R.I.P. Al Molinaro — dead at 96

A favourite character from my childhood....

Happy Days actor Al Molinaro dead at 96

Al Molinaro, the loveable character actor with the hangdog face who was known to millions of TV viewers for playing Murray the cop on "The Odd Couple" and malt shop owner Al Delvecchio on "Happy Days," died Friday at Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, his son Michael Molinaro said.

Molinaro, retired from acting since the 1990s, died of complications of gallstone problems, his son said. He was 96.

The Kenosha, Wisconsin, native was a journeyman performer well into middle age when a comedy improv class led to his breakthrough. Producer Garry Marshall heard about Molinaro and hired him for the part of police Officer Murray Greshler on The Odd Couple,...

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His next long-running role was that of Al Delvecchio in Happy Days, the 1974-1984 nostalgic sitcom about 1950s life that starred Ron Howard and Henry Winkler. Molinaro joined the cast in 1976, replacing Pat Morita as the owner of Arnold's Drive-In, and remained until 1982.

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Molinaro came to acting late in life. He had a brief teenage stint as a clarinet player with a band, then worked at a variety of jobs after graduating high school. He moved to California in the early 1950s on casual advice from a friend who suggested he pursue acting.

"I said, 'I'll do that,"' Molinaro told the Kenosha News in a 2004 interview. "I get on the Greyhound bus and I'm in Hollywood."

(CBC)

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