Cindy Williams

I agree with Joanie. Cindy's brother Anson was a real dren.

I knew a guy who was really smart. He was in his early twenties and already on the fast-track with a well-established employer. If he had stuck with them, he would have been making the upper six-figures by the time he was 25.

Then he went and won Powerball. It was something like 250 million. ( Yes, it actually does happen occasionally to people who don't live in trailers. ) he quit his job and now does nothing but play golf, travel, and throw great parties.

What a waste. He had so much potential.

I've seen similar career paths.

Jowly in her early twenties, Cindy should have starred as Clifford, the Big Red Dog. Now she has that pouch of fat directly under her chin as well.

She lost her acting credibility after Laverne and Shirley. Nobody could think of her as anything but Shirley Feeney after that. It's a shame. She did have talent. She was so good in "American Graffiti." A perfect Laurie.

If she was any good, she would be able to do something else. That's BS about getting typecast.

Everyone said Gilligan was typecast as Maynard Krebs but he went on to be Gilligan.

I bet Cindy Williams is a lesbian, she looks the type.

Williams was probably busy counting all of the money she made from Laverne & Shirley to take any acting work for a while.

There is a "behind the scenes" story where Williams was stopped at the security gate of the L & S show because the guard, for some reason, failed to recognize her. Williams was so insulted by this that she crashed her car through the gate.

I just don't think she ever that popular with the public or in-demand after L & S ended.

(The guy who played Squiggy was a serious piece of work I guess. Really treated the show's writers, crew and fellow actors like shit. Someone described him as being very "cutting". When L & S was over with, he was also over with.)

"I bet Cindy Williams is a lesbian, she looks the type."

What is it about her that makes you think she "looks the type?" She's matronly now, but in her younger days she was an attractive, but not beautiful, young woman. She had a kind of wholesome girl next door quality about her, which is probably how she got the role of the eternally optimistic Shirley Feeney.

She's not a lesbian. She had affairs with Richard Dreyfuss and Henry Winkler before marrying Bill Hudson. They were married a long time, but eventually divorced. So whatever she is, she's not a lesbian.

If you think L&S was the low point for Cindy Williams, look again, OP.

Cindy Williams was always a straight man and a second banana.

Laverne was the hysterical one. Hell, Shirley wasn't even as funny as Mrs Babish.

They should've axed Shirley earlier and made Big Rosie Greenbaum Laverne's new roommate.

I have a friend SHIRLEY that's bigger than you.

My question is whatever happened to Terri Buttafuco? You know, Laverne's friend?

Cindy went on to becoming a wife and mother and executive producing the Father of The Bride franchise, among other things. She may have had to put up with Bill and Goldie's custody issues and lack of acting parts after her she quit her classic sitcom but she is still a TV legend. She is also a writer, she used to write with Penny. I hear they are great pals even after all of their on set acrimony. Penny is lucky to have her in her life.

I hear she is quite wealthy and healthy.

Why should I feel bad for her again?

[quote]I hear she is quite wealthy and healthy.

You misremembered

[quote]she used to write with Penny. I hear they are great pals

The same way Suzanne Sommers and I are great pals

R13 Boo Boo Kitty - LMAO!

[quote]she is still a TV legend.

STILL, don't you have to BE a legend in the first place to STILL be one?

R16, Voh di oh doh!

Watch it Shurl, I'm wearing white.

Like a lot of TV actors on hit shows she probably thought she deserved A-List starring roles once the show ended. That's a huge mistake a lot of them make.

The smart ones (and there aren't a lot of smart actors) realize that while they were extremely lucky to be on a hit show they will probably have to take a lot of supporting roles if they want to keep working. If a great starring role comes along, great. But it probably won't.

You can have a great career doing smaller supporting roles. You'll certainly have a longer one.

That's probably where Cindy Williams went wrong. She probably let her ego get the best of her.

You mean he thought we were "loosey goosey" for money?

R18 Never did get me any 'o that voh di oh doh.

Just what makes that little ole ant....

I actually thought Cindy was really funny on L&S. Just as funny as Laverne. She was supposed to be a virgin which was very Doris Day.

And Laverne's dad on the show as a big perv. Right? I too loved Big Rosie Greenbaum!

She stopped in at a local gay bar once, for a glass of wine when we were in there for happy hour. She was very nice and signed autographs but didn't stay very long. I found out later, my friend, who is a local cop, actually got to drive her from the airport to her hotel here in town. She made him stop and get her wine coolers too, lol. She had asked him where the nearest gay bar was in town, which is how she found out about the bar we were in.

