Marion Cunningham (née Kelp) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

in the 1970s American television sitcom ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

''. She was played by

Marion Ross Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom ''Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she receive ...

, after whom the character was named, and first appears in the ''

Love American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a part of ABC's Friday primetime lineup t ...

'' episode "Love and the Happy Days". She is one of three characters to remain on the show for all 11 seasons. She is also one of three characters to be played by the same actors on ''Love American Style'' as well as ''Happy Days'' (the others being

Richie Richie or Richy is a masculine given name or short form (hypocorism) of Richard. It is also a surname. First name *Richie Ashburn (1927–1997), American Major League Baseball player, member of the Hall of Fame *Richie Benaud (1930–2015), Austra ...

and Potsie).

Bio

Marion Cunningham is the wife of Howard Cunningham and the mother of

Joanie Joanie or Joannie is a feminine given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from ...

, and (briefly)

Chuck Cunningham ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

; she sometimes plays the role of a surrogate mother to

Fonzie Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz", is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lea ...

, who usually called her "Mrs. C". She is a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

and does what housewife stereotypes normally do: cooking, cleaning, and looking after the kids while her husband is at work. Marion once became frustrated by her life as a housewife and fell out with Howard about it. Fonzie encouraged her to work at Arnold's as a waitress but she insulted Al's menu and interfered with people's orders (see "Marion Rebels" from

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

). Marion became worried that Howard would leave her for a younger woman after she found out that one of her friends left his wife for a younger woman. She tries to prove to him that she is still young at heart but she goes completely over the top, Salome-style (see "Marion's Misgivings" from

Season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

). Marion once went to jail after crashing Howard's beloved DeSoto into Arnold's (see "Marion Goes to Jail" from

Season 7 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

).YouTube
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Marion Happy Days characters Fictional characters from Milwaukee Television characters introduced in 1972