On A Pale Horse

A little known wired fact about Happy Days is that the character played by Al Molinaro 'Alfred 'Al' Delvecchio' was named after Red Wing great Alex Delvecchio. I can't remember where I heard that from, it just seems to be one of those useless knowledge items that I can't seem to drop out of my head. I always thought that Arnolds was named after Al, it wasn't until I looked it up on imdb that I saw Matsuo 'Arnold' Takahashi character came first. I guess that's why I would bomb the '70's sitcom' portion of Jeopardy.

Mr. Morita's had a pretty crappy start in life. He was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis that left him in body casts and immobile until he was 11, at which time he had to learn how to walk all over again. Shortly after he got back on his feet World War 2 started and he was shipped off to a Japanese interment camp for the duration of the war.

He started his acting career by becoming a stand up comedian and working with the LA Group the Groundlings.

I'm not a huge Miyagi fan - I liked Mr. Morita more as Captian Sam Pak, but I guess that just a personal thing.

Mr. Morita passed away on Thanksgiving Day from natural causes, surrounded by his wife, ex-wife and his children.

June 28, 1932 - November 24, 2005
RIP

Labels: 1932 births, 2005 November deaths, actor, natural causes

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