The American actress, also known for her role in American Graffiti, died of an illness. She was 75 years old.
Actress Cindy Williams, known for her role as Shirley Feeney in the cult sitcom Laverne & Shirley in the 1970s, died at the age of 75. She succumbed in a few months to an illness, US media report.
“The loss of our good and hilarious mother Cindy Williams overwhelms us with an insurmountable pain that we will never be able to express,” her children Zak and Emily Hudson said in a statement. “Having known and loved him has been our joy and our privilege.”
After starting his career in Travels with my aunt (1972), a comedy with Maggie Smith, Cindy Williams found success playing the girlfriend of the character played by Ron Howard in American Graffiti (1973) by George Lucas.
Eight seasons of “Laverne and Shirley”
The actress then starred in secret talk (1974) by Francis Ford Coppola before appearing in an episode of the sitcom Happy Days with Penny Marshall. Their alchemy is such in this episode that director Garry Marshall imagines a series for them: Laverne and Shirleywhich was successful for eight seasons.
Cindy Williams left the series before the end, amidst conflicts with the Paramount studio, which wanted to force her to work until the day of her delivery. Her character was dropped from the show after an out-of-court settlement between the actress and the studio.
Not very active in the cinema, she had devoted the following years to multiplying appearances in comic series, without regaining her success in the 1970s. She had also tried a career on Broadway.
