‘Laverne & Shirley’ star dies at 73
Actor David L. Lander, who played the character of Squiggy on the popular ABC comedy “Laverne & Shirley,” has died after a decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis, his wife said. He was 73.
Lander died Friday in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, Kathy Fields Lander said in an email Saturday to the Associated Press.
“It was very peaceful,” Lander said. “He had a tough battle with MS for 37 years, and he persevered like no one I have ever seen, and it taught me a great deal about the important things of life.”
Lander had a longtime comedic partnership with Michael McKean, whom he met at Carnegie Mellon University. Together they created the characters of Lenny and Squiggy that they would play on the show, which ran from 1976 to 1983. Lenny and Squiggy — or Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman — were friends and upstairs neighbors of Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams), bottle-cappers in 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
McKean tweeted a photo in tribute to Lander on Saturday of the two actors in the early days.
Lander is survived by his wife and a daughter, Natalie Lander.
Royal ruckus: Netflix has “no plans” to add a disclaimer to “The Crown” stating that its lavish drama about Britain’s royal family is a work of fiction.
“We have always presented ‘The Crown’ as a drama, and we have every confidence our members understand it’s a work of fiction that’s broadly based on historical events,” Netflix said in a statement Saturday. “As a
result, we have no plans — and see no need — to add a disclaimer.”
Netflix was urged last week by British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to add the disclaimer in the wake of the broadcast of the drama’s fourth series.
Questions of historical fidelity weren’t a major issue during earlier seasons of the show, which debuted in 2016 and traces the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II from its start in 1952. But the current fourth season is set in the 1980s. Characters include Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whose 11-year tenure transformed and divided Britain, and the late Princess Diana, whose death in a car crash in 1997 transfixed the nation and the world.
Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother, has also called on Netflix to add a disclaimer.
“I think it would help ‘The Crown’ an enormous amount if, at the beginning of each episode, it stated that, ‘This isn’t true, but it is based around some real events,’ ” he told broadcaster ITV. “I worry people do think that this is gospel, and that’s unfair.”
Weekend box office: Universal and DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” repeated as the winner of a mild post-Thanksgiving weekend with $4.4 million at 2,205 North American locations.
The animated comedy sequel, featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds, has dominated the seriously subdued moviegoing business since its Nov. 25 launch with $20.3 million in its first dozen days.
It’s a respectable performance, given that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a majority of U.S. theaters being closed.
Theaters that remain open often are operating with reduced capacity, limited hours and social distancing requirements.
Dec. 7 birthdays: Bluegrass singer Bobby Osborne is 89. Actor Ellen Burstyn is 88. Singer Tom Waits is 71. Bassist Tim Butler is 62. Actor Jeffrey Wright is 55. Actor C. Thomas Howell is 54. Rapper Kon Artis is 46. Singer Sara Bareilles is 41. Actor Jack Huston is 38. Singer Aaron Carter is 33.