Kathy O’Dare with co-star Ron Howard from “Happy Days”

We often hear of the stars who made it, but not of the ones who don’t.  In the sad case of Kathy O’Dare, she’s on the nearly-made-it list.  Directors Gary Marshall and Richard Donner predicted she would be a big star.

Kathy’s career peaked in 1974 when she co-starred with Ron Howard on the pilot episode of “Happy Days”.  In Episode 1 titled “Going All the Way”, O’Dare is Mary Lou Mulligan, Richie Cunningham’s first girlfriend.  She was proposed at becoming a series regular.  This idea was dropped in favor of Richie’s friendships with Potsie, Ralph Malph and the Fonz.

After being dumped by ABC, Kathy moved on to guest roles on “The Brady Bunch”, “Kojak” and “Bronk”.  Film credits include “Eat My Dust”, “Texas Detour” and the ironically titled “The Greatest Thing that Almost Happened”.

Her downfall.  In 1975, Kathy O’Dare was raped by two strange men while on vacation in Hawaii.  Soon after, she suffered from a nervous breakdown.  She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Kathy was still able to finish college with an AA degree.  Unfortunately, her mental illness continued and she spent the rest of her life in and out of mental hospitals and halfway houses.

Kathy O’Dare committed suicide in 2010.

Kathy’s story is told in the biography “Is Everybody Happy? – The Untold Story of Kathy O’Dare” by her brother David D’Orazi.

Text © 2024 – ERN