[quote]I too loved Big Rosie Greenbaum!

Laverne) BIMO?!!!

Rosie) Yeah, bimbo.

She got on the wrong side of the Marshall Mafia Family.

[quote]She got on the wrong side of the Marshall Mafia Family.

The Mafia is the only reason Scott Baio still has a career.

I once read that CW was being considered for the Kate Jackson part on Charlie's Angels. What?? They said she wasn't sexy enough. No shit.

[quote]I actually thought Cindy was really funny on L&S. Just as funny as Laverne. She was supposed to be a virgin which was very Doris Day.

I thought she was hysterically funny and had amazing chemistry with Penny Marshall.

How many bottles of Shotz did it take before either Lenny or Squiggy made a move on the other?

"Betty, please pick up your weenies!"

She was notoriously difficult to work with.

r32

One of many, many, MANY funny lines by Laverne. Shirley had only one.

Was Carmine gay? He kept coming around even though Shirley wasn't putting out.

Marshall wrote about how difficult Williams was to work with:

"While other actresses count lines and match them up, Cindy would count, not only individual letters but punctuation as well. And she'd throw a fit if her count was less than mine, per script."

Then Penny adds:

"Of course, if her count was more, she conveniently overlook that."

Sounds like she was more

CUNTY Williams

and less

CINDY Williams

She's an ok actress and comedienne. Yeah, she was in American Graffiti and Travels With My Aunt but she hardly set the screen on fire. She had a hit sitcom, a successful career as a producer and, now, she does alot of theatre. Doesn't sound too shabby to me.

"Marshall wrote about how difficult Williams was to work with:"

Because we should take Marshall's word for it? Her brother being a writer, creator and producer of the show.

They all got pissed off when Cindy left the show because she was pregnant.

Penny got served a big serving of humble pie when she realized she couldn't carry the show without Cindy.

[quote]She had a hit sitcom

Only ONE?

One sitcom hit?

One is more than most people have ever had.

Two? I was in THREE hit shows

Bitch

I was in 34 hit shows, well for one episode but it still counts.

Wasn't Penny Marshall supposed to come out of the closet? Whatever happened to that?

Many actors never reach the heights of having as big a hit TV show as Laverne & Shirley was, so Cindy Williams should be glad she had that.

I'm actually surprised in looking back at the ratings that when Laverne & Shirley was Shirley-less, it was still a Top 25 show. It was #1 in 77-78 and 78-79, but then the network moved it from Tues to Thurs and killed its ratings. They moved it back to Tues, but it never got back to where it was. By then, Dallas was the new ratings juggernaut.

The show was really just OK. When I re-watch many of the 1970s sitcoms we loved as kids, many were just not very good. Three's Company is awful, although John Ritter wasn't bad. Happy Days was good for a couple years, but when it got ridiculously Fonzie-centric it started to drop in quality. Laverne & Shirley had some good moments of physical comedy, but the show was just OK.

The closet door was not big enough for her ass.

Three hit shows?

I had four

In my opinion, Laverne & Shirley (along with all of those Garry Marshall/Miller-Milkis shows) was one of the worst shows in television history. It tried to be a knock-off of "I Love Lucy" and failed miserably.

I have a great sense of humor, but I could never laugh at shows like L&S, Happy Days (after season 2), Mork & Mindy, etc. They were just awful.

The minute I saw that she was on one of those horrid Perry Mason movies, I knew her career was over.

She was really the tv Sally Field, so much so that she played M'Lynn in the failed "Steel Magnolia's" pilot. I would imagine that her fight with the Marshall's toward the end of L&S's run didn't help her get work, though I do recall she was in a failed sitcom with the Zappa's (Moon and Dweezil) and Barney Miller's Max Gail at some point in the late '80s.

I'm pretty sure any chance for a movie career died after L&S became a success, in those days the transition from tv to movies was tough to make (and though Williams had already done some films, her most famous one "American Grafitti" was essentially the movie version of "Happy Days"/Laverne and Shirley) and as was stated previously she was a comedic straight woman, sort of ala Jane Curtin, but Curtin could also do clown--she was the "clown" to Susan St. James' straight woman on "Kate and Allie"--and was a lot sharper and funnier.

I am surprised she didn't play more suburban mom types, as she is the quintessential "frau" type, but I could see her transitioning into uptight grandma roles if she so chose.

Oh please! Failed miserably! It didn't fail miserably. L&S was an ok show with a few laughs. Some fluff to take one's mind off their shitty day.

R51 Sally Field was the tv Sally Field.

