Gavan O’Herlihy, best known for playing Richie and Joanie Cunningham’s disappearing brother Chuck on “Happy Days,” has died. He was 70.
O’Herlihy died in Bath, England on Sept. 15, his brother, Cormac O’Herlihy, confirmed to Variety. A cause of death was not disclosed, but his brother confirmed that it was not Covid-19.
After making an appearance on an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1973, O’Herlihy broke out on “Happy Days” as Chuck, the eldest Cunningham sibling. Chuck was a high school jock and was almost always seen carrying a basketball. He was played by three different actors — Ric Carrott in the show’s pilot, O’Herlihy for the first two seasons and Randolph Roberts for two episodes in Season 2 — giving way to the pejorative “Chuck Cunningham syndrome” to describe TV characters who disappeared from shows and were later written off as if they never existed.
After “Happy Days,...
O’Herlihy died in Bath, England on Sept. 15, his brother, Cormac O’Herlihy, confirmed to Variety. A cause of death was not disclosed, but his brother confirmed that it was not Covid-19.
After making an appearance on an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1973, O’Herlihy broke out on “Happy Days” as Chuck, the eldest Cunningham sibling. Chuck was a high school jock and was almost always seen carrying a basketball. He was played by three different actors — Ric Carrott in the show’s pilot, O’Herlihy for the first two seasons and Randolph Roberts for two episodes in Season 2 — giving way to the pejorative “Chuck Cunningham syndrome” to describe TV characters who disappeared from shows and were later written off as if they never existed.
After “Happy Days,...
- 11/12/2021
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
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