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!

David Garrison

David Garrison is an actor best know for co-starring during the first four seasons of the FOX sitcom Married ... With Children from 1987-1990. Garrison's hubris, however, apparently got the better of him, as he left the show thinking he move move on to bigger and better things, yet his career practically plummeted off the face of the earth.

Garrison was born on June 30, 1952 in Long Branch, New Jersey, and graduated summa cum laude from Boston University's School of Fine Arts. His first acting role with in the 1980 TV movie, A Day with Conrad Green. He subsequently appeared in minor roles in the 1980 Stephen King movie, Creepshow, and appeared in a 1984 episode of Remington Steele. Garrison finally caught his first decent break in 1984 when he was cast in a role in the sitcom, It's Your Move, where he co-starred with Jason Bateman. It's Your Move was cancelled after only one season, but it lasted long enough to catch the eyes of the casting director for Married ... With Children.

Garrison played the role of Steve Rhoades, the next-door-neighbor to the Bundy family on Married ... With Children beginning in 1987 on the then-fledgling Fox Network. The Fox Network was launched in October 1986 as the "fourth network" to compete with the big-three national television networks, NBC, ABC, and CBS. The Fox Network was in desperate need of a hit to allow it to succeed on a nation-wide basis and Married ... With Children was arguably the network's first hit TV show. Married ... With Children was often a raunchy, yet genuinely funny show that offered a warped view of the American family that was not being shown on network TV at the time. The show was known for its frequent use of "toilet humor" and was particularly popular among adolescent boys.

Steve Rhoades and his wife Marcy Rhoades were successful bankers who would frequently stop by the Bundy household practically on a weekly basis. Steve Rhoades was a straight-laced character, although Al Bundy, the patriarch of the Bundy household (played by Ed O'Neill), often got Steve Rhoades to loosen up and left him mixed up in various hijinks.

Although Married ... With Children started weakly, it slowly began to gain nationwide appeal. Ironically, the show became more popular as it became the well-known target of a boycott by a viewer who was offended by a particularly raunchy show where Al Bundy and Steve Rhoades visit an adult store to purchase bras in the episode entitled, "Her Cups Runneth Over." By the end of the 4th season, the Nielson ratings for Married ... With Children had reached #50, up from #142 in its first season.

Despite the increasing popularity and success of Married ... With Children, Garrison abruptly left the show after the fourth season ended in 1990. Rumors circulated at the time that Garrison was sick of the raunchy material and thought that he could do better if he left. He reportedly asked the producers to let him out of his contract so that he could act on Broadway. The producers granted his request and allowed him to leave. However, instead of appearing on Broadway, Garrison's first role after leaving Married ... With Children was a role in another sitcom, entitled Working It Out. Working It Out was an unpopular show which appeared on NBC for only one season.

The producers of Married ... With Children must have been upset with Garrison for appearing on another sitcom right after leaving the show. However, any anger must have quickly dissipated as Married ... With Children continued to improve in popularity when Ted McGinley was added to the cast as Marcy Rhoades's new husband, Jefferson D'Arcy. Garrison certainly could not have predicted that Married ... With Children would air for another 7 seasons and must have made the series regulars millionaires many times over. Garrison's career after leaving Married ... With Children did not exactly turn out as well as Garrison could have predicted. Instead of becoming a star on another sitcom or on Broadway, Garrison's career went into a tailspin as he all but left the public eye. Garrison has had a number of Broadway roles over the last 20+ years, but he is not a star.  He has appeared sporadically in productions such as Silence! The Musical, Wicked, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine, Titanic, Torch Song Trilogy, The Pirates of Penzance, and Bells are Ringing.

Garrison was willing to return to a Married ... With Children spinoff in 1995 when he appeared in the backdoor pilot for Radio Free Trumaine, in which Garrison would have reprised his role of Steve Rhoades as the dean of a fictitious college. Unfortunately for Garrison, however, the show was not picked up.

 

David Garrison threw away a successful career as an actor on Married ... With Children because he apparently thought he was too good for the show. However, the departure proved to be the worst decision of his professional career as Married ... With Children lasted for seven years after he left, yet his Broadway and subsequent sitcom career have essentially gone nowhere. Accordingly, there should be no doubt that David Garrison is one washed-up celebrity!

Kirstie Alley

Kirstie Alley is an actress best known for her role as "Rebecca Howe" on the hit mid-1980s-early 1990s sitcom Cheers.

Kirstie Alley was born on January 12, 1951 in Wichita, Kansas. Alley attended Kansas State University and the University of Kansas for a short time, dropping out during her sophomore year to pursue an acting career. Her first TV appearances were on game shows - in 1979 she appeared on Match Game and won $6,000, and in 1980 she appeared on Password Plus.

Alley's first major role was as supporting role in the hit 1982 movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, where she played Lieutenant Saavik. Star Trek II was a major hit and Alley was offered a role in Star Trek III, which she turned down when the producers failed to meet her salary demands.

Alley later had a major role in the popular TV miniseries about the Civil War, North and South. Alley also had minor roles in other movies and TV shows throughout the mid-1980s until she was cast in her career-defining role as Rebecca Howe, the manager of the Cheers bar on the sitcom, Cheers.

Fans of Cheers liked Alley's character on Cheers - she was a very attractive woman and definitely had acting abilities and comedic talent. Alley won an Emmy for her role in 1991. Alley co-starred on Cheers from 1987 until the series finale in 1993.

While Alley was on Cheers, she also found time to appear in several popular major motion pictures, including Shoot to Kill, Look Who's Talking, and Look Who's Talking Too.

After Cheers went off the air in 1993 Alley continued acting in minor roles on various TV shows and movies through the mid-late 1990s. In 1997 she was cast in the starring role of Veronica's Closet, a sitcom about the head of a lingerie company. Veronica's Closet ran for three seasons, until its cancellation in 2000.

After the cancellation of Veronica's Closet, Alley cut back on acting a little bit and turned to the other passion in her life - greasy and fatty foods. Although once known as one of the sexiest actresses on TV, Alley tarnished her image by adding at least 100 lbs of pure fat to her body, becoming a morbidly obese woman and reportedly topping the scales at over 300 lbs. Her fans were shocked and saddened to see her so overweight.

Alley, however, maintained a good nature and decided to do something about her appearance - she starred in the 2005 mockumentary, Fat Actress, a sitcom inspired by real events in Alley's life. Alley also became the spokeswoman for Jenny Craig and kept to a strict diet between 2004 - early 2008 when she was fired for being too fat. During her reign as spokeswoman, Alley kept to a strict diet, eventually trimming down to 145 lbs at one point.

However, after being fired as spokeswoman, Alley stopped exercising and pigged out on food once again and has admitted that she has gained 83 lbs since early 2008.




Kirstie Alley is apparently addicted to Hostess Ho-Ho's and Ding Dongs, and almost certainly purchases 2-lb bags of M&M's and cuts open the bags and pours all of the M&M's directly into her open mouth. Although Kirstie Alley has had a very successful acting careers, the fact that she morphed from one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood into a morbidly obese hog means that Kirstie Alley is one washed-up celebrity!

Danny Cooksey

Danny Cooksey is a former child star perhaps best known for his role as "Sam McKinney" on the popular mid-1980s TV sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes.

Cooksey was born on November 2, 1975 in Moore, Oklahoma. Cooksey's mother moved with him to Los Angeles in 1980 to allow him to pursue a career in country music. His first acting role was in an episode of Dukes of Hazzard in 1983. Cooksey was later invited to audition for Diff'rent Strokes by an agent who saw one of Cooksey's performances.

Diff'rent Strokes was one of the top rated sitcoms between the late 1970s and early 1980s. The show centered on the crazy antics of Arnold Drummond (played by Gary Coleman), a young black boy who along with his brother Willis (played by Todd Bridges) was adopted by a rich white man who lived in a luxurious penthouse apartment in downtown New York City. Arnold was the star of the show for many years. However, by the mid-1980s the show's writers were running out of ideas and the show's viewership was flagging.

