Henry Winkler and Ron Howard lead tributes to their Happy Days co-star Erin Moran after actress who played feisty teenager Joanie Cunningham dies aged 56 of suspected heroin overdose

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Erin Moran, who shot to fame playing teenager Joanie Cunningham in 1970s sitcom Happy Days, has died at the age of 56.

Authorities found Moran’s body in Indiana following a call about an ‘unresponsive female about 4pm Saturday.

A source told DailyMail.com Moran, who lived in a trailer park in New Salisbury, Indiana, died of a suspected heroin overdose.

Her former co-stars including Henry Winkler and Ron Howard were quick to pay tribute to her on Twitter.

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Moran was just 14 when she signed on to play Joanie, the feisty little sister of Richie Cunningham on the show

Moran is pictured here in January 2013. The California native began acting before she was 10 years old

Winkler, who played Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli in the show, tweeted just moments after the death was announced: 'OH Erin, now you will finally have the peace you wanted so badly here on earth, Rest In It serenely now, too soon.' 

Howard, who played Richie Cunningham, tweeted a tribute to his on-screen little sister, saying: 'Such sad sad news. RIP Erin. I'll always choose to remember you on our show making scenes better, getting laughs and lighting up tv screens.'

A Burbank, California native, Moran began acting in TV and movies before she was 10 years old. She was just 14 when she signed on to play Joanie, the feisty little sister of Ron Howard's character Richie Cunningham, on Happy Days.

She became a household name as a result of her performance on the show, which started in 1974 and ran for almost a decade.

Her downward spiral became evident in September 2012, when she was photographed looking worse for wear outside a Holiday Inn in Corydon, Indiana, after reportedly being kicked out of the trailer she shared with her husband Steve Fleischmann. She is pictured left in 2009, and right with Fleischmann on September 25, 2012

Henry Winkler has led the tribute to his former Happy Days co-star Erin Moran, who has been found dead at 56

She continued the role in 1982 in the short-lived spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi, alongside Scott Baio, until it was canceled the following year. 

More of her former co-stars commented after hearing about her tragic death. Anson Williams, who played Warren 'Potsie' Weber on the show told ABC 7: 'Erin was a person who made everyone around her feel better. She truly cared about others first, a true angel. I will miss her so much... she is in God's hands'. 

Don Most, who starred alongside Moran as Ralph Malph on the hit sitcom, said: 'She was a wonderful, sweet, caring, talented young woman... A very painful loss.'

After Joanie Loves Chachi, Moran's career essentially stalled, with the exception of several television guest spots, and an appearance in the 2007 independent comedy feature Not Another B Movie.

Howard also tweeted a tribute to his on-screen little sister, saying: 'Such sad sad news. RIP Erin. I'll always choose to remember you on our show making scenes better, getting laughs and lighting up tv screens'

Moran is remembered by former co-stars and on social media for the feisty and youthful character that she played in Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi

In 2008, she was a contestant on VH1's reality show Celebrity Fit Club. 

Her downward spiral became evident in September 2012, when she was photographed looking worse for wear outside a Holiday Inn in Corydon, Indiana, after reportedly being kicked out of the trailer she shared with her husband Steve Fleischmann.  

Erin was reportedly told to leave the trailer she'd been sharing with her husband by his mother, who was tired of her 'hard-partying ways.'

The National Enquirer reported earlier that year the couple had moved into the 'rundown trailer park' after losing their California home to foreclosure.

She continued the role in 1982 in the short-lived spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi, alongside Scott Baio, until its cancellation the following year

Happy Days was one of the most popular sitcoms of its time, and started in 1974 and ran for almost a decade

'Erin was going out to bars and coming home at all hours of the night, sometimes with her rowdy bar friends, and Steve's mom just couldn't take it anymore,' a source said.

The publication claimed Erin was 'bouncing' from motel to motel.

In the photographs, Moran was seen walking in a grey T-shirt and plaid shorts, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

Moran is pictured bottom left with the rest of the Happy Days cast. She shot to fame in that role throughout the 70s and 80s before her career essentially stalled 

Erin Moran appears alongside Scott Baio in a 1975 episode of Happy Days

She stood outside the motel with her husband Steve, who is also smoking, both of them looking worse for wear.

In other shots, Moran sat smoking with another man on a bench with two Great Danes. 

It was reported in 2013 she was on the verge of a split from her husband, who she married in 1993.

Happy Days' star Erin Moran was kicked out of a trailer home where she was living with her husband Steve Fleischmann and his mother

Erin Moran is pictured walking through a mobile home park in New Salisbury, Indiana in 2012

At the time they were understood to be living off a dwindling sum of money which was the result of a payout springing from a lawsuit filed by several Happy Days cast members in April 2011.

The actress and three of her Happy Days co-stars, Don Most, Anson Williams and Marion Ross, plus the estate of Tom Bosley, who died in 2010, filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show.

The suit claimed cast members had not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts.

In July 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS. Each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise by CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts.