40-583: Cynthia Jane Williams (August 22, 1947 – January 25, 2023) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcoms Happy Days (1975–1979), and Laverne & Shirley (1976–1982). She also appeared in American Graffiti (1973), The Conversation (1974), Mr. Ricco (1975), and More American Graffiti (1979). Williams was born in Van Nuys , Los Angeles on August 22, 1947. Her mother Cindy
80-587: A BAFTA nomination as Best Supporting Actress; and Francis Ford Coppola 's The Conversation (1974). She auditioned along with thousands of others, for Lucas's Star Wars for the role of Princess Leia , but Leia was ultimately played by Carrie Fisher because Lucas wished to cast unknowns, as in American Graffiti . Williams met Penny Marshall , first on a double date, and later at Francis Ford Coppola ’s Zoetrope company. The company hired them as comedy writers, because "they wanted two women" on
120-741: A November 2008 regional production of the Renée Taylor - Joseph Bologna comedy play It Had to Be You . She made her Broadway debut as daffy Mrs. Tottendale in The Drowsy Chaperone at the Marquis Theatre on December 11, 2007, succeeding Jo Anne Worley in the role which was played by Georgia Engel . Williams reunited with Penny Marshall on the TV series Sam & Cat in the episode "#SalmonCat" (2013). In 2015, her memoir Shirley, I Jest! (co-written with Dave Smitherman)
160-583: A Terrible Thing", another song from the album. In 1980, Romina Power (of Al Bano and Romina Power fame) recorded a separate theme tune for the show when it was introduced to the Italian market. The track, simply titled "Laverne & Shirley", featured verses in English and Italian. Released as a single in the same year, the track failed to chart. Laverne %26 Shirley (1981 TV series) Laverne & Shirley , also known as Laverne & Shirley in
200-669: A basement apartment, where they communicate with upstairs neighbors Lenny and Squiggy by screaming up the dumbwaiter shaft connecting their apartments. Also included in the show are Laverne's father, Frank DeFazio, proprietor of the Pizza Bowl, and Edna Babish, the apartment building's landlady, who later married Frank. Shirley maintained an off-again on-again romance with dancer/singer/boxer Carmine "The Big Ragu" Ragusa. During this period, characters from Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley made occasional guest appearances on each other's series. Michael McKean and David Lander created
240-462: A closet of the building and said at the screening that the film from the first shoot had gotten lost, so they only watched the performance of Cindy Williams with Penny Marshall. In the opening credits, Laverne and Shirley recite "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated," a Yiddish -American hopscotch chant, which then leads into the series' theme song, " Making Our Dreams Come True " performed by Cyndi Grecco . In
280-497: A couple of years later, reunited with former Laverne & Shirley producers Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett to star in their family sitcom Getting By (1993–94). She guest-starred on several television shows, including two episodes of 8 Simple Rules . Williams performed onstage in the national tours of Grease , Deathtrap , and Moon Over Buffalo as well as a regional production of Nunsense . She reunited with her Laverne & Shirley co-star Eddie Mekka in
320-653: A prospective TV spoof for the Bicentennial . While the two were writing for Zoetrope, Penny Marshall's brother, Garry Marshall , called to ask if they would like to make an appearance on an episode of Happy Days , a television series he produced. In 1975, Williams was cast as a fun-loving brewery bottle capper, Shirley Feeney , in an episode of Happy Days with Penny who played her best friend and roommate Laverne De Fazio . The girls were cast as "sure-thing" dates of Richie and Fonzie ( Henry Winkler ). Their appearance proved so popular that Garry Marshall commissioned
360-528: A spin-off series for the characters of Shirley and Laverne. Williams continued her role on the very successful Laverne & Shirley series from 1976 until 1982. At one point during its run, the series was the number one rated show on television. Williams was praised for her portrayal of Shirley Feeney. She left the show after the second episode of the show's eighth and what would become its final season, after she became pregnant with her first child. The show's various producers were not enthusiastic that Williams
400-495: A talent agency called Squignowski Talent Agency. From this point until the end of the series' run, Laverne & Shirley was set in the mid-1960s. In one of the shots in the show's new opening sequence, the ladies are seen kissing a 1964 poster of the Beatles . With each season, a new year passed in the timeline of the show, starting with 1965 in the 1980–81 season, and ending in 1967 with Carmine heading off for Broadway to star in