1) Cindy Williams was okay but kind of bland in the movies mentioned.

2) She was good enough in Laverne & Shirley, a show that consciously hearkened back to the "scream your lines while engaged in wacky hijinks" tradition of '50s situation comedy. Certainly she held her own with Penny Marshall, no Duse herself.

3) She clashed with Penny Marshall regularly, claiming favoritism because Penny's brother also happened to be the show's creator, exec producer, etc. To my knowledge, Cindy Williams was never reported as "difficult" by anybody else she worked with.

4) She married and started her family towards the end of L&S's run (leading to its eventual demise). By the time she stopped having kids, she was middle-aged and kind of dumpy...hardly leading lady material.

And that, OP, is "what happened."

If you watch episode 1 of L&S, Cindy is talking with a Brooklyn accent apparently to match Penny's. It's hilarious because she says "Lavoin". Someone must have wised up because she dropped the accent and just spoke normally after that.

Garry Marshall called his sister for a one time shot on Happy Days and said there is one "bad girl" type I want you to play and one "good girl" type. You can ask Cindy if she wants to do it, if not, the hell with her.

Even then she must've been a pain.

Cindy Williams and Candy Clark were so similar that they confused the fans and soon cancelled each other out.

I can't believe you bitches have overlooked "The First Nudie Musical".

Catch Cindy and "stunt cock" at 1:49!

I was the star of "Graffiti". I didn't even have to speak. I just rode around and mouthed my lines and the rest is history.

Meanwhile Cindy, Candy and Debralee were all working it trying to get discovered.

Being married to the creepy Bill Hudson can't have helped. He's odiously manipulative. No wonder his older kids don't want anything to do with him. I hope for Cindy's sake that he didn't suck away all of her money.

R59,

Bitch, I made out with David Bowie while you were squeezing your thighs together with a piece of bent medal.

I made out with David Bowie, you flappy cunt Suzanne Somers.

OH, and I never lied about having breast cancer and going in for 'treatments' *cough cough* er, facelifts and then bullshit bored and lonely housewives of the American prairies out of their allowance money on QVC.

You are a cunt, you know that, right?

I am C.A.N.D.Y. C.L.A.R.K. I made out with David Bowie, and I look like Cindy Williams, and even my pharts are cooler than all o'yous.

"Bitch, I made out with David Bowie while you were squeezing your thighs together with a piece of bent medal."

Is that bi-sexual David Bowie, Candy? Maybe you were the one who drove him to men.

Cindy's career pales when compared with Marshall's. Clearly Cindy had minimal talent and was riding the coat tails of Penny.

Remember when she humiliated herself to go on that weight loss program commercial?

Regardless of what you "hear" they are still friendly. Just last week they appeared together at the Hollywood Autograph Show. When Cindy was going to do a "Nunsense" tour just a few years ago, Penny coached Cindy in the dance routines. I got to meet them both and have "Lavene & Shirley" Season One DVD signed by them and yes, it's inscribed "Betty Please!"

I am C.A.N.D.Y. C.L.A.R.K., I was in The Man Who Fell To Earth bitches, among other artistic and noteworthy films, I used to look like Cindy Williams but not no more, I am now one blonde hottie.

Whatever happened to that flappy cunt Suzanne Somers, eh?

I don't see her peddling her nasty shit on the QVC anymore, is she is jail again?

"Friendly" is not friends. It just means they stopped despising each other. Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Sommers are "Friendly," but clearly they aren't friends.

I'm sure a nice person like Penny Marshall would throw Williams a bone every once in a while. It doesn't mean she likes her.

Heck I am friendly to the homeless people and give them money, but I wouldn't want to associate with them.

After L&S, she tried to steal Sandy Duncan's career as "Disney Mom" but she never quite succeeded.

I watched that nasty cunt Suzanne "mis-demeanor" Somers peddle her special hormonal therapy snake-oil shit to suffering housewives, where are you now, bitch?

I was out making movies, talking to my highly-educated fanbase, and giving shit away, never mind selling it.

Saggy-tits bitch, lying, snake in the grass yankee C.U.N.T Suzanne Somers.

A few years ago Cindy and Penny were on a show together. Cindy said "People always ask us if we're friends in real life" and Penny said, "No, we hate each other." I often wonder if she was masking the truth with a joke.

Shirley: I DON'T vo-di-oh-do-do.

Laverne: You vo-di-oh.

Shirley: ONCE! When I was going steady.

