Even after six and a half decades in the entertainment business, Happy Days star Marion Ross wasn't exactly jumping at the idea of writing her memoir. "I've always prided myself on living a quiet, careful life," she exclusively shares with Closer Weekly. "It's not exactly filled with drama." But when her talented son, Jim Meskimen, encouraged her to take the leap, memories started flooding back—like the time she made the legendary Cary Grant tear up on the set of 1959's Operation Petticoat. "One morning, Cary sat down beside me," she recalls. "I told him, 'I don't think I should go down in the submarine because I'm two months pregnant!' He started crying, and it was such a beautiful moment between us. Cary never had children at that point but always wanted them. Years later, he welcomed his daughter Jennifer."
Marion shining bright on Happy Days.
From Mrs. Cunningham to Memoirist: The Journey Begins
Most folks know Marion Ross from her unforgettable decade-long role as the warm and loving Mrs. Cunningham on Happy Days. But there's so much more to her story. Now, at the age of 89, Marion is opening up about her extraordinary life and career in her new memoir, My Days: Happy and Otherwise, available March 27. What fans might not expect are the heartfelt and sometimes challenging revelations about her personal life, including her struggles in an unhappy marriage to an alcoholic husband and her journey as a single mom. Through it all, Marion has remained resilient and determined. "I've learned how tough I am," she says with a smile. "Nothing can stop me once I set my mind to it." This tenacity was forged early in life as a middle child growing up in Minnesota.
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Her younger brother, Gordon Ross, battled tuberculosis of the bone and spent much of his childhood in and out of hospitals. Marion often felt overlooked and invisible. "Looking back, I think that lack of attention gave me a lot of drive," she reflects. "Inside, there was always a voice screaming, 'Look at me!' That's what made me become an actress." At 21, she shocked her parents by eloping with fellow actor Freeman "Effie" Meskimen, and her life took a dramatic turn.
Marion and her late husband Paul, who brought joy into her life after her first marriage ended.
A Career Takes Off, but Challenges Lie Ahead
As Marion's career began to soar—working alongside legends like Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, and Clark Gable—her personal life faced turbulence. She describes her first husband, Effie, as "unmotivated, moody, and a heavy drinker." They had two children together,