The writers initially tried to mix things up by showing an episode where Arnold's best friend Dudley (played by fellow washed-up celebrity Shavar Ross) was molested by a man who ran a bicycle repair shop. Molestation seemed to be a strange and deranged source of humor, but the writers were at their wit's end and needed something to increase viewership. However, the writers quickly realized that they couldn't have Dudley get molested in every single episode and that they would need a sustainable new "hook" to draw in viewers. The new hook was the addition of two new characters - Maggie McKinney, a middle-aged woman, and her young son, Sam McKinney. The McKinneys were added to the cast at the start of the seventh season when Maggie McKinney married Mr. Drummond and moved into the penthouse apartment with Sam.

Sam McKinney was an extremely unpopular character. Fans of Diff'rent Strokes hated Sam - he was extremely annoying and bratty. There was a notorious episode where Arnold and Sam were at a store and a deranged man, Don Brown, kidnapped Sam. The story line was that Mr. Brown's son had recently been killed and he wanted to replace his son with Sam. Mr. Brown convinced his own family that Sam was a homeless kid who they should adopt. Mr. Brown threatened to kill Sam's family if he tried to contact the police or run home. As shown in the image below, Mr. Brown used his large size to intimidate the diminutive Sam:

Casual observers of the show have noted the strong resemblance between Mr. Brown and professional wrestler Arn Anderson. I suspect that Sam was kidnapped while asking for an autograph. He probably threatened to kill Mr. Drummond with an atomic drop, spine buster, body slam, Boston Crab, or Cleveland Steamer.



Fans of Diff'rent Strokes were very happy when Sam was kidnapped because they assumed that he was being written off the show. Unfortunately, Sam was rescued when he telephoned Arnold and was able to provide the phone number from where he was calling. The police later picked him up. I thought that the conclusion of that episode was very unrealistic.

Sam was a bratty kid and I always thought that the more likely conclusion would have involved the kidnapper giving Sam up on his own. Sam was most likely a bed wetter until he was 13 years old and probably pissed his pants while sleeping at the home of his kidnappers. The kidnapper's entire house must have reeked of the smell of urine after a couple days. The stench probably would have been unbearable, leading the kidnapper to voluntarily give up Sam.

Cooksey's character helped run Diff'rent Strokes into the ground, leading to its cancellation in 1986, after the eighth season. After the cancellation of Diff'rent Strokes, Cooksey co-starred as Kevin Cavanaugh in the TV sitcom, The Cavanaughs from 1986-1989. Cooksey subsequently had a role in one of the most successful films of the 1990s, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where he played the role, "ginger kid with mullet," a friend of star John Connor.






However, Cooksey's boyish looks faded when puberty hit and the demand for him in acting roles became practically non-existent. Cooksey has managed to keep busy over the years doing voice-over roles for crappy animated series and video games where he doesn't need to show his face. For example, he has had a speaking role in 24: The Game and in the cartoon, Xiaolin Showdown.

Cooksey has also ventured into music. He was the lead singer in the band Bad4Good in the early 1990s - that band released one CD, Refugee, in 1992. Here is a picture of his band. It appears as though they took this picture in order to appeal to pedophiles (Cooksey is on the far right in the photo):

Cooksey later participated in the bands Roadkill and Lucy's Milk. Cooksey is apparently a big fan of the Garfield comic strip because since 2004, he has been in a band called Arbuckle, which might be named after Jon Arbuckle, the owner of Garfield the cat in the comic strip.

Cooksey was a successful, albeit extremely annoying, child actor in the mid-1980s. However, once he boyish looks faded he was relegated to voice-over roles where he doesn't have to show his face. His career path has been somewhat similar, although not nearly as pathetic, as that of fellow ginger washed-up celebrity, Michael Oliver. For this and the other reasons discussed above, Danny Cooksey is one washed-up celebrity!