Latest news with #Goodfriend
Daily Mail
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 70s actress known for playing Happy Days star's girlfriend is unrecognizable on rare outing... can you guess who?
Fans of classic television were delighted to spot one of Happy Days' most memorable stars out and about in Los Angeles this week, as the actress made a rare appearance at age 71. The TV favorite looked effortlessly radiant behind the wheel of her SUV, flashing a sunny smile. Dressed in a laid-back blue plaid shirt and well-worn jeans, she was nearly unrecognizable from her glammed-up days on-screen—especially when compared to the flashy showgirl attire she sported in her short-lived 1977 spinoff Blansky's Beauties. The Florida-born actress didn't stop with sitcom fame, later popping up in fan-favorite films like Beaches and Pretty Woman. She even took on a risqué role in the 1994 comedy Exit to Eden alongside Rosie O'Donnell. Can you guess which iconic supporting star this is? Dressed in a laid-back blue plaid shirt and well-worn jeans, she was nearly unrecognizable from her glammed-up days on-screen—especially when compared to the flashy showgirl attire she sported in her short-lived 1977 spinoff Blansky's Beauties If you guessed Lynda Goodfriend, you nailed it! Goodfriend joined Happy Days in its fifth season as Lori Beth Allen, Richie Cunningham's wholesome college sweetheart, eventually becoming his wife in a special long-distance wedding ceremony officiated via telephone from Army training. Though originally introduced as a recurring character, Lynda's warm chemistry with Ron Howard and endearing screen presence quickly made her a fan favorite, earning her a more regular role in the later seasons. Happy Days ended in 1984, after running for 11 seasons and a total of 255 episodes. 'Without a doubt, the eight years I spent on the hit TV show, Happy Days, playing Lori Beth, Ron Howard's girlfriend, were the most fun of all the work I've done,' she told the New York Film Academy in 2023. She added, 'I also toured with a Broadway production called Good News with Alice Faye. 'We did nine months on the road before we opened on Broadway, performing and getting reviews in all the major cities in the US. Being on tour – That was a blast!' Goodfriend graduated from Coral Gables High School in Florida and went on to earn a BFA in drama from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Before her breakout on Happy Days, she starred as Ethel 'Sunshine' Akalino on the short-lived series Blansky's Beauties and later joined Happy Days alongside co-star Scott Baio. She first appeared on the show in a guest role as Kim during Season 4 before returning in Season 5 as the beloved Lori Beth, Richie Cunningham's sweet-natured girlfriend and eventual wife. Goodfriend remained on the show for eight seasons, becoming a fan favorite and staple of the series. Beyond her sitcom fame, she appeared in several Garry Marshall films, including Pretty Woman, Beaches, Nothing in Common, and Exit to Eden. She also performed on Broadway in Good News (1974) and appeared in classic productions like Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, and She Loves Me. Behind the scenes, she directed TV projects, including the pilot Four Stars, and in 2009, the short film The Perfect Crime. Goodfriend also founded the Actors Workout Theater and School in NoHo, worked in talent management, and currently serves as acting chair at the New York Film Academy.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Woman with ALS explains decision to die with medical assistance
When CBS News visited Barbara Goodfriend's home in New Jersey, it was crowded with family and friends — a place that seemed full of life. So it was hard to process that it was also a place where she was determined to die just 24 hours later. "It's been a week of family, friends. We've done a lot of crying, all of us, but we've laughed. We've enjoyed being together," Goodfriend said. Last April, Goodfriend was diagnosed with ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that attacks the nervous system and robs people of their muscle control. The 83-year-old widow spent decades working in fashion while raising her only daughter. After a doctor told her she might not live through the fall, she deteriorated quickly and suffered falls that caused bruises on her face. Rather than suffer, Goodfriend has chosen what's known as "Medical Aid in Dying," or MAID. A doctor prescribes a mixture of lethal medication. The patient must have six months or less to live, be of sound mind and must administer it themselves. The procedure is different than euthanasia — when a doctor gives a patient a lethal injection — which is