Happy Days Star Erin Moran, Dead At 56 of throat cancer.

Some of you don't like Baio because of his politics. We get it.
RIP Erin.

 

Godspeed, Shortcake.

 

That's sad. Glad I was raised differently. I have a family member that is very difficult, but I will always try to help him if I could. Unless they murder someone, family should be bonded forever.

 

You don't think the substance abuse problems killed her? Well, let's just say the cancer got there first. In time, after looking at her 2012 photos, the abuse would have found another way to kill her. And "in poor taste to start commenting on the problems of the deceased?" Not in my opinion. That's the perfect time and example to show the "living", who are abusers, "what" lies ahead for them if they don't seek help. All this sucks to me as well. I was a fan. Hell, she was the same age as me. Always thought she was hot as hell. Who knew? I have my own life and problems and never followed what the heck "Joannie" from Happy Days was up to these days. She had many positive roads she could have travelled down, even if she never stepped in front of a camera again. No contact with her family, no children, etc.. Seems like an indicator to me that something was amiss. Her photos from the last 6 years or so are shocking. Sure, we all age. But she looked horrible. Substance abuse was written all over those photos, long before the cancer appeared. I can only hope that her death helps someone else in a similar situation before it's too late for them as well.

 

And again, I have to reiterate what I've already mentioned several times, which is that I'm not disagreeing with you at all. As I said, I've often been the teetotaler among a group of drinkers. I get it 100%.

I'm making a more broad point that many folks who tend to be supercilious about "drugsandalcohol" (as in always lumping them together) often are still regular drinkers, and/or people who say they "never drink" still have drank on occasion. Baio may or may not fall into either of these categories. As I mentioned, he mentioned one time never having had one sip of coffee in his life. If true, then I certainly buy that he's never had one drop of alcohol touch his lips.

But again, no need to reiterate that "people who don't drink exist in the world"; I'm well aware they do, I'm one of them, and don't need further examples.

 

I didn't keep up with her problems before and I won't be investigating them now. All I know is that according to doctors it was cancer that killed her, and I'm not going to be wasting my time trying to create an alternate narrative. As I stated, I think it was pretty well understood that she had mental and substance abuse problems for several years but in the end, it was cancer that killed her. Most people understand that substance abuse is dangerous and deadly and pointing at Erin Moran and saying, "See kiddies, that's what drugs will do to ya" doesn't seem like a particularly appropriate or potentially effective message.

 

People seem legitimately disgusted by Baio's poor taste and sanctimony. But sure, they are just being mean to him for other supposed reasons. Poor guy.

 

Lifting a quote and not attributing it to anyone because there seems to be multiple people unwilling to acknowledge the link between her cancer and it's probable cause. Sure, there's a chance that removing these factors would have ended in the same result, but it's a very slim chance.

From Merck's website.
....oral squamous cell carcinomas, most of which occur after age 50. As with most head and neck sites, squamous cell carcinoma is the most common oral cancer.

The chief risk factors for oral squamous cell carcinoma are

• Smoking (especially > 2 packs/day)
  
• Alcohol use

Risk increases dramatically when alcohol use exceeds 6 oz of distilled liquor, 15 oz of wine, or 36 oz of beer/day. The combination of heavy smoking and alcohol abuse is estimated to raise the risk 100-fold in women and 38-fold in men.

Emphasis added by me.


On that note;
I wish you would have accepted help. RIP Erin.



Btw, I had a close family friend, dad's friend, die of throat cancer. It also went fast. He was a great guy and I miss him. He was a Vietnam vet, SGT with a Purple Heart plus two oak leaf clusters. Anyone that knew him misses him. He's been gone 12 years now and I still visit him at a local national cemetery not far from where I work.
He smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, and was a welder 40+ hours a day. I accept that his lifestyle most likely contributed to his early death. It is sad that it happens but we can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend that it doesn't happen.

