Happiness is surely not a given... RIP, Erin.

RIP Erin.

I was going to post this before I saw your post. RIP, Erin!

Many people my age are long gone. Died in their mid-30s many of them. These days it seems like people in their 50s are dropping like flies.

I looked up some recent pictures of her. She sure aged. Sounds like she may have been homeless for awhile.

She was a cutie on Happy Days. Sorry her life didn't end well.

Given her history, my guess is that her death was related to drinking. Several of my drinking buddies from years ago have already met the same fate. Alcoholics don't quit until they have hit their personal rock bottom and for some like Erin, that rock bottom is death.

I've known alcoholics (including my brother) who admitted their problem but just could not beat it

I should have died long ago too but one cold day back in December of 1991, I lost the taste for booze and haven't had a drop since. I was drinking a well over a case of beer a day up until that time and had the shakes and was seeing and hearing things.

Very sorry about your brother. I understand how you feel.

there's a lot of alcoholism in my family but oddly enough, us kids, it only hit him, but it hit him hard

Glad you found your way to a better life. And so sorry about your brother.

like so many others, her demons took her to an early grave

One minute they love you and the next minute you're yesterday's news.

Is it any wonder what happens to kids after show biz ?

A cute kid doesn't always grow up to be an attractive adult, so they aren't always able to continue their careers.

Even though there are laws to protect them, there are still way too many stage parents who give up their jobs and become their child's "manager". That's one thing that impressed me about the parents of Jacob Tremblay. He seems like a pretty normal kid. He and his 2 sisters are all actors, but their mom is a homemaker and their dad is a police detective.

They get parts because they're "hot." And then they're not.

Too many people I grew up with are following the same trajectory as Erin Moran. Checking up on my middle and high school classmates, the obituaries overshadow the successes.

Daring to make a political statement, I'll say that our high school "pot-heads" seem to be doing a lot better than the hardcore alcoholics. Hell, even the methadone crowd seems to be doing better, but that's only because so many of the hardcore druggies died in their late twenties and thirties.

It's a messed up world.

as with any person who has been sober for a long time I know but for circumstance it could be me. It is so sad that she never found serenity here may she find it now. I just wish she could have joined so many of her other cast mates into successful directing careers. Just heartbreaking.