Laverne & Shirley was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. I had a big crush on Shirley Feeney’s boyfriend, Carmine Ragusa (“The Big Ragu”). Carmine was played by actor/dancer/singer Eddie Mekka. I liked Eddie so much that I once wrote him a fan letter. I think I liked his cute little body the most. At 5’3”, he was only a few inches taller than me. He sent me a nice little autographed photo back. I think I sold it on eBay some years ago. My bad. I wish I still had it to use for this blog.
Eddie Mekka was born on June 14, 1952 which makes him 66 years young today. Happy Birthday! He was born as Rudolph Edward Mekjiam and is of Armenian descent. Good job on the name change. Yikes! He was born in Massachusetts and stayed there until the 70’s, which is when he moved to Los Angeles to become more awesome.
In 1977, Eddie Mekka was also in the TV show Blansky’s Beauties. This was in addition to performing on Laverne & Shirley. Both shows were spin-offs of Happy Days. Blansky’s Beauties was, I believe, Scott Baio’s first TV show. That show didn’t last long. Scott then became Chachi Arcola in Happy Days and Eddie Mekka continued his role as Carmine Ragusa in Laverne & Shirley.
I loved the L&S episodes when Carmine would sing and dance. Such a talented guy! I loved when he sang Danny Boy, which is one of my mom’s favorite songs. Eddie Mekka has performed on stage in numerous productions. He performed on Broadway in The Lieutenant and was nominated for a Tony. He also performed as Vince Fontaine in the stage production of Grease. I love that musical. He’s also performed in Hairspray as well as many others. He’s a talented guy.
Oops. My Carmine was arrested for DUI back in 2009 in Vegas. Everyone makes mistakes. I’m sure he’s learned and moved on. I shouldn’t even have brought it up in this blog, but you know…I’m a blogging whore.
As of this writing [June 2018], Eddie Mekka has 50 acting credits on IMDB. He continues to act and currently has a TV series in post-production. He seems like a nice guy and so talented. I hope his success continues as he moves into his later years.