1970s slapstick sitcom Laverne & Shirley actress, Cindy Williams dies at 75 in Los Angeles. The show became a staple of 1970s television. Williams and Penny Marshall played roommates in the show.
The actress death followed a brief illness but she passed away peacefully as confirmed by assistant Liza Cranis over a phone on Monday. Yet the cause is not yet revealed.
The show ran for eight seasons and was one of the highest rated shows in country. Williams was part of the show for almost 150 episodes but couldn’t continue for final season due to the on-set tension between Ms. Marshall and Cindy. Later Ms. Marshall died at the age of 75 back in 2018.
Cindy Williams and her Journey:
Cindy Williams has two children, Emily and Zak Hudson. They recently in a statement described Williams as “one of a kind” and said that “she was glittering spirit with a sense of humour”.
She was casted in 1973 film American Graffiti by George Lucas in which she played role of Laurie and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress from British Academy Film Awards back then. She was in the Francis Ford Coppola film “The Conversation”. “The Conversation” and The American Graffiti both garnered nomination at the Academy Awards.
Ms. Williams also auditioned for the role of Princess Leia for “Star Wars” which was later done by Carrie Fisher. But, she was known for her role as Shirley the best. Ms. Williams described her character as Shirley once saying, ““She was sort of an optimist, kind-hearted, repressed, temperamental, fun-loving person.” Adding further she said “That was the sadness of those characters to me,” Ms. Williams added. “What if that never happens, then where are we? And that was sort of my life too.”
Born Cynthia Jane Williams, Cindy was from Van Nuys neighbourhood of Los Angeles. She went to Los Angeles City College and majored in theater arts after as per biographies provided by Ms. Canis. She worked at Hollywood’s Whisky Go Go nightclub and a pancake house as per Hollywood Reporter. She also acted in commercials for Deodorant and Sunglasses which never aired. She also shared in an interview with Television Academy about her early television roles that included “Room 222”, “Nanny and the Professor” and “Love American Style.”
“I always played the lead’s best friend, always,” she said.
Ms. Williams wrote a memoir in 2015 (“Shirley, I Jest!: A Storied Life”), and last year she completed a national theatre tour of a one-woman show, “Me, Myself and Shirley.” In the show, she chronicled her life in Hollywood, as well as her relationship with Ms. Marshall.
“You couldn’t slip a playing card in between us, because we just were in rhythm,” she said last year in an interview with NBC. “I couldn’t have done it with anyone else.”
Ms. Williams known for seemingly guileless American sweetheart presence, Ms. Williams turned the expectations with an exceptionally sly performance in “The Conversation” film. It could have been followed by more dramatic roles but she instead turned to comedy.
