American actor Albert Francis Molinaro was born as Umberto Francesco Molinaro on the 24th June 1919 in Kenosha, Wisconsin and passed away on 30th October 2015. He was married and has a son.
Whilst in high school, he found out that he had this ability of speaking in public. In his early 20s, Al took a bus to Los Angeles to try his luck as an actor. He then travelled to California and worked several jobs and eventually started his own debt collection business. Later he decided to sell it and began to invest in real estate. It went very well, so much so that the money earned from this venture permitted him to embark on an acting career.
In the 60s and 70s, Al took acting lessons and was offered small roles in some TV sitcoms like ‘Bewitched’ and ‘Green Acres’ amongst others. Between 1970 and 1975, he played the role of a policeman in the sitcom ‘The Odd Couple’. Then, the following year, he was given the role of Al Delvecchio in the famous sitcom ‘Happy Days’ alongside Henry Winkler and Ron Howard. This show ran for 10 years, however, Al left 2 years earlier to act in ‘Joanie loves Chachi’.
Until the end of his acting career in 2003, Molinaro starred in some more TV sitcoms like ‘Fantasy Island’ and ‘Family Man’ plus appearing in numerous TV commercials. He was also a guest on a TV show called ‘Happy Days Reunion Special’ aired in 1992.
Al passed away on 30th October 2015 from a gallbladder infection at the age of 96.