R.I.P. Cindy Williams

[Reza]

You may scoff at its quality, but in terms of importance and impact, it certainly left a lasting impression.

The show was never on tv in Pakistan but we who were interested in movies and showbiz were very aware of the show. I think I saw a couple of episodes much later when I was in college in Indiana during the mid 1980s. As a teen I would regularly buy a series of monthly movie magazines by Rona Barrett. Through these I knew what was happening in Hollywood and Laverne and Shirley was huge on tv as a spinoff to Happy Days. Through interviews with both stars one got to know both quite well and read about the industry and public reactions to the show which was massive.

[Big Magilla]

The show did have a cultural impact. It was very big in New York.

At a point in the late 70s I had two secretaries at my Citibank office in Lower Manhattan. One who was named LaVerne, the other Mary. They so reminded me of the TV characters that I called them LaVerne and Shirley. It came to a point where I was forced to choose between the two. I was allowed to keep one, while the other would be transferred to a Brooklyn office. The one I chose to keep was Shirley, who I am still in touch with.

[OscarGuy]

Those of us of a certain age (me), will remember Laverne & Shirley quite fondly. The show was a spin-off of Happy Days and one of the most successful spin-offs in television history. Not only did I see some of it as an impressionable youngster in the early 1980s, but it was also a staple of Nick at Night and syndication.

It informed a lot of my appreciation of humor and while it was certainly a product of its time and wasn't the highest quality show, it was largely hilarious and it showcased two strong women surviving in an industrial complex that never looked kindly on female employees. While it didn't have the potency and saliency of Maude or The Mary Tyler Moore Show or Rhoda, it certainly stood alongside the likes of Alice as a show about working class women standing out against intolerance and providing positive role model for young women. You may scoff at its quality, but in terms of importance and impact, it certainly left a lasting impression.

[Mister Tee]

I never once watched Laverne & Shirley -- didn't even know the theme song was from there until I'd been hearing it on the radio for weeks. Weird that both stars of the show are gone at a relatively young age (relative to me, anyway.)

So, yeah, for me it's definitely American Graffiti as her primary credit, with The Conversation a small extra. Though I've never seen The First Nudie Musical, so who knows how good she might be in that?

[danfrank]

Yes, of course. It’s fascinating to observe different kinds of career trajectories among actors. The lure of stardom and of course money is always there, and the connections one makes (hello, Andrea Riseborough) can of course make a big difference as well. I don’t know the full story, but I imagine if Cindy Williams hadn’t connected with Ron Howard on American Graffiti then Laverne and Shirley never would have happened for her. She could have gone on to a respectable film career, or she might have disappeared from the scene, as so many actors do. She won the lottery, fame and money-wise. Artistically, not so much.

[Reza]

Of course she’ll mostly be remembered for the silly TV stuff, but she was also in two of the more acclaimed films of the early 70s, American Graffiti and The Conversation.

The difference of course is that the "silly TV stuff" brought her immense stardom - the power of TV - while those two films did nothing for her except played the role of mere stepping stones. She, Penny Marshall and that tv show were huge during the 1970-80s.

[danfrank]

Of course she’ll mostly be remembered for the silly TV stuff, but she was also in two of the more acclaimed films of the early 70s, American Graffiti and The Conversation.

[Reza]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-a ... nd-shirley