[2][3] Erin Marie Moran was born on October 18, 1960, in Burbank, California, near Los Angeles and raised in nearby North Hollywood.

Her father was a finance manager, and her interest in acting was supported by her mother, who signed her with a talent agent when she was five years old.

[14] In 1983, Moran said in an interview that the Happy Days producers had pressured her to change from about the age of 15: They "suddenly wanted me to lose weight and become this sexy thing.

[15] She would become estranged from the Happy Days cast, with People claiming that she called them "evil" in an interview,[16] a statement she would deny on a later talk show.

[15] On April 19, 2011, Moran, three of her Happy Days co-stars—Don Most, Anson Williams, and Marion Ross—and the estate of Tom Bosley, who died in 2010, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show.

[19] In October 2011, a judge rejected the group's claim of fraud, thereby eliminating the possibility of recouping millions of dollars in damages.

[20] On June 5, 2012, a judge denied a motion to dismiss filed by CBS, which meant the case would go to trial on July 17 if not settled by then.

[24] After Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi were canceled, Moran moved from Los Angeles to the California mountains.

[5][28] An autopsy report from the Harrison County coroner indicated the cause of death to be complications of stage four throat cancer (squamous cell carcinoma).