Through the years, the two have remained particularly good buddies. Most stayed with the show for seven seasons, leaving in 1980, at the same time Ron Howard departed. And we all got along great, which I think translated to the show. “We loved what we were doing and were serious about it,” he recalls. Most has nothing but fond memories of “Happy Days” and his fellow cast members. Did I know it was going to be one of the most successful shows in TV history and run forever in re-runs? And that 30 years later, people would still be watching the DVDs? That I couldn’t have predicted.” “I told them, “I really think this is going to work.’ It had a good vibe about it. “I was very bubbly about it,” he recalls. He informed his roommates he wasn’t coming back to Lehigh and told his folks he felt the show was going to hit big. Most still remembers that after shooting the “Happy Days” pilot, he came back East to put his affairs in order before his permanent move to L.A. He booked “Happy Days” on his third audition and Lehigh University was in his rear-view mirror. scouring for acting jobs before going back to Lehigh in the fall. I didn’t give as much attention to my school work as I needed to.”ĭuring his junior year, Most made plans to spend the summer in L.A. “By my sophomore year, I had a car and I made a lot trips back home, probably more than I should have. “During my freshman year, I’d take the bus to the city,” he says. But even after he made the switch, he was restless, going back and forth to New York to see his girlfriend and to audition for stage and TV work. One semester of engineering convinced Most he should pursue a business degree. Moss enrolled at Lehigh as an engineering major because his accountant father and housewife mom wanted him to get a real education. By the age of 15, he was doing stand-up comedy in the Catskills and acting in television commercials.īut, back to Lehigh. But unlike “Happy Days” star Ron Howard, who has gone on to a high-profile filmmaking career, Most didn’t always want to direct.Īs a kid growing up in Brooklyn, he was obsessed with performing, especially after discovering “The Jolson Story,” a 1946 biopic about Al Jolson, on TV. Now on DVD after playing the festival circuit, it’s about an Hispanic teen hiding out from the law after killing two rednecks who beat him up and left him for dead. After years of directing theater in Los Angeles, he helmed “The Last Best Sunday” in 1999. There are so many other things that can bring you peace and contentment.” “Sure, it’s important to, but the emphasis on is out of balance. “Having a family made me realize that too much emphasis is placed on things of a material nature,” says Most, who developed the story for the straight-to-DVD film and shot it for a mere $1.5 million. They married in 1982 and, today, live in Agoura Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles, with their two daughters, 19 and 21. They began dating after she guest-starred on the series. Most’s perspective on life changed when he met his wife, actress Morgan Hart. I had all of these things going on and I was still not happy.” “I remember vividly there was a period when “Happy Days’ was at the top of the ratings and I was doing really well, at least as far as money was concerned. Most says he learned that lesson early on. In 1972, the actor landed the role of cut-up Ralph Malph on the hit TV series “Happy Days.” So enormous was the show’s popularity during its breakthrough third season that Most and Henry Winkler (aka Fonzie) would stir a Paramus, N.J., mall full of teenage girls to a full-out frenzy.īut even with a Porsche in the driveway, Steve is still suffering from panic attacks and vague feelings of depression, at least until he figures out the true meaning of success. In a matter of months, though, Don Most - then going by Donny - would be beating women off with a stick. In my sophomore year, women were finally admitted, even though there were probably 100 girls to 3,200 guys.” “But what made the junior year exciting was that the school had recently gone co-ed. “I loved how beautiful it was up on the hill,” recalls Most, now 54. He was still planning on living off-campus with a couple of his Sigma Alpha Mu frat brothers, still imagining he’d be a fixture at parties, football games and in productions by the Mustard and Cheese Dramatic Society. When Don Most began his junior year at Lehigh University in Bethlehem in 1972, he had no reason to believe big changes were in store for him.
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