran was born on October 18, 1960 in Burbank, California and broke into the acting business at a young age.  As a 7-year-old child, she had a recurring role on the TV show, Daktari, appearing in 15 episodes during the fourth season of the show about a veterinarian running an animal study center in Africa.  Moran followed up on this initial success with minor roles in several other TV shows, such as Death Valley Days, My Three Sons, Family Affair, Gunsmoke, and The Waltons.  Moran also appeared in several motion pictures such as 80 Steps to Jonah, The Happy Ending, and Watermelon Man.

Moran's star was rising as she was becoming known as a child actress, leading to her being cast in her signature role as Joanie Cunningham on the long-running hit 1950's-era nostalgia sitcom, Happy Days, in 1974.

Happy Days was one of the most popular TV shows during its original airing of 11 seasons between 1974 and 1984.  Moran was a regular on the show as the young teenage daughter of the Cunnginham family for all but the 10th season of the show, at which point she was cast in a lead role in the unsuccessful spin-off show, Joanie Loves Chachi.

Joanie Cunningham was a somewhat annoyed, yet wholesome, young woman on Happy Days and a popular character among American youths.  Erin Moran must have thought that she was on top of the world by the early 1980s as she undoubtedly made millions during her time on Happy Days and became incredibly famous.

However, Moran was in for a rude awakening after Happy Days was cancelled in 1984 as her career quickly derailed.  Moran appeared in two episodes of The Love Boat in 1985 and in an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1986.  Moran has appeared as herself in TV shows such as Hollywood Squares and in the movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.  However, Moran had to wait 12 long years until 1998 until appearing in her next role other than as herself in a single episode of Diagnosis Murder.  Unfortunately, her role in Diagnosis Murder did not reinvigorate her career as she must have thought it would.

With her back up against the wall, Moran made one last-ditch effort to return to the limelight by agreeing to appear in 2008's Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp.  Moran also appeared in a single episode of Scott Baio Is 45... And Single the prior year, in 2007. Moran embarassed herself on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, coming across as almost as washed up as the poster child of washed up actors, Dustin Diamond.  Moran was the only contestant on the show who didn't seem to take the show seriously as show lost only 3 pounds, a mere 2.4% of her body weight, during the show.  Her lack of effort completely screwed over her own team, costing them a victory in a competition to lose weight and body fat.  Her lackadaisical effort cost she and her three teammates about $150,000 in prizes, as I discuss in detail in the summary of the last episode of the season on which she appeared.

During Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, Moran all but admitted that she didn't care about losing weight and claimed that she only came onto the show because she needed the money.

Her appearance on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp did not reinvigorate her career the way she must have hoped it would.  She did appear in minor roles in the TV movie Mother Goose Parade, the TV show The Bold and Beautiful, and the movie Not Another B Movie, in 2009-10.  However, she has not had any other roles since 2010.  She was rumored to be appearing in the fourth season of Arrested Development in 2013, although she did not end up appearing in the show.

As Moran's career floundered, it appears as though her personal life has also floundered, possibly as a result of burning many bridges while she was at the height of her career.  Moran supposedly appeared on an episode of the Maury Povich Show and claimed that she was "molested" by several male cast members when she was on Happy Days.  However, Moran neglected to corroborate these claims and she disappeared after a return from a commercial break.  Moran later claimed that her own family, not any other actors, abused her. 

Moran also joined in a lawsuit with several other former Happy Days cast members, claiming that they not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts.  Moran eventually received a $65,000 settlement.  Unfortunately, however, the windfall did not last long for Moran.

In 2012 it was reported that Moran was broke and lost her California home to foreclosure, forcing her to move in with her husband's mother-in-law in a trailer park in Indiana.  It was also reported in 2012 that Moran flashed her saggy breasts while at a bar in 2012 and apparently nobody knew who she was!  One of the bar's patron's reportedly said, "Who the heck is Erin Moran?"

Moran also supposedly really boozed things up, to the annoyance of her mother-in-law.  The mother-in-law eventually decided that she had enough of Moran's "hard-partying ways" and kicked her out near the end of 2012, rendering Moran homeless, causing her to bounce from hotel-to-hotel.

There is apparently no love lost between Moran and her former Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi co-star Scott Baio.  Baio stated that he knew about Moran's personal troubles, but did not want to help her.  One can only speculate as to what Moran must have done to cause this lack of concern from Baio.