440-569: A teenaged Mork & Mindy were added to the mix. The series ran until September 3, 1983. The program was so successful at the time that it spawned a merchandise franchise . Mego released two models of Laverne and Shirley dolls, and one model of Lenny and Squiggy dolls. Matchbox created a Shotz Brewery delivery van, and several novelty toys were sold such as Halloween costumes , a board game , jigsaw puzzles , coloring books , video slot machine and other toys. Paramount Home Entertainment and (starting with season 2) CBS DVD have released
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#1732787661650480-468: A tough-as-nails drill sergeant named Alvinia T. "The Frog" Plout ( Vicki Lawrence ). While their time in the Army Reserve was brief in the live action series, it did inspire an animated series with the duo in the army contending with their immediate superior, a commanding pig named Sgt. Squealy who was voiced by Ron Palillo (best known for his role as Arnold Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter ) who
520-451: Is always threatening to report them to Sgt. Turnbuckle (voiced by Kenneth Mars ). For the sixth season in 1980, Laverne and Shirley and their friends all moved from Milwaukee to Burbank, California . Laverne and Shirley took jobs at Bardwell's department store as gift wrappers. Frank and Edna managed a Texas barbecue restaurant called Cowboy Bill's, Carmine delivered singing telegrams and sought work as an actor, and Lenny and Squiggy started
560-476: The Laverne & Shirley spin-off, so her role was recast with Liberty Williams (no relation), and a seven-minute screen test was filmed. Between that afternoon shoot and the evening, Cindy Williams was eventually talked into doing the role and she re-filmed the scene that night with Penny Marshall, who became her co-star in the series. Executives wanted to see both versions, but Eisner hid the first reel of film in
600-424: The sci-fi comedy UFOria alongside Fred Ward and Harry Dean Stanton , a movie which was already completed in 1981. In 1990, Williams starred in an unsold pilot for CBS that was adapted from the 1989 film Steel Magnolias . Williams was cast as M'Lynn Eatenton, the role that was played by Sally Field in the film. Also in 1990, Williams returned to series TV in the short-lived sitcom Normal Life and,
640-485: The 1980–81 animated series The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang ) working as mechanics in the army camp's motorpool . In August 1982, Cindy Williams quit her role as Shirley on the live-action sitcom Laverne & Shirley and, conversely, Williams' role in the animated series was taken over by Lynne Marie Stewart . Only eight episodes were produced from September 25 to November 13, 1982. On November 5, 2019,
680-504: The ABC sitcom pilot Joanna , which aired as a special on April 30 of that year. The premise involved Williams's character, Joanna, following her boyfriend from Los Angeles to New York, though he leaves her for another woman. Joanna then decides to stay in New York, becoming the operations manager of a trucking company. The pilot was not picked up as a series. That same year, Williams starred in
720-503: The Army , is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Paramount Television broadcast on ABC from October 10, 1981, to November 13, 1982. It is a spin-off of the live-action sitcom Laverne & Shirley with the titular characters voiced by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams and was loosely based on the 1979 two-part episode " We're in the Army, Now " in which Laverne and Shirley enlisted in
760-459: The Army. The series is set at Camp Fillmore and follows the comedic antics of roommates Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney as privates with the U.S. Army. They wind up getting involved in clandestine escapades with their immediate superior, a pig named Sgt. Squealy, who is always threatening to report them to his superior, Sgt. Turnbuckle. The series aired for one season of 13 episodes from October 10, 1981, to January 2, 1982. The following season,
800-628: The Professor , and Love, American Style . Williams accompanied an actor-friend from Los Angeles City College who needed a scene partner for the audition and was also accepted at The Actors Studio West , but rarely attended due to acting commitments. Williams picked up important film roles early in her career: George Cukor 's Travels with My Aunt (1972); as Laurie Henderson, Ron Howard 's character's high school sweetheart in George Lucas 's American Graffiti (1973) for which she earned
840-465: The Tuesday night time slot after Happy Days . By its third season, it had become the most-watched American television program according to Nielsen ratings . In August 1979, before the start of its fifth season, Laverne & Shirley was moved to Thursdays at 8 pm opposite The Waltons on CBS and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century on NBC . By the end of the fifth season, ratings fell sharply and
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#1732787661650880-541: The album Lenny and the Squigtones , also performed in character, featuring original songs (and some spoken material) penned by McKean and Lander. The album was released on Casablanca Records . In July 1979, McKean and Lander also appeared together (in character) on American Bandstand performing the song "King of the Cars", the single released from their Lenny and the Squigtones album. They also performed "Love Is
920-554: The characters of Lenny and Squiggy while both were theater students at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . Lander told an interviewer in 2006 that they created the characters while high on marijuana . After graduating, they continued to perform the characters in live comedy routines before joining the show's cast. During the fifth season, the girls went into the Army Reserve , and they contended with
960-557: The entire series of Laverne and Shirley on DVD in Region 1 , albeit with music substitutions and scene deletions. On June 16, 2015, CBS DVD released Laverne & Shirley – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 has also been released on DVD in Region 2. The first three seasons have been released on DVD in Region 4 by Paramount. The theme song from the series (" Making Our Dreams Come True " as performed by Cyndi Grecco )
1000-423: The fictitious Shotz Brewery in late 1950s Milwaukee , Wisconsin . From the sixth season onwards, the series' setting changed to mid-1960s Burbank , California . Michael McKean and David Lander co-starred as their friends and neighbors Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman, respectively; along with Eddie Mekka as Carmine Ragusa, Phil Foster as Laverne's father Frank DeFazio, and Betty Garrett as
1040-483: The final season without Cindy Williams, the chant is recited by a group of schoolchildren. The hopscotch chant is from Penny Marshall's childhood. For the first five seasons, from 1976 to 1980, the show was set in Milwaukee (executive producer Thomas L. Miller's home town), taking place from roughly 1958–59 through the early 1960s. Shotz Brewery bottle cappers and best friends, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney live in
1080-448: The girls' landlady Edna Babish. Featuring regular physical comedy , Laverne & Shirley became the most-watched American television program by its third and fourth season; in total, it received six Golden Globe nominations and one Emmy nomination. The series is a spin-off from Happy Days , as the two lead characters were introduced on that series as acquaintances of Fonzie ( Henry Winkler ). The original working title
1120-483: The musical Hair . When the series' setting changed to California, two new characters are added: Sonny St. Jacques, a stunt man, landlord of the Burbank apartment building and love interest for Laverne; as well as Rhonda Lee, the ladies' neighbor and an aspiring actress. In March 1982, Cindy Williams became pregnant with her first child. In August, two episodes into production of the series' eighth season, Williams left
1160-454: The popularity it had attained during its first four years on the air, and during its final season struggled against The A-Team on NBC. By the time of its cancellation in 1983, the series ranked at number 25 for the season. The show aired in reruns on ABC daytime from April 1979 to June 1980. During the run of the main show, an animated spin-off called Laverne & Shirley in the Army began airing on Saturday mornings. The first program
1200-484: The series was re-titled Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz and combined with a half-hour adaptation of the 1978–1982 sitcom Mork & Mindy to form the Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour , which lasted for one season. During the second season, Laverne and Shirley were joined by the characters of The Fonz (voiced by Henry Winkler ) and his anthropomorphic dog Mr. Cool (voiced by Frank Welker ; from
1240-562: The series' title remained unchanged. Ratings dipped but were strong enough for the show to be considered for a ninth season. Marshall agreed based on the agreement that the show would move production to New York City. Faced with the high cost of such an endeavor, ABC opted not to renew the series and it was removed from the schedule in May 1983. Laverne & Shirley debuted in the 1975–76 TV season, with its first episode airing in January 1976, in
