Al Molinaro, a beloved character actor who is best known for his role on Happy Days, has died. The actor was 96.
Molinaro’s son told TMZ that he died at a California hospital on Friday after he suffered complications from gall stones. The actor decided not to have surgery because of his age.
During the early 1970s, Molinaro was regularly on TV in The Odd Couple with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, starring as police officer Murray Greshler. In 1974, Happy Days launched, and he played Al Delvecchio, who owned the diner frequented by the characters played by Ron Howard, Henry Winkler and others. He was a series regular from 1974 to 1984 and even starred in the spin-off Joannie Loves Chachi.
Molinaro famously said “yup-yup-yup-yup” throughout the series. He became such a big part of Happy Days that when Weezer recreated the show’s time period of the 1950s for the “Buddy Holly” music video, they asked him to make an appearance.
Despite his success in television, Molinaro never really hit it big in movies. He did appear in Disney’s original Freaky Friday, but spent most of his career in television. He also appeared in episodes of The Love Boat, Love, American Style, Green Acres, Fantasy Island and The Family Man.
According to The New York Times, Molinaro is survived by his son, his second wife Betty and three grandchildren.