Erin Moran was once one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood between the mid-1970s and hte mid-1980s.  However, she apparently burned too many bridges and spent her money unwisely, resulting in her being essentially homeless and destitute today.  Accordingly, there can be no doubt that she is one hell of a washed-up celebrity!

Ron Palillo

Ron Palillo is an actor best known for his role as "Horshack" on the hit 1970s sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter.

Palillo was born on April 2, 1949, in Cheshire, Connecticut. Palillo was interested in acting from an early age. At the tender age of 14, he started his own summer theater in his hometown. Surprisingly, his summer theatre actually made money.

After high school, Palillo attended the University of Connecticut, majoring in drama. Palillo pursued his dream of acting while at Connecticut, appearing in many school plays. After graduation, Palillo took a job with a touring company which performed William Shakespeare's plays. Palillo later moved to New York and acquired a role in the successful off-Broadway play, Hot l Baltimore, with which he stayed for over a year. Palillo's stage success led to his breakthrough role as Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter.





Welcome Back, Kotter was a hit sitcom that originally aired between 1975 and 1979. It is the sitcom that launched John Travolta's career into stardom. Welcome Back, Kotter was a sitcom about a wise-cracking teacher, Gabe Kotter (played by Gabe Kaplan), who returned to high high school alma mater (the fictional James Buchanan High in Brooklyn, New York) to teach a rowdy group of remedial wiseass students known as the "Sweathogs." According to the storyline, Kotter had attended the same remedial classes when he was a student at Buchanan and was a founding member of the Sweathogs. Believing that he was the last chance for the students to acquire a sufficient education to succeed beyond high school, Kotter befriended his students. Kotter even allowed the students to visit his apartment in Bensonhurst. Although inviting innocent young boys into his home would likely be frowned upon in today's society, Mr. Kotter surprisingly didn't attempt to molest any of the boys.

Palillo's Horshack character was the "Screech Powers" of 1970s sitcoms. Horshack was the class clown of the Sweathogs and was known for his odd and unique observations and his wheezing laugh, which was akin to that of a hyena.

Horshack was a popular character on Welcome Back, Kotter, although certainly not as popular as Travolta's Vinne Barbarino character. Despite his success on the show, Palillo struggled to find acting work after the cancellation of Welcome Back, Kotter in 1979. Palillo managed to acquire some non-recurring minor roles on shows such as The Love Boat, The A-Team, and CHiPs. Acting roles were so sparse that Palillo got a nose job in an effort to distance himself from his Horshack character.

However, Palillo's career never recovered. Palillo returned to the University of Connecticut to teach an acting class in the late 1990s. Palillo eventually decided to accept any TV roles offered to him, regardless of how sleazy they might be. In 2002 Palillo was so desperate to make a dollar that he actually agreed to fight fellow washed-up celebrity Dustin "Screech" Diamond in Fox's Celebrity Boxing.





Fox billed the boxing bout between Diamond and Palillo as a match to "dork it up" in the ring. Although much smaller than Diamond, Palillo decided to go through with the match, apparently thinking that some media exposure would help his career. However, Palillo was in for a rude awakening when he stepped in the ring with Diamond. Palillo started the match by pushing Diamond and trying to punch Diamond in the head. However, Diamond eventually started unloading on Palillo and quickly began beating the crap out of Palillo, eventually giving Palillo a puffy black eye and causing the boxing referee to call the match in favor of Diamond.

Palillo was not a happy camper after the match. Diamond claimed that Palillo asked the producers of Celebrity Boxing to talk to him before the match and asked him to go easy on Palillo because Palillo had just gotten nose and chin jobs. However, Diamond was infuriated when Palillo tried to punch him in the head and decided to get even by whaling on Palillo. Palillo was very upset with the beating he received; after the match Palillo said to Diamond, "Don't even talk to me. Just get away from me. I never want to see you again." Diamond has also claimed that Palillo's gay lover told Diamond that Karma was going to get him.

After his bout on Celebrity Boxing, Palillo was very embarrassed because many people were poking fun at him for losing badly to Diamond. However, Palillo now claims that he never received a black eye, despite the swelling around his eyes that is clearly visible in the pictures shown above. Palillo claims that the referee called the match because Diamond had knocked a contact lens out of Palillo's eye. Palillo also asserts that he gave Diamond a vicious beating during the bout and that Diamond thought that Palillo had broken one of his ribs in the one-sided match!

