Cindy Williams, Star of ‘Laverne & Shirley,’ Dies at 75 - Hollywood Reporter

Cindy Williams, the energetic histrion who appeared successful a brace of Oscar champion representation nominees earlier starring arsenic the idealistic Shirley Feeney connected the beloved ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, has died. She was 75. 

Williams died successful Los Angeles connected Wednesday aft a little illness, her children, Zak and Emily Hudson, said successful a connection released Monday.

“The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought america insurmountable sadness that could ne'er genuinely beryllium expressed,” the connection said. “Knowing and loving her has been our joyousness and privilege. She was 1 of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a superb consciousness of wit and a glittering tone that everyone loved.”

After popping up arsenic a pot-smoking hippie successful the Maggie Smith-starring Travels With My Aunt (1972), 1 of the past films directed by George Cukor, Williams took her archetypal large crook successful the spotlight erstwhile she portrayed Laurie, the woman of Ron Howard’s Steve Bolander, successful American Graffiti (1973), directed by George Lucas.

The container bureau smash was nominated for champion picture, arsenic was her follow-up movie, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974), wherever she played a pistillate successful danger, oregon truthful it seemed. (On Oscar night, American Graffiti and The Conversation mislaid retired to The Sting and The Godfather Part II, respectively.)

In 1975, Williams and Penny Marshall were penning partners moving for $30 a week connected a bicentennial spoof for Coppola’s Zoetrope institution erstwhile Garry Marshall hired them for an occurrence of ABC’s Happy Days.

Portraying “fast girls” — Penny thought that meant hookers — recruited by Fonzie (Henry Winkler) for a treble day with Richie Cunningham (Howard), the brace displayed an contiguous onscreen chemistry.

“We benignant of had telepathy,” Williams said successful a 2013 interview for the TV Academy Foundation website The Interviews. “If we locomotion into a country unneurotic and if there’s thing unsocial successful the room, we’ll spot it astatine the aforesaid clip and person the aforesaid remark astir it. We were ever conscionable similar that.”

Garry Marshall past pitched a drama that starred the duo to ABC amusement main Fred Silverman. “There are nary shows astir blue-collar girls connected the air,” helium recalled successful 2000. “He said, ‘It’s on! What’s its name?’ ‘I said, Laverne & Shirley.’ ‘Good, I emotion it!'”

Set successful the 1950s similar Happy Days, the Paramount Television spinoff started retired with the struggling Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Wilhelmina Feeney, pals from precocious school, sharing a basement flat successful Milwaukee and moving arsenic vessel cappers for the Schotz brewery.

Laverne & Shirley debuted No. 1 successful the ratings connected Jan. 26, 1976, and, successful its post-Happy Days spot astatine 8:30 p.m. connected Tuesdays, went connected to go the highest-rated bid for the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons.

The bid lasted 8 seasons but wrapped successful May 1983 without Williams.

At the extremity of the seventh season, Williams, joined to actor-musician Bill Hudson (who earlier was joined to Goldie Hawn), became large with her archetypal child, Emily. “I thought I was going to travel backmost and they’d fell [her babe bump] down benches, couches, pillows, and that wasn’t it,” she said successful 2015 on the Today show.

“When it came clip for maine to motion my declaration for that season, they had maine moving connected my owed day to person my baby. I said, ‘You know, I can’t motion this.’ And it went backmost and distant and backmost and forth, and it conscionable ne'er got worked out. Right aft that, [shows] would physique nurseries connected sets.”

In 1982, she sued Paramount for $20 million, seeking to get paid for the episodes she would miss due to the fact that she was pregnant. After a settlement, she was written retired of the series, and Laverne went astatine it alone, without her champion friend, for the last 20 episodes.

The older of 2 daughters, Cynthia Jane Williams was calved successful Van Nuys connected Aug. 22, 1947. Her mother, Frances, was a waitress; her father, Beachard (known arsenic Bill), worked astatine an electronics manufacturing company.

She and her household lived successful the Dallas country for astir 9 years — she and her ma had fled determination due to the fact that her dada was an alcoholic — earlier they returned to California and bought a location successful the San Fernando Valley erstwhile Williams was astir 11.

Williams acted successful plays astatine Birmingham High School and was voted “funniest female” earlier graduating successful 1965. (Sally Field, who was 9 months older, was a classmate earlier leaving to prima connected ABC’s Gidget.) She past majored successful theatre astatine Los Angeles City College and was champion friends with different aboriginal actress, Lynne Marie Stewart (Bobbie successful American Graffiti and Miss Yvonne connected Pee-wee’s Playhouse).

To marque ends meet, Williams worked arsenic a waitress astatine the International House of Pancakes and the famed Whisky a Go Go nightclub, wherever she served drinks to Jim Morrison, Duke Ellington and Joe Cocker.

Garry Marshall and Fred Roos, who were launching a absorption company, agreed to correspond her — Marshall called her a “pudgy Barbara Harris” aft their archetypal gathering — and she besides signed with the Kohner Agency, which got her a portion connected the ABC bid Room 222 successful 1969.

Next, Williams did lots of commercials, appeared connected Barefoot successful the Park, My World and Welcome to It and Nanny and the Professor and was a regular connected the Gene Kelly-hosted The Funny Side. She besides appeared successful films including Jack Nicholson’s Drive, He Said (1971) and Beware! The Blob (1972), directed by Larry Hagman; her quality was eaten by the monster successful a Glendale drainpipe successful that one.

Then came the low-budget American Graffiti, wherever Roos was successful complaint of casting. She astir didn’t instrumentality the portion of caput cheerleader Laurie aft truly wanting to represent the free-spirited Debbie Dunham (Candy Clark got that role), lone agreeing to motion connected aft taking a telephone from Coppola, a shaper connected the movie.

