Happy Days Actor Ditches Hollywood for Colorado With Jazz Dreams

When Donny Most, best known for his role as Ralph Malph on ’70s sitcom Happy Days, decided to leave Los Angeles after nearly fifty years, he wasn't looking for new opportunities or escaping the hustle of Hollywood. Instead, it was a deeply personal decision.

"My story is similar to that of many people who are moving: Our daughter married, and she and her husband had been living in Gunbarrel for a few years," Most says. "We weren't getting to see them very much, and we knew that she was pregnant, so with a granddaughter on the way, we made this decision to move to Colorado."

Now a Colorado resident for nearly eighteen months, Most has embraced the Rocky Mountain lifestyle. “It was a little tricky at first, because I've been in L.A. for almost fifty years, so it was a big move, but it was one of those that we felt we definitely had to make," he says. "It’s beautiful out here; the people have been terrific, and we get to see our granddaughter regularly. It’s been a big change, but absolutely the right one.”

Most will take the stage at Dazzle on Sunday, January 5, bringing his passion for jazz standards to life. He will be joined by the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra (MJO) to perform timeless classics popularized by legends such as Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and Dean Martin. This is Most's first performance in the Mile High City as a resident, and while many are unfamiliar with his music, the actor and director describes singing as his "first love."
Long before Most became a household name as Ralph on Happy Days, he was mesmerized by the Great American Songbook. “When I was about nine years old, I saw The Jolson Story, about singer Al Jolson. I was hooked," he says. "I watched it fifteen times in a week and started singing along to Al Jolson albums.”

That early fascination evolved into a deep love for the genre, with Most devouring the work of Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. At just fourteen years old, he began performing in a nightclub revue in New York’s Catskill Mountains.

“Music lit the performing fire under me," Most says. However, that fire was soon eclipsed by acting. By the early 1970s, Most was cast in Happy Days, a role that would define his career. As the show marked its fiftieth anniversary in 2024, Most reflected on its lasting legacy.

"It's kind of surreal at times that people still care about Happy Days," Most says. "At times it feels like it was just yesterday, and then at other times, it feels like another lifetime ago. You hear it all the time, and it sounds cliché, but we became like family. But it wasn't cliché — it was real. We got along pretty quickly, and it only got deeper as the show progressed."
Most attributes the show’s positive reception to its collaborative environment.

"You can attribute the success of the show to how well it was received by audiences, but I really think it’s because of our relationships; those come through, and that can't be faked," he says. "The chemistry amongst this group of people was a lightning-in-a-bottle kind of thing that you can never count on, but it just was all there, and you combine that with the fact that we all respected each other very much professionally. There was a lot of talent there, and we took the work very seriously."

It wasn’t until a decade ago, after a health scare, that Most decided to rekindle his passion for singing. "I had surgery, and there were complications, so I wound up being in the hospital much longer than I was supposed to be in," Most says. "I came out of it, and thank God, everything was fine. But after that, it hit me: I'd better start going back to the music that I love and put together a show that I had been wanting to make."

His first show, at a small jazz club in Los Angeles, was met with rave reviews. “People were saying, ‘Why didn’t you sing more on Happy Days?’ I was blown away by the response,” he says. Since then, Most has performed at iconic venues such as New York's 54 Below and Los Angeles's Catalina Jazz Club, as well as recorded albums such as Mostly Swinging, which features his unique take on beloved standards.

Now settled in Colorado, Most has found ways to continue performing while building connections with the local music scene.

"When we moved here, I had to stop performing music," he says. "But then, after a while, I met a guy from Colorado who had seen my show at the Catalina Jazz Club and had previously taught at CU. We became friendly, and he knew one of the people that own [Lafayette venue] Nissi's, and my producer from L.A. introduced me to the MJO guys. I met with them and we booked a show at Nissi's that was terrific. Because the MJO had previously worked with Dazzle, they spoke with the manager, which resulted in this booking in January."

The upcoming concert promises an evening of nostalgia and surprises.

“It’s not 1950s music,” Most clarified. “This is about the jazz standards and the Great American Songbook. I’ll do some Sinatra that everyone knows and some lesser-known barn burners. Every show is a little different. I haven’t performed anything in Denver yet, so I’m really looking forward to the experience."

Donny Most with MJO, Sunday, January 5, at Dazzle Denver, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1080 14th Street; tickets are $20. Learn more at dazzledenver.com.