Steven Fleischmann is the husband of late American actress Erin Moran. She gained recognition following her portrayal of the character Joanie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days, as well as its spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi. Although most people know a lot of details about Erin, the same does not apply to Steven who all many people know about is the fact that he grieved for his wife so deeply.
Fleischmann has never been as popular as his wife, both during her lifetime and now that she is no more, but for the simple reason that Erin spent about 25 years of her life with him and also had him beside her, holding her hand until she passed on, makes him worth writing about. To learn all there is to know about this man who supported his wife against all odds until death did them part, continue reading.
Who is Steven Fleischmann?
Steven Fleischmann was born by Donna May Woods (mother) on the 23rd of June 1967. To date, information about the identity of his father, whether he has siblings or not, his childhood and educational background, has not filtered into the media. As a matter of fact, all available information about Steven centres on his late wife Erin so before we start unveiling facts about him, it is only right that we first let you know how the duo got together.
Prior to getting married to Steven Fleischmann, Erin Moran was married to a man named Rocky Ferguson from 1987 to 1993. Within the time their marriage lasted, Rocky did not want her to be recognizable to fans. According to the actress, he wanted her to be an ordinary person in public and if anyone recognized her for her on-screen fame, she was to deny being an actress. Because of this among other reasons, Erin and her first husband got divorced.
Later in 1993, precisely on November 23rd, Steven Fleischmann tied the knot with the actress, having met her on April 22, 1992. Their marriage progressed through a lot of hard times, including Erin’s alcohol addiction, use of drugs and hard-partying lifestyle. Everything she made during her active acting days went with this way of life and even when all the money was gone, her addictions stuck with her and pulled her farther away from the success she once recorded in her acting career.
In 2010, the couple had no choice but to move into Steven’s mother’s Berkshire Pointe Mobile Home Park trailer home in New Salisbury, Indiana, after Erin’s California home was foreclosed. However, unable to deal with Erin’s hard-partying lifestyle, Donna kicked them out of her home. Thereafter, they lived in different motels before eventually getting a trailer home in a park. It was there that Steven Fleischmann lived with his wife until her death.
Steven Fleischmann’s Career
Before his marriage to the actress, Steven Fleischmann was a Walmart employee but it seems he stopped working there afterwards. This assumption was informed due to the fact that Erin once blurted out that she was the bread-winner of their home during an altercation with Steven in a bar. In confirmation, the National Enquirer reported that Steven and Erin were living off of the cash settlement the latter received from CBS over merchandising royalties.
His Kids
Steven Fleischmann and Erin were married for 24 years from November 23, 1993, to April 22, 2017, but never had any kids together. Steven is also not known to have any child/children either in the past or after the death of his wife.
Fleischmann’s Statement After Moran’s Death
In a bid to get the press off his back, Steven Fleischmann released a statement regarding the death of his wife. According to him, they noticed a dime-sized bloodstain on Erin’s pillowcase in November 2016, just a few days after their 23rd wedding anniversary, but she dismissed it as nothing serious, saying she must have bitten her tongue. A couple of days later, the bloodstain was seen again and it was bigger this time.
By December 4th, the blood was even more so Steven decided to take a look at Erin’s mouth and discovered it was her left tonsil, not her tongue. Thinking it was tonsillitis, they went to an ENT who conducted a test and the result came back as cancer. She commenced treatment immediately but alas, her condition deteriorated very fast.
By mid-February 2017, the actress could neither talk, eat nor drink so, she was fed through a feeding tube implant. This notwithstanding, she was still happy, active and sent text messages to people on her phone all through the day. Sadly, on the 21st of February, she started having difficulty breathing and woke up worse the next day.
Having gone out to get her Kleenex from the store, Steven returned and met her watching television in bed. He laid in bed beside her, holding her right hand in his left and slept off. Upon waking up about one hour later, with her hand still in his, he realized she was dead, on April 22, 2017, exactly 25 years later on the same day they met.