Ron Palillo's acting career quickly peaked with his memorable role on the hit 1970s sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter. However, after the cancellation of the show, Palillo's career swirled down the toilet and has yet to recover. Palillo is currently so hard up for cash that he will speak to anyone on the phone for $20! As a result of his stalled acting career and his desperate attempt to revive his career by appearing on Celebrity Boxing and receiving the pummeling of a lifetime at the hands of uber-nerd, Dustin Diamond, there can be no doubt that Ron Palillo is one washed-up celebrity!


*** Update - August 14, 2012 ***

Ron Palillo died of an apparent heart attack this morning.  He was 63 years old.  

Barry Williams

Barry Williams (birth name: Barry William Blenkhorn) is a former child star best known for his role as "Greg Brady" on the hit early 1970s family sitcom, The Brady Bunch.

Williams was born on September 30, 1954 in Santa Monica, California. He grew up near actor Peter Graves. As a young child, he constantly asked Graves for show biz advice. At age 11 Williams changed his name from Barry William Blenkhorn to Barry Williams and hired an acting coach. He also took acting classes to learn film and television techniques.

Williams quickly landed a lead role in an educational school film entitled "Why Johnny Can't Read." Williams later made his television debut in an episode of Dragnet in 1967. He followed up with small roles in other television shows, such as "Gomer Pyle" and "The Mod Squad." In 1969 Williams acquired his role as Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch and became a big television star and heartthrob for teenage girls.

The Brady Bunch was a family sitcom about a blended family - a man ("Mike Brady" - played by Robert Reed) with three boys married a woman ("Carol Brady" - played by Florence Henderson) with three girls. After marriage, they moved in together as a big, happy family. Greg Brady was the oldest male child on The Brady Bunch and was an integral character on the show. The show dealt with, among other things, Greg Brady's teenage angst and his chasing of girls.

The child actors on The Brady Bunch sometimes sang songs, in an apparent effort to attract viewers of The Partridge Family, another family sitcom that was popular in the early 1970s. In 1972, Williams and the other child actors from The Brady Bunch appeared on a music album entitled, "The Kids From The Brady Bunch." The album's most popular song was, "It's a Sunshine Day."

The Brady Bunch was a popular show during its original run and remained popular in syndication for many years after the show's cancellation. However, the show's popularity has forever typecast Williams in his Greg Brady role. After the cancellation of The Brady Bunch in 1974, Williams experienced great difficulty in obtaining new acting roles. Williams was apparently so desperate for cash that he agreed to reprise his role as Greg Brady for the 1977 television variety show, The Brady Bunch Hour. Williams later reprised his Greg Brady role in the failed 1990 sitcom, The Bradys.

Williams has also appeared in several made-for-television Brady Bunch movies, including The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), A Very Brady Christmas (1988), and The Brady Bunch Movie (1995). Each of the Brady Bunch movies has been universally derided as being pure crap.

Williams was apparently a horndog in real life, as he tried to hook up with Florence Henderson, who played his mother on the show. In 1992, his autobiography, Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg was published. In his book, he claimed to have gone on a date with Henderson and to have hooked up with his Brady Bunch sister, Maureen McCormick. (His romantic exploits appear to have been limited to women - I was unable to find any evidence that Williams ever tried to get with the openly gay Robert Reed, who played his father on the show and actually died from complications due to AIDS in 1992).

Williams also claimed to have been a heavy drug user and was supposedly high on pot during the filming of several episodes of the Brady Bunch. Williams' book was on the New York Times' Bestseller list for three months and was later adapted into the 2000 made-for-television movie, Growing Up Brady.

The 30+ years since The Brady Bunch was cancelled have not been kind to Williams. He actually looks like he is far older than Florence Henderson, the 74-year-old actress who played his mother!

Williams seems to be desperate for cash and attention and will do practically anything to try to get his name back in the spotlight. In 2000 he released the horrible song "The Real Greg Brady," a spoof of Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady." Williams also began touring local clubs, singing various "comedy" songs. He even opened for "The Monkees" at the Hollywood House of Blues during the summer of 2001.

