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!

Jerry Supiran

Jerry Supiran is a former child star best known for his role as Jamie Lawson on the mid-late 1980s syndicated sitcom, Small Wonder. Anyone who was a pre-teen during the mid-late 1980s probably watched Small Wonder from time to time. I personally did not have cable TV until I got to college, so I was at the mercy of whatever reruns or TV shows were available on the broadcast TV channels.

Small Wonder was one of the strangest TV shows ever created. A surprise hit in syndication, the show centered on the Lawson family. Jamie Lawson's parents on the show were Ted and Joan Lawson, played by Dick Christie and Marla Pennington, respectively. Ted Lawson worked as an engineer/inventor for United Robotronics, working on a robot for assisting handicapped children. He invented the robot called Voice Input Child Identicant ("V.I.C.I.," pronounced "Vicki"), an android the looked like a 10-year-old girl. (Vickie was played by Tiffany Brissette.) The Lawson family pretended that Vicki was the family's adopted daughter.

The show was generally focused on Vicki and her interactions with Jamie and other kids. Supiran's character, Jamie, was kind of annoying and very smarmy and appeared to be somewhat slimy. He seemed like the type of kid who couldn't be trusted. Apparently Supiran's character seemed like this because in real life, Supiran was a bit of a rascal.

The executive producer of Small Wonder, Howard Leeds, said the following about Supiran:

"Jerry Supiran was a mischievous tyke who bugged the crew but was a good little actor."

Supiran acted on Small Wonder from 1985 until its cancellation in 1988. Supiran was actually a fairly successful child and acted in many other roles during the 1980s. He had guest starring roles in several noted sitcoms of the era such as Little House on the Prairie, Mr. Belvedere, Newhart, and Archie Bunker's Place. He also had roles in the motion picture Uncommon Valor and in various TV movies such as Policewoman Centerfold and Love Thy Neighbor.

Despite his success during the 1980s, Supiran has not had even a single acting role since the cancellation of Small Wonder in 1988. I've searched long and hard to find recent info of Supiran to find out what he has been up to. Unfortunately, most of what I found are merely unverified rumors. According to one rumor, Supiran hates the Small Wonder show and refuses to even talk about it and has moved to New England where he does graphic design for a major food retailer. There are other rumors that he has been a roadie for the band Alice in Chains, was actually Billy Corgan from the rock band Smashing Pumpkins, or that he encountered financial difficulties and now works at a Taco Bell somewhere in California (one can only wonder if he's ever run into fellow washed-up celebrity Dustin Diamond at the same Taco Bell).

Regardless of what he's doing right now, there should be no doubt that Jerry Supiran one washed-up celebrity!


*** Update - May 20, 2009 ***

Jerry Supiran seems like a decent guy and recently contacted me and sent me a blurb to let me know what he's been doing. He mentioned that rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated that that he is very much alive. He also mentioned that he quit acting in 1987 because he wanted to go back to school. Jerry has had several different jobs over the years. Three years ago he broke his back when he was thrown from a racehorse at a ranch that he was managing. Jerry was also a chef at an upscale Mediterranea restaurant in California for awhile.

Jerry says that he is in love with a girl named Kelly Boland. He also loves to golf and if anyone really wants to find him, they should look for him on a golf course. He also mentioned that he does not sing in the Smashing Pumpkins, although he wishes that he could sing like the lead singer, Billy Corgan.

Jerry says that someone stole his identity twice and ruined his credit rating. Jerry spends his free time helping charitable causes and playing with his niece and nephew, Brody and Kelsey.

Jerry Supiran has a Twitter account. Jerry also sent me this recent picture of himself:




*** Update - May 31, 2012 ***

Jerry is apparently homeless and living under a bridge in central California.  He claims to be broke as a result of various incidences - when he was 18 years old a stripper stole his trust fund and that one of his advisers stole $500,000 from him.  Jerry worked at steakhouses for much of the past 15 years until he was laid off in 2010 from a restaurant in Henderson, NV and has been unable to find work since then. 

Jerry told the National Inquirer,

I had to move back to central California, where my brother lives with his family, and while he helps me with hot meals and a shower, he doesn't have the room for me to stay there. So I either sleep at the homeless shelter I volunteer at, or under a local bridge.

Here is a photo of Jerry living on the streets that was published by the National Inquirer:

*** Update - August 19, 2013 ***

TMZ tracked down Jerry Supiran a few months ago and broadcast a video.  [Edit - unfortunately, this video has been deleted.]