Laverne & Shirley TOGETHER AGAIN
SCHLEMIEL, SCHLIMAZEL, THE GIRLS ARE REUNITED
The passing of Laverne & Shirley star Cindy Williams on January 25 had many declaring that heaven was now a much funnier place.
Indeed, fans of the popular sitcom were comforted by the knowledge that Cindy, who died aged 75 following a brief illness, was “together again” with her best bosom buddy, Penny Marshall.
Penny, who played Laverne to Cindy’s Shirley, passed away from diabetes complications in 2018.
“I like to think of the two of them up there hop, skipping and singing...,” one fan shared on social media, echoing the scene from the show’s opening credits.
After starting her career with bit parts on TV, Cindy’s breakout role came in 1973, when she was cast as Laurie in American Graffiti. Despite it being her first movie, she earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Not long after, she met Penny when the pair were hired to write a script for a TV spoof together.
They first played their iconic characters in 1976, during what was supposed to be a one-off guest appearance on Happy Days as ‘fast girls’ going on a date with Fonzie (Henry Winkler) and Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard).
Their double act proved so popular that a spin-off series was written just for them by Penny’s brother, future Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall.
“They were beloved characters,” Cindy once said of Laverne and Shirley.
Cindy and Penny were just as friendly off-screen as they were on TV.
“Some of the best laughs of my life were with that woman,” Cindy recalled. “I couldn’t have done it without her, it wouldn’t have been the same and I’m sure she would say vice versa.”
Away from Hollywood, Cindy was a devoted mum to her children Zachary and Emily Hudson. When announcing her death, the pair said the loss of their “kind and hilarious” mum had “brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed”.