Celebrity News April 24, 2017
Erin Moran’s Sad Final Days — ‘Likely' Cause of Death Revealed
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Over the weekend, “Happy Days” star Erin Moran was found dead the age of 56.
The Harrison County Sheriff Department released the following statement Monday morning on Facebook: “Erin Moran Fleishmann passed away at her residence located in New Salisbury, Indiana. A subsequent autopsy revealed that Mrs. Moran likely succumbed to complications of stage 4 cancer.”
The statement continued, “Standard toxicology tests were performed and the results are pending, however, no illegal narcotics were found at the residence."
According to People magazine, Moran stayed alive with the help of a feeding tube while living at a trailer park. A law enforcement source revealed that a GI tube was found during the autopsy, saying, "It was indicative when they did the autopsy that she was receiving medical care. There were no illicit substances or anything to suggest foul play.”
DailyMail.com recently reported that Moran was broke and homeless in Indiana's Harrison County.
After her death, O'Charley's restaurant employee Amanda Richard opened up about Moran, who was a regular at the Corydon restaurant for several years. Though Richard hadn't seen her in five years, she shared with Wave3 News, "She was really outgoing when she would come in here. She would brighten your day up within seconds of seeing her. As soon as you'd see her, I'd smile. I'd get all these feelings inside. I was so happy to see her."
In 2012, Erin was seen living at a Holiday Inn Express in Corydon, 130 miles away from Indianapolis, when she "caused a disturbance of some type,” according to E! News.
At the time, reporter-photographer Alan Stewart told E! News that several residents "had seen [Moran] at local bars, just kind of hanging with the locals. No big deal.”
Before her Holiday Inn Express sighting, Moran was reportedly living in a trailer park with husband Steve Fleischmann and his mom in Corydon after being evicted from her home in California. She was allegedly kicked out of her mother-in-law's mobile home after an ugly altercation. A source told National Enquirer, "She finally did leave, but Steve's mom was right on her heels, chasing her out of the trailer, shouting at Erin as she made her way across the yard to their car. Steve's mom was standing in the street in a nightgown and hair curlers, and the two women were screaming profanities at each other.”
Her last acting credit was in 2010 for her appearance in “Not Another B Movie.”
In 2011, Moran walked away with $65,000 after reaching a settlement in a suit over merchandising relating to “Happy Days.”
Following her death, former child actor Paul Petersen, who founded the support group A Minor Consideration to help child actors and other child laborers, wrote on Facebook, "She was so far away in Indiana. The help she ran from was right here, as close as a call.”
He went on, “I am proud of our efforts over the years to help Erin Moran whose troubles were many and complex. Don't doubt for a moment that we tried…sincerely tried through time and treasure…to give comfort to one of our own. At least a half-dozen [former child stars] were actively reaching out to Erin in the last week of her life... From Paris to London, from New York to LA, our members were in there pitching, doing what they could to help. Do not doubt that for a minute. Erin had friends and she knew it. Abandonment was not the issue.”
