Happy Days actor Al Molinaro dies aged 96

AL MOLINARO, the actor who played ‘Big Al’ in US sitcom Happy Days died November 1 at the age of 96.

The actor’s son Michael said he died due to complications from a gallstone infection in a California hospital.

Molinaro played the role of Al for two years and appeared in more than 100 episodes. The role was originally played by Pat Morita who left the show to act in The Karate Kid as Mr Miyagi.

“When you live with a character as long as I have, you know how he would talk in almost any situation,” Molinaro told the LA Times.

Scott Baio, who starred alongside Al Molinaro in Happy Days and the spin-off show, paid tribute by tweeting:  “Al, the sweetest man I ever knew. I will miss you.”

“In the industry, they used to consider us like a bubble-gum show. But I think they overlooked one thing. To the public in America, Happy Days was an important show, and I think it was and I think it still is,” Nolinaro said in 1992 on a Happy Days reunion show.                                                                                                                                                                                  

After the actor retired, he starred in commercials and also he set up a chain of diners called Big Al’s.