 

Just for clarification I was NOT trying to DENY any link between her substance abuse and her cancer, my point was that I did not think it helpful to go on a rant about the dangers of substance abuse in the wake of Erin Moran's death. I thought I was pretty clear about that. But the plain fact is, I'm not her doctor, and a damn lot of people smoke, drink, and do all kinds of drugs for years and don't develop throat cancer, and a lot of people don't do those things and do develop throat cancer. I think it's enough to note that her mental and substance abuse issues clearly made most of her adult life very unpleasant and not try to draw a direct line from substance abuse to death from cancer. Yes, bad habits GREATLY increase the risk for cancer and hundreds of other physical and mental and practical problems. I think we're all aware of that, so chumming it all up again seems a bit inappropriate for an RIP thread.

 

Baio has suggested the same thing. That seems to me to be a classic example of portraying himself as a victim rather than taking responsibility for his own statements and actions. "Boo hoo, people are picking on me because of my politics."

 

Tough decisions ahead for anyone with a Scott Baio tattoo, an Erin Moran tattoo, and only one piece of sandpaper!

 

Scott sounds like a true snowflake.

 

No other person is more closely associated with Moran's professional career than Baio was. People are going to listen to what he says.

Additionally, his comments likely were salt in the wounds for Moran's family and friends. They watched her suffer and die. The last thing they needed to hear was Baio spouting off his half-baked comments.

Had he left his comments at that, it would have been fine. But then he decided to speculate on the cause of her death, despite not having any contact with her for "many years" (his own words), and then basically said it's what she had coming to her based on her past lifestyle choices. He showed very little class or empathy towards Moran or those who were truly close to her.

My dislike of Baio's comments have ZERO to do with his politics. When someone acts like an a**, they shouldn't be immune from criticism just because they support one political candidate or another. It's funny how Baio said that Moran needed to take responsibility for her actions, but he isn't taking any responsibility for what he said. He's just blaming the negative reaction on his political standings.

 

This is absolutely accurate. I had two different ear nose and throat doctors tell me the same thing. If caught early enough is can be successfully treated - most times without surgery - resulting in a good prognosis.

 

And he most likely did not know Erin had throat cancer. He was probably one of the cast members trying to reach out to help her. He was more than likely frustrated and blue in the face trying to talk to her and trying to help her change course. The only thing he saw was drugs and alcohol killing her. I'm not surprised at all what came out of his mouth.

 

His comments about her self-medication choices were directly connected to erroneous news reports about her dying from drug abuse. Class and empathy don't come into the equation when someone is trying to warn others about the dangers of self-medication through drug abuse.

 

I don't recall seeing any reports that said she died from drug abuse. Even if there were erroneous reports that tied her death with drug abuse, he should have had the common sense to wait until an official cause of death was announced. He clearly wasn't close to Moran in recent years and had no idea of what she went through.

 

There were initial erroneous news reports of her dying from drug abuse. Baio knew that Eric struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, which is enough of a reason to warn others from travelling the same deadly road regardless of whether she actually died from it or not. Even if it didn't kill Erin, alcohol and drugs still kill too many loved ones and drunk driving victims every year. Somehow MADD gets a pass from people when they talk about people dying needlessly, but Scott Baio, a caring friend and co-worker, isn't important enough to have an opinion about needless death and share it with others.

 

Baio could be more accurately described as a former friend and co-worker. He admitted that he hadn't talked with her for "many years." True friends, like Anson Williams, stayed in regular contact with her and knew of her illness. Indeed, there was likely a good reason nobody bothered to tell Baio of her illness. She either didn't want him to know or he simply wasn't important enough in her life.

As for the message about drug and alcohol abuse, none of what Baio said is exactly groundbreaking news. It just came off as insensitive preaching by someone who didn't know the true story of Moran's passing.

 

Very sad.....I love that sh0w!!

 

Yes, I'm in a quandary.

 

I never liked Scott Baio and I didn't know or care what his politics were.

We all can play Dr. Oz but regardless of what substances Erin Moran took, Baio thought Erin died from drugs and jumped the gun, gleefully. Now that the cause of death was Stage 4 cancer, he's trying to back out of the room like a little boy. He should have kept his fool mouth shut from jump and just offered his condolences.

 

‘Happy Days’ Cast Reunites at Erin Moran’s Memorial

 

Where is Fonzie? And wicked nice to see the mother and Richie! I don't know who the other three are though.

 

Chachi, Jenny P, Mrs C, Potsie, Ritchie and Ralph