Howard, who played Moran’s on-screen brother Richie Cunningham, appeared on The Talk last week and discussed the late star’s unexpected passing.
“It’s been a rough time,” said Howard. “My stepmother Judy passed away a couple of months ago, so the Erin event really did hit hard. … I had no idea she was ill whatsoever … She was always the kid on the set, in a way. When I think of her then, which is how I choose to think of her, she was this feisty, spirited little girl.”
“It was kind of a boys club, we had all the guys goofing around … a lot of hijinks and goofy frat stuff going on,” he said of his years on the Happy Days set. “But I do remember a particular moment — we were in rehearsal, in our rehearsal clothes, and it was kind of turning into a shaving scream fight. And she did sneak up behind Henry Winkler with a pretty good shaving cream pie, and she got him.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE