Cindy Williams, ‘Laverne & Shirley’ star, dies aged 75
Cindy Williams, the actor who became a popular culture icon for her portrayal of Shirley Feeney in Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, passed away on Wednesday, January 25th, at the age of 75.
After studying theatre during her college years, Williams eventually moved into the domain of television commercials and landed roles in shows such as Room 222. In addition to her work in television, Williams also managed to become a part of significant projects like George Cukor’s Travels with My Aunt and George Lucas’ American Graffiti.
However, the most notable additions to her body of work will always be Happy Days and its spin-off – Laverne & Shirley. At one point, the latter was the highest-rated show in the country, but Williams later quit the show due to disagreements with the producers as well as feuds with her co-star Penny Marshall.
According to the latest reports, Williams passed away after struggling with a brief illness which ultimately proved to be too much for her. In a statement released to Variety, Williams’ friend – producer Bruce Kimmel – noted that the actor was actually gearing up for the release of a new musical series on Amazon Prime.
Kimmel revealed: “Cindy was really looking forward to promoting her new project, the short-form musical series, Sami, which will premiere in April on Amazon Prime. I’ve known her since we began LACC in 1965, have loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her and have had so many incredible adventures with her. We were as close as close can be, from then until now. And I’ve been watching her constantly as we’ve been editing the web series we just did and wrapped only two months ago.”
The producer added: “I’m so grateful to have had her be such an important part of my life for close to 60 years. I will miss her like crazy, but I’m just so happy we got to work together one final time, and I can’t wait for the show to air — she was funny, charming and brilliant right up to the end. I’ve never known anyone like her.”
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