Real-Life Couples of ‘Happy Days’: See Who the Cast Dated and Married Off-Screen!

Happy Days was one of the biggest comedy hits on TV in the 1970s, not only tapping into that decade’s obsession with ’50s nostalgia, but capturing the hearts and imaginations of millions of viewers during its 11 season run between 1974 and 1984. It featured beloved characters that were invited into their homes week after week, whether it was the friendship between Ron Howard’s Richie and Henry Winkler‘s Fonzie, interactions of the Cunningham family or the growing romance between Erin Moran’s Joanie and Scott Baio’s Chachi. And the deeper the connection fans felt with them, the more they began to wonder if any of the Happy Days cast experienced real-life romances and, if so, who the off-screen couples were.

The real-life romance of Erin Moran and Scott Baio

As it turns out, there was only one on-screen connection that bled over into real life and that was between Erin Moran and Scott Baio. Erin had bee a part of the show from the beginning, playing kid sister to Richie and daughter of Marion and Howard Cunningham (Marion Ross and Tom Bosley), while Scott was cast as Fonzie’s cousin in season 5. Chachi was instantly attracted to Joanie, though at first she couldn’t stand him and it actually took until season 7 before they started to date. After that romantic element was added, the popularity of their relationship resulted in the 1982 to 1983 spinoff, Joanie Loves Chachi, though the actors and characters eventually came back to Happy Days where they had their ups and downs. They were married in the series finale.

America certainly felt the connection between Erin and Scott, and the duo did as well, deciding to date each other briefly during the late 1970s. But their off-screen “relationship,” if you want to call it that, didn’t last very long and after a few dates, they decided to keep it professional off-camera.

Ron Howard’s on-screen love story

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On camera, the first long-lasting relationship on Happy Days was the one between Ron Howard (all grown up from his days as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show) as Richie and Lynda Goodfriend as Lori Beth Allen, who began dating in season 5. Things continued even after Ron left the series at the conclusion of season 7, the explanation for Richie’s disappearance being that he was in the army, but he and Lori Beth got married — over the phone — in season 8.

Fonzie’s many romances

Fonzie dated many, many … many women over the course of the series, but when the show reached season 10, it looked like the Fonz was ready to settle down when he met single mom Ashley Pfister (Linda Purl), with his becoming a father figure to her daughter, Heather (the late Heather O’Rourke from the Poltergeist films). Unfortunately, that relationship didn’t make it to the end of Happy Days‘ run.

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Off-screen love stories of the ‘Happy Days’ cast

So while there weren’t many long-lasting romantic relationships in the show itself, in contrast, most of the Happy Days cast did find love — in some instances multiple times — in their personal lives, and you can see them and their significant others in the images that follow. And there’s no need to thank us — it’s what we do. Ayyyyyy!

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