“I said, ‘This is not going to beryllium fun, I’m going to outcry during this full 28-night shoot,’ and I did,” she said. “But aft 2 weeks, George Lucas took [the full cast] into the editing bay, and helium showed america a 20-minute assemblage of the movie with music. I retrieve [castmate] Harrison Ford lasting adjacent to maine and saying, ‘This is [bleeping] great.'”

Williams was nominated for a BAFTA grant for champion supporting histrion for American Graffiti but mislaid retired to Ingrid Bergman of Murder connected the Orient Express.

On the Gene Hackman-starring The Conversation, she was “surrounded by the champion of the best,” she said. “Francis Coppola loves actors. He would accidental to the cinematographer, you fto your actors locomotion done the country and you ticker them and [then you’ll] cognize wherever to enactment the camera. That’s wherefore helium gets these performances retired of people.”

She auditioned for Princess Leia connected Star Wars (1977) but knew heavy down that Lucas wanted a younger actress, and Carrie Fisher was hired.

Williams archetypal met the Bronx-born Penny Marshall connected a treble day years earlier during a Liza Minnelli show astatine L.A.’s Ambassador Hotel. They went backstage and met Minnelli and the opening act, Little Richard, who “blessed” them and said thing bully was going to hap to them.

Williams said Marshall had to person her to instrumentality the Laverne & Shirley gig aft she had decided to determination to Oregon.

The comedy, filmed earlier an assemblage of 450 radical connected Stage 20 connected the Paramount lot, was known for fearless carnal drama not seen since the days of I Love Lucy.

“Lucy was a carnal comedienne, and she would beryllium each implicit the stage, truthful Desi Arnaz, being the genius helium was, enactment each of their cameras connected these dollies,” Williams noted successful a 2021 interview.

“So [on Laverne & Shirley] determination are 3 cameras, you’ve got the stage, arsenic though you are watching a play, and you person the cameras moving with america connected dollies. Usually, [sitcom] cameras are acceptable successful spot and stagnant, but our cameras were similar Lucille Ball’s cameras.”

She and Marshall ne'er utilized stunt doubles, and she said the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures erstwhile named them honorary stuntmen and gave them buckles.

Williams credited Laverne & Shirley‘s occurrence to the information that “we made definite the gag was ever connected us, we ne'er made amusive of anyone else. We besides wanted to support the wolf nipping astatine our heels, similar however are we going to wage the rent, however are we going to wage the electrical bill. So we kept it grounded successful that. We besides made definite it was highly comic to us.”

Despite its popularity, the sitcom ne'er won an Emmy, receiving conscionable 1 nom, for costume design.

Williams, who enjoyed the institution of the stuffed carnal she named Boo-Boo Kitty aft her mom’s cat, said her favourite episodes were 1977’s “Guinea Pigs” and the 1980 two-parter “Murder connected the Moose Jaw Express.”

Something she and Marshall were not fond of — having the characters determination to Burbank astatine the commencement of play six (1980-81). “We begged Garry not to bash it,” she said.

In the season-eight opener, “The Mummy’s Bride,” Shirley reveals that she is marrying an Army medic named Walter Meeney. That volition marque her Feeney Meeney, and Lenny (Michael McKean) jokes, “What’s she gonna telephone her kids, Miny and Moe?”

Because he’s going to beryllium shipped overseas, their wedding has to instrumentality spot successful a betterment country astatine a V.A. infirmary successful a mates of days. The groom, however, has a rash implicit 98 percent of his body, truthful he’s wrapped caput to toed successful bandages and can’t accidental a connection during the ceremonial (he blinks his “I do”).

On the adjacent episode, Williams’ last, Shirley announces she’s pregnant. On the adjacent one, Laverne finds a enactment from Shirley saying her hubby has been transferred and she’s near to beryllium with him.

After a mates years distant pursuing the commencement of her daughter, Williams starred arsenic the parent of Dweezil Zappa and Moon Unit Zappa’s characters connected the 1990 CBS drama Normal Life and arsenic different ma connected the 1993-94 ABC-NBC sitcom Getting By.

She returned successful 1979 for More American Graffiti, with Laurie and Steve present married, and took portion successful a crippled of drunken portion poker with Rodney Dangerfield successful Meet Wally Sparks (1997).

Her movie résumé besides included Roger Corman’s Gassss (1970), The Killing Kind (1973), Mr. Ricco (1975), The First Nudie Musical (1976), Big Man connected Campus (1989), Bingo (1991) and Stealing Roses (2012).

She besides served arsenic a co-producer connected the Steve Martin-starring Father of the Bride (1991) and its 1995 sequel.

A subordinate of The Actors Studio West, Williams appeared connected Broadway arsenic Mrs. Tottendale successful 2007 successful The Drowsy Chaperone, starred successful nationalist tours of Grease (as Miss Lynch) and Deathtrap and had a three-year stint successful Menopause: The Musical in Las Vegas.

Her memoir, Shirley, I Jest!: A Storied Life, was published successful 2015. Seven years later, she toured the state successful the one-woman amusement Me, Myself & Shirley, wherever she shared memories of her career.

She and Hudson divorced successful 2000. Survivors besides see her goddaughter Amanda, girl of histrion Ed Begley Jr.

Asked successful her TV Academy Foundation interrogation to uncover her proudest accomplishment, she replied: “It’s being capable to present a enactment and perceive 450 radical laughter retired loud. I tin retrieve conscionable being truthful blessed doing that.”