In 2002, Williams appeared on an episode of Celebrity Boxing on the FOX network. Williams fought Danny Bonaduce and basically got his ass handed to him. Although much taller and bigger than Bonaduce, he was pummeled, knocked down five times before the referee finally called the match during the second round.






Williams now operates a fan portal/blog entitled The Greg Brady Project. Williams also hosts "The Barry Williams Show" on Sundays through Fridays on Sirius Satellite Radio's "Totally '70s" channel.

Williams' star has faded dramatically since The Brady Bunch went off the air in 1974. Unable to deal with his loss of fame and decreased cash flow, Williams has basically whored himself out and will do practically anything for money. For this and the fact that he looks a good 15 years older than his biological age, there can be no doubt that Barry Williams is one washed up celebrity!

Danny Bonaduce

Danny Bonaduce (born Dante Daniel Bonaduce) is a former child star best known for his role in the early 1970s as Danny Partridge on The Partridge Family and his many run-ins with the law.

I. Early Life

Bonaduce was born on August 13, 1959, in Broomall, Pennsylvania into a family connected to the entertainment business. His father, Joseph Bonaduce, was a TV writer/producer for various TV shows such as Mayberry RFD, One Day At A Time, and Good Times.

Bonaduce began his TV acting career in 1969 with small roles on the TV shows The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Mayberry R.F.D., and Bewitched. In 1970 he was cast as little Danny Partridge on the hit TV show The Partridge Family. Danny Partridge was a young boy in a family of musical siblings that toured from town to town in The Partridge Family. Bonaduce was well known for his role and achieved quite a bit of fame during his pre-pubescent years.





Unfortunately, Bonaduce had a bad relationship with his father - Bonaduce claims that his father had nothing but animosity for him from the day he was born, and that the situation grew worse with Danny's pre-pubescent success on The Partridge Family. When Shirley Jones, the actress who played his mother on The Partridge Family, noticed that Bonaduce was coming in with bruises on his arms on Monday mornings, she realized that he was being abused at home, and tried to protect Bonaduce by allowing him to stay with her or with other cast members during the weekends.

In 1973 Bonaduce released a self-titled album. Bonaduce has admitted that his vocals can barely be heard on the album and that most of the singing was provided by Bruce Roberts. The album was apparently so awful that a record store, Rhino Store, paid customers 5 cents to take home Bonaduce's album.

Bonaduce's career hit the skids shortly after The Partridge Family was cancelled in 1974 and he drifted into a life of drug abuse and endured a period of homelessness during his late teens and early twenties.

II. Bonaduce's Life After The Partridge Family

Bonaduce briefly worked as a stable boy for Kenny Rogers after The Partridge Family was cancelled. He drifted aimlessly at this point in his life and eventually developed an addiction for cocaine. In 1985, he was arrested with 50 grams of cocaine in his car. In 1990, he was arrested at a Daytona Beach crack house. He went through rehab in 1991, 2001, and 2005.

Bonaduce claims that at one point he was so addicted to smoking crack that he could no longer wait for the pipe to cool down. He says that he had giant burns on his fingers and lips because he would pick up a red-hot pipe and stick it in his mouth. He also claims that he could hear the searing of flesh burning from the hot crack pipe.

His mother eventually tracked him down in Hollywood Hills and convinced him to move back in with her and get his life back together.

Bonaduce eventually did get his life back together and started a radio DJ/commentary career on WEGX in Philadelphia. He then went to KKFR in Phoenix, Arizona. Bonaduce worked at KKFR until 1991, when he was fired after being charged with assaulting and beating Darius Barney, a transvestite prostitute. Bonaduce later stated that he thought that the prostitute was a girl when he picked him up and let him into his car. When he found out that the prostitute was a man, he ordered the prostitute to leave. When the prostitute refused to leave unless Danny paid him $40, Bonaduce opened the passenger side door of his car and pulled him out of the car. Bonaduce then punched the much larger Barney because he feared that Barney was going to attack him. Although he only received probation, the resulting bad publicity caused KKFR to terminate his employment.

Bonaduce has been a staple on FM-radio over the years and currently co-hosts the morning talk show, The Adam Carolla Show, with Adam Carolla. Bonaduce also co-hosted the morning TV talk show, The Other Half, from 2001-2003.

