Happy Days: The life and death of John Bailey who portrayed Stix

Happy Days: A little known character

Nostalgic fans often wonder about certain actors that they see on their favorite sitcoms now that many years have passed. Often, these individuals have not been thought about until an episode appears with them in it. The name John Anthony Bailey may not sound familiar but he made history as the first African American on the ABC sitcom Happy Days. He was the drummer for Richie Cunningham's band and only appeared in two episodes in 1975 and his nickname was "Stix".

John Bailey: The theater and other roles

The actor was born John Anthony Bailey on June 4, 1947, in Cleveland Ohio, and later lived in San Francisco, California during the early 1970s. He attended Merritt College in Oakland and performed in numerous stage productions and films. His performances included J. E. Franklin's Black Girl, The Black Terror, for the Black Repertory West, and he worked with The Pitschel Players an improvisational theatre group plus other San Bay Area theater companies. Bailey also appeared in the Sun Ra film Space Is the Place.

He was on M*A*S*H during the first season in 1972, Good Times in 1975, and the feature film, The Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977. On Good Times Bailey portrayed Cletus the cousin of Florida Evans who was running from the police. Bailey is probably best known for his role as C.C. McNamara in 1976 on the Sid and Marty Krofft children's television program Wonderbug which ran from 1976-1978. Wonderbug was actually a segment that ran on the first two seasons of The Krofft Super Show. Sid and Mary Krofft were most famous for their hit series HR Puffinstuff. Wonderbug would become Bailey's last traditional acting role.

John Bailey: Shifted to pornography

During the 1980s, Bailey shifted his talents and began a career in pornographic films. This is when he began using the pseudonym Jack Baker. In 1984, he appeared in Let Me Tell Ya 'bout White Chicks and other porn movies include New Wave Hookers, The Devil in Miss Jones, A New Beginning, and The Devil in Miss Jones 4: The Final Outrage.

At the beginning of his pornographic career, Bailey often participated in explicit sex scenes. Around the time of the "Miss Jones" movies, he had, for the most part, stopped performing hardcore on-screen sex, and became known as a "non-sex" actor in the porno business. His adult roles became more comedic which was particularly true for The Dark Brothers. Bailey also began making fun of racial stereotypes in his roles. According to the Internet Adult Film Database, John Bailey appeared in more than 140 sex films and is said to have produced one movie.

John Bailey's death

In 1947, Bailey died of bladder cancer, at the age of 47, in Los Angeles, California. He was survived by his brothers, Ted and Tom, and was buried in The Los Angeles County Cemetery. Some records indicate that he had a child by the name of Alida. When you look at the cover photo of Henry Winkler, Ron Howard, and John Bailey or if you saw the two Happy Days episodes the actor was in you probably thought perhaps that all 3 young men would go on to bigger and better things. Perhaps you gave no thought at all to the future of the series or the actors.

Howard left the show but returned sporadically and Winkler became the star until the end of the series. Both men went on to greater fame in the movie industry and Howard gained notoriety as a director. It is not known what transpired between 1978-1980 that led John Bailey to shift direction. Perhaps he was no longer able to obtain traditional acting roles or maybe he chose the pron industry willingly. I found a post that his daughter wrote on a page in the actor's memory on a page dedicated to him. This might shed some light on the situation.

The title of the blog is pretty crude but Alida said something powerful.

"BeatnikBettie said… He wasn't a child during his stint on happy days, Wonderbug, Good-Times ect. He was my father. It seems that his fall from grace was due to his love of alcohol which made him a bit unbearable to deal with. I was young and loved him enough to just assume he was being the same silly daddy he always was. He desired not much more that simply being remembered so I do what I can to keep that flame alive. He was a colourful and loving father and I am very blessed to have had him as such. I really thinks "Sticks" Downey was the real him. looked great and funny as heck..I'm proud of everything he did but Sticks is my favourite. Anyhow, Thank You for remembering John".

Alida Bailey

At the end of the day, John Anthony Bailey was her father and that is what is most important to remember about his life. Alida's words will mean a lot to other adult children whose fathers may have ventured off the beaten path and the road most traveled to do their own thing.