Eddie Mekka was born on June 14th, 1952 and died on November 27th, 2021. Mekka was an American actor and singer who is best known for his role on The Soparanos . He also starred in the sitcom Laverne & Shirley from 1976 to 1983. In addition to his acting career, Mekka was a successful singer, releasing several albums throughout his career.

Mekka is survived by his wife, Jo Carroll Dennison, and two children. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jo Carroll Dennison and Mekka’s children during this difficult time. May he rest in peace.

According to Pat Benti, a fellow Berklee College of Music alum, the veteran TV and stage actor died at his home in Newhall, California, without disclosing a cause of death.

She asked for respect from the press during this difficult time “be withheld during his family’s time of grief,” she stated, “We welcome you to share your memories of Eddie and your condolences to his family on his fan page.”

He also said, “Rest In Peace Eddie. We had some fun.”

Mekka portrayed Shirley Feeney’s crooner boyfriend “The Big Ragu” on the “Happy Days” spinoff, which aired between 1976 and 1983 on ABC. His character — he played Williams/Shirley’s devoted sweetheart — was known to break into song, shouting out the Tony Bennett-inspired catchphrase “You know I

The show Laverne and Shirley is about two roommates. They are roommates that are living in the fictitious midwest town of Waukegan, Illinois. One roommate Lenny is a single mother with two sons. The other roommate Laurie has an apartment that she is renting out to Lenny. The show was produced by Gary Marshall who also directed early episodes of the series. The first three seasons of the series were filmed on location in Los Angeles, California at Twentieth Century Fox Studios.

Lenny’s sons were played by Michael Fox and David Moscow respectively. After Moscow became too old to play the role, his younger brother Jimmy Moscow replaces him as Andy’s little brother Kevin for the final three seasons of the show. Penny Marshall, Garry’s sister, played Laverne DeFazio for the entire series. Cindy Williams played Shirley Feeney for the entire series except for a guest appearance in season six. In Season Six Episode 4 “A Shot in the Dark” Laverne was jailed and Shirley filled in for her.

The show revolved around the girls and their work at Shotz Brewery, a beer brewery where they originally started as bottlecappers and worked their way up to be brewmasters. The cast was mainly made up of working actors who had been living in Los Angeles for quite some time before the series was created. Marshall wanted to set the show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but he eventually settled on Waukegan, Illinois because of its connection with nearby Navy Pier.

Mekka’s most prominent role during this time was as Big Ragu in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley . The Big Ragu is Eddie Mekka’s character as Laverne and Shirley’s boyfriend. He sang the famous line, “You know I love you baby, cuz I got da ba-da ba de-da.” This quote is now embedded in the American culture as a stereotypical Italian reference to love and affection towards someone else.