{"id":108464,"date":"2021-12-02T16:12:13","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T21:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=108464"},"modified":"2021-12-02T16:12:55","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T21:12:55","slug":"laverne-and-shirley-actor-eddie-mekka-dead-at-69-entertainment-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=108464","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLaverne and Shirley\u201d Actor Eddie Mekka  Dead at 69 &#8211; Entertainment News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=108464\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=108464\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-108465 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/images-168x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"168\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>By Geoffrey Huchel<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Actor Eddie Mekka, known for his role as Carmine Ragusa, AKA the \u201cBig Ragu\u201d, on the classic sitcom LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY (1976-1983), passed away on November 27, 2021, at his home in Newhall, California. No cause of death was disclosed. He was 69.<\/p>\n<p>Born in Worcester, Massachusetts on June 14, 1952, Mekka moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s to pursue acting, and landed the role of Carmine Ragusa on LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY. He remained on the series until it was canceled. After the series ended Mekka continued to appear in several films and TV series. He guest-starred as Carmine Ragusa in two episodes of HAPPY DAYS (1974-1984), and was Madonna\u2019s dance partner in the bar scene for the film A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1994), directed by his LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY co-star Penny Marshall.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=108464\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=108464\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-108466 size-medium\" style=\"margin-left: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Ragoo-300x175.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Ragoo-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Ragoo-768x448.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Ragoo-1024x598.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Ragoo.jpg 1230w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Mekka\u2019s additional credits include THE LOVE BOAT (1977-1987), FANTASY ISLAND (1977-1984), MOONLIGHTING (1985-1989), GUIDING LIGHT (1952-2009), FAMILY MATTERS (1989-1998), CALIFORNIA DREAMS (1992-1997), WEIRD SCIENCE (1994-1998), THE JAMIE FOXX SHOW (1996-2001), SUNSET BEACH (1997-1999), THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1987-), 24 (2001-2014), DREAMGIRLS (2006), CROSSING JORDAN (2001-2007), THE SUITE LIFE OF ZACK AND CODY (2005-2008), ER (1994-2009), THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS (1973-), and DIARY OF A LUNATIC (2017).<\/p>\n<p>On stage Mekka performed in productions of \u201cThe Lieutenant\u201d, \u201cHairspray\u201d, \u201cIt Had To Be You\u201d, \u201cMy Mother\u2019s Italian, My father\u2019s Jewish &amp; I\u2019m In Therapy\u201d, and starred as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ringside Report sends our condolences to Eddie Mekka\u2019s family during their time of grief.<\/p>\n<p>[si-contact-form form=&#8217;2&#8242;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Geoffrey Huchel Actor Eddie Mekka, known for his role as Carmine Ragusa, AKA the \u201cBig Ragu\u201d, on the classic sitcom LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY (1976-1983), passed away on November 27, 2021, at his home in Newhall, California. No cause of death was disclosed. He was 69. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts on June 14, 1952, Mekka [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17984],"tags":[27870],"class_list":["post-108464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment-news","tag-laverne-and-shirley-actor-eddie-mekka-dead-at-69-entertainment-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108464"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}