Bonaduce married real estate agent Setsuko Hattori in 1985; they divorced three years later, in 1988. On November 4, 1990, Bonaduce met his second wife, Gretchen Hillmer, on a blind date. Bonaduce married Hillmer a few hours into their first date. Hillmer put up with Bonaduce's infidelities for many years until April 9, 2007, when she filed a divorce petition, citing irreconcilable differences.

III. Celebrity Boxing

Despite being very short in stature, Bonaduce has participated several celebrity boxing matches for charity. In 1994, Bonaduce participated in a charity boxing match against Donny Osmond. Osmond and Bonaduce were both living in Chicago and worked out at the same gym. They apparently were not friends and Osmond made fun of Bonaduce when he saw Bonaduce looking at himself in the mirror, calling Bonaduce a "poseur." Osmond appeared on a DJ radio show the next day and mentioned the incident. The DJ asked Osmond whether he could kick Bonaduce's ass, and Osmond replied that he could. Bonaduce took offense and eventually a charity boxing match was arranged between Osmond and Bonaduce.

The three-round fight took place at the China Club in Chicago. Bonaduce apparently fought dirty, hitting on the break, stuck his thumb in Osmond's eye, backhanded, and threw elbows at Osmond. Bonaduce bloodied Osmond's nose during the match and won a two-to-one split decision. Osmond was upset with the judges' decision and wanted to go another round. Bonaduce said that Osmond should go fight his sister (Marie Osmond) and offered to fight a bare knuckle round against Osmond. Eventually cooler heads prevailed and both Osmond and Bonaduce walked away from the ring.

Eight years later, in 2002, Bonaduce returned to the ring to fight fellow washed-up celebrity Barry Williams (from the Brady Bunch). Although much shorter and smaller than Williams, Bonaduce pummeled Williams, knocking him down five times before the referee finally called the match in the second round.






IV. Breaking Bonaduce Reality Show

Bonaduce was been the star of the reality show based on his life, Breaking Bonaduce. During the course of the show, Bonaduce revealed his marriage infidelities, previous drug use, and current abuse of steroids.

The show showed the world that Bonaduce has serious emotional problems in his life. He tries to fill the void by having affairs and become a juiced-up gym rat. The show had to have hurt Bonaduce's career, as it portrayed him as a raging psychopath. There was an episode in which Bonaduce was playing with his daughter who asked him why he was wearing bandages on his wrists. Bonaduce was wearing the bandages because he had slashed them after his wife, Gretchen, asked him for a divorce. Bonaduce hurt himself at the end of a crazy night that started with hours of drinking and taking pills, and landed him in the psychiatric ward.

V. Altercation With Johnny Fairplay

On October 2, 2007, Bonaduce was in the audience at the FOX Reality Channel Awards show when he mixed things up with former Survivor contestation Johnny Fairplay. I had never even heard of Johnny Fairplay, but apparently he lied about his grandmother dying when he was on Survivor in an attempt to avoid being voted off, and is universally hated for doing so.

Fairplay was on stage towards the end of the Awards show and being booed by the audience. In an unscripted turn of events, Bonaduce walked up onto the stage from the audience and told Fairplay he was being booed because the audience hated him. Bonaduce then turned around and started walking off of the stage.

Fairplay called Bonaduce back and said something to him and then leapt into Bonaduce's arms, and straddled and humped him, supposedly as a blatantly homosexual joke that was part of Fairplay's shtick.

Bonaduce adjusted his balance and his grip on Fairplay and then threw him over his head, causing Fairplay to land face-first onto the stage floor in a loud thud. Fairplay bled significantly, lost some teeth and suffered a broken toe.


Fairplay pressed charges and police opened a felony battery investigation with Bonaduce as the named suspect. Bonaduce maintained his innocence and stated he was acting in self-defense. The L.A. district attorney's office concluded a few days later that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bonaduce had committed battery because Fairplay had initiated the contact and Bonaduce had acted in self-defense.

VI. Bonaduce's Baby-Dick

Bonaduce is apparently hung like a gnat and sports a tiny baby-dick. In October 2007, Bonaduce was a guest at the Erotic Ball in San Francisco. Bonaduce dropped his pants during the Ball, showing off his tiny junk. PerezHilton.com has an unedited version of a photo of Bonaduce naked (this link is NSFW).

VII. Conclusion

Bonaduce has been in the public eye for nearly 40 years and has lived one unusual life. For the reasons discussed above, there is no doubt that Danny Bonaduce is one washed-up celebrity!