illegal in the U.S. Goodfriend says she doesn't want to die, but she also doesn't want to continue living with a terminal disease. "What am I going to give this up for? To be in a wheelchair? To have a feeding tube? I wish I had more time to live, but I don't want more time as a patient," Goodfriend said. "I hope that something will get done, something will be accomplished, so that others can have the privilege that I'm having." Dying with medical assistance is currently legal in 10 states and Washington, D.C., but eight other states are considering similar laws this year, according to the nonprofit Death with Dignity. Dr. Robin Plumer has attended nearly 200 deaths in New Jersey, where MAID was made legal in 2019. The law doesn't require Goodfriend to have a doctor at her bedside on her final day, but she wanted Plumer there. "You're going to drink this medicine and drift off into sleep and you're going to just feel all the love and support," Plumer said. Goodfriend says no one tried to talk her out of it. Her daughter, Carol, helped her through the process. "I think the hardest part in all of this, for me as her only child, is to support something so difficult and so contrary to what you want to do. The ultimate love that you can give somebody is to respect their wish, to live the way they wanna live, and to die the way they want to die," Carol said. Goodfriend's last day of life was spent with her loved ones in a room full of unmistakable emotion. But the calmest one there was the woman in bed who'd made the choice to die. "I'm not afraid of dying...I was afraid of living," Goodfriend said. Trump's statement on New Jersey drones issued at White House press briefing AI stocks plunge as China's DeepSeek sends shock wave through Wall Street U.S. troops head to southern border as deportations continue
CBS News
29-01-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Woman with ALS explains "Medical Aid in Dying" decision: "I don't want more time as a patient"
When CBS News visited Barbara Goodfriend's home in New Jersey, it was crowded with family and friends — a place that seemed full of life. So it was hard to process that it was also a place where she was determined to die just 24 hours later. "It's been a week of family, friends. We've done a lot of crying, all of us, but we've laughed. We've enjoyed being together," Goodfriend said. Last April, Goodfriend was diagnosed with ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that attacks the nervous system and robs people of their muscle control. The 83-year-old widow spent decades working in fashion while raising her only daughter. After a doctor told her she might not live through the fall, she deteriorated quickly and suffered falls that caused bruises on her face. Rather than suffer, Goodfriend has chosen what's known as "Medical Aid in Dying," or MAID. A doctor prescribes a mixture of lethal medication. The patient must have six months or less to live, be of sound mind and must administer it themselves. The procedure is different than euthanasia — when a doctor gives a patient a lethal injection — which is illegal in the U.S. Goodfriend says she doesn't want to die, but she also doesn't want to continue living with a terminal disease. "What am I going to give this up for? To be in a wheelchair? To have a feeding tube? I wish I had more time to live, but I don't want more time as a patient," Goodfriend said. "I hope that something will get done, something will be accomplished, so that others can have the privilege that I'm having." Dying with medical assistance is currently legal in 10 states and Washington, D.C., but eight other states are considering similar laws this year, according to the nonprofit Death with Dignity. Dr. Robin Plumer has attended nearly 200 deaths in New Jersey, where MAID was made legal in 2019. The law doesn't require Goodfriend to have a doctor at her bedside on her final day, but she wanted Plumer there. "You're going to drink this medicine and drift off into sleep and you're going to just feel all the love and support," Plumer said. Goodfriend says no one tried to talk her out of it. Her daughter, Carol, helped her through the process. "I think the hardest part in all of this, for me as her only child, is to support something so difficult and so contrary to what you want to do. The ultimate love that you can give somebody is to respect their wish, to live the way they wanna live, and to die the way they want to die," Carol said. Goodfriend's last day of life was spent with her loved ones in a room full of unmistakable emotion. But the calmest one there was the woman in bed who'd made the choice to die. "I'm not afraid of dying...I was afraid of living," Goodfriend said.