Cindy Williams - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-427: The show and filed a $ 20 million lawsuit against Paramount after they demanded Williams work on her scheduled due date. The case was later settled out of court and Williams was released from her contract. The series' final season continued with two episodes with Williams still playing Shirley; then it was just Marshall as Laverne, who now worked for an aerospace company. Despite the absence of Williams and her character,
1320-626: The sitcom failed to make the list of the top 30 programs. In an effort to improve the show's ratings, ABC moved Laverne & Shirley to Mondays at 8 p.m. in December 1979. The ratings fared no better, so in February 1980 the network moved the series back to its familiar Tuesday-night berth, where it remained for the next three years. Between 1980 and 1982, the ratings improved considerably, but, despite having regained its original time slot and changing its format, Laverne & Shirley never regained
1360-769: Was Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney . The characters were originally "two girls who date the fleet", but for family hour , they had to be changed and mellowed down, which, in Cindy Williams' opinion, gave the show more depth. Set in roughly the same period, the timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through 1967, when the series ended. As with Happy Days , it was made by Paramount Television , created by Garry Marshall (along with Lowell Ganz and Mark Rothman ) and executive produced by Garry Marshall, Edward K. Milkis, and Thomas L. Miller from Miller-Boyett Productions . According to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner , Cindy Williams had refused to do
1400-703: Was a waitress and her father Beachard “Bill” Williams worked at an electronics manufacturing company. The family moved to Dallas when she was a year old and returned to Los Angeles when she was ten years old. She had a sister named Carol Ann. Williams wrote and acted at a church during childhood and later acted in productions at Birmingham High School ; she graduated in 1965, a year behind Sally Field . She attended Los Angeles City College where she majored in theater. After college, Williams began her professional career by landing national commercials, which included Foster Grant sunglasses and TWA . Her first roles in television, among others, were on Room 222 , Nanny and
1440-502: Was aired on October 10, 1981, and featured the voices of Marshall and Williams playing Laverne and Shirley in the Army with a talking piglet drill sergeant named "Squealy" (voiced by Ron Palillo ). The show was retitled Laverne & Shirley with Special Guest Star The Fonz when the Fonz began working in the motorpool as the chief mechanic, and then again retitled Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour when new segments involving
1480-508: Was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills , Los Angeles. Shirley Feeney Laverne & Shirley is an American sitcom television series that ran for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of Happy Days , Laverne & Shirley starred Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, two friends and roommates who work as bottle-cappers in
1520-483: Was pregnant. Williams and co-star Penny Marshall had also been feuding for quite some time on the set long before Williams became pregnant. (They would reconcile many years later.) The success of the TV series led to a short-lived Saturday morning animated series Laverne & Shirley in the Army (1981–82), created by Hanna-Barbera . In 1979, she reprised her role of Laurie from American Graffiti in its sequel, More American Graffiti . In 1985, Williams starred in
1560-463: Was published. In the same year, Williams engaged in celebrity branding for the home care service Visiting Angels. Williams married Bill Hudson of the musical trio The Hudson Brothers in 1982. They had two children, Emily and Zachary before divorcing in 2000. Williams was a Roman Catholic . Williams died in Los Angeles on January 25, 2023, at age 75, following a brief illness. Williams
1600-620: Was released as a single from Cyndi's LP by the same name and became a radio favorite, becoming a top-30 American hit in 1976. In 1976, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams released an album, performed in character, titled Laverne & Shirley Sing , which contained some original songs along with some 1950s and 1960s standards. The album was originally released on Atlantic Records . On November 11, 2003, Collector's Choice released it on CD. The single " Sixteen Reasons " reached #72 in Canada. In 1979, Michael McKean and David Lander followed suit with
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