Yankee bitch Suzanne "Mis-Demeanor" Somers sold shit on QVC as beauty aids HA! what a fucking farce I look younger, healthier and cuter and I give shit away for free, you snake in the grass cunt, Suzanne Somers.

I wasn't responsible for turning David Bowie gay. I can't help it that when he put his hand between your legs he thought he was being swallowed by the Grand Canyon.

Umm, "Miss Demeanor" I'm sorry I couldn't finish watching your QVC extravaganza @ 9pm, I was working, on a set, making a film, and and the director had called me in for a scene.

Now, what was it you were selling---oh right, "Decaf Hormal coffee rearranger" LOL go away bitch.

Penny actually said the problems began with Cindy when she married Bill Hudson. Cindy was pregnant during Laverne and Shirley's final season and left after the second episode, because of a dispute with the producers about accommodating her pregnancy. Penny said she was willing to do all the heavy lifting in terms of the physical comedy. Cindy sued and it was settled out of court. Look at the final season's credits after Williams left and see how much better Marshall looked. She lost weight, was tanned and looked like she had a little work done. The show's last season took place in 1967, the kids in the opening credits and Marshall looked like kids from 1982. Happy Days was the same way. Suing a producer in Hollywood is a kiss of death, especially one that was as big and powerful as Marshall was at the time. Penny admits that Cindy's recollection might be different then hers but the two patched things up almost 30 years ago.

"Look at the final season's credits after Williams left"

And they brought in tits and ass Leslie Easterbrook, who outshone everyone else in the cast.

R77 you're being sarcastic and joking right?

Cindy never looked like she wanted to be in the show. I agree with whoever said, they should've bounced her out and replaced her with Big Rosie Greenbaum.

Like Mary Hart never looked like she wanted to be on Newhart.

Too many "phone it in" actresses.

I actually thought she had better comic timing than Marshall. The few times I've watched reruns as an adult I found Marshall's mugging to be embarrassing. But I thought Williams was a good straight man/reactor, especially given the (low) quality of the script/material.

But I was never remotely impressed with any of her movie roles so I'm not at all surprised that her film career never caught on. Once she got on L & S obviously in those days, she was never going to transition back to movies, but - considering that she and Penny were the highest paid women in TV at the time - I would have thought she would have had at least a strong TV movie career (women on far less popular shows did). But my guess would be that didn't happen because of two main reasons that most have mentioned: 1) being on the wrong side of the Marshall mafia, and 2) being married to Bill Hudson. She also got heavy and matronly looking fairly soon after L & S's run, like by the time she was 40. Ginnifer Goodwin watch out.

Also, the handful of interviews I have stumbled upon of hers over the years, she seems like a bit of a fanatic Christian - so she may be on the wrong side of Hollywood politically, as well.

Yeah all that or she just, had no talent.

Ashame about L & S ratings fall in Season 5, since that is the shows best and funniest season

The army episodes with Vicki Lawrence, the weight loss camp ep, the classic Murder Mystery Train 2 parter etc.

And then they moved to California. ..

R82 I always assumed those army eps were a Private Benjamin ripoff - and then doing the chronology once, I realized that they came before that movie. But I was never fan of those eps anyway - even when I really liked the show.

Why in the world would they move the show from Tuesday night? How fucking stupid was that? Had Fred Silverman moved to NBC by that point?

Amd FWIW, I think of all those shows (the late 70s ABC "fluff" ones), Three's Company is actually the only one that holds up. And the DVD sales and strong rerun showings would attest to that as well.

What would you do if you moved to California to get a fresh start and all your friends and family followed you? That would suck.

[quote]Why in the world would they move the show from Tuesday night?

Because ABC was so strong on Tuesdays it wanted to "own" another night. It didn't work.

CBS has repeatedly tried over the years to "own" Friday night since "Dukes" and "Dallas" went off. Never worked.

CBS finally made a beachhead on Thursdays with BBT and Football.

CBS also "owned" Sunday and Saturday nights at various times. And for the most part has dominated Monday Night since I Love Lucy.

Was Williams part black? She looks like one.

Her mother is half mexican which gives her that dark look.

R87

I guess that's why with more weight she looks like Linda Ronstandt.

Williams had issues with the show from day one. She was the Shelly Long of the 70s.

This was one of my favorite episodes.

L&S comedy was physical. They were hilarious. Remember them getting stuck on hooks on the wall, Shirley pouncing on a cracker on the floor, on and on.

"Cindy's career pales when compared with Marshall's. Clearly Cindy had minimal talent and was riding the coat tails of Penny."

Boy, are you stupid. Cindy Williams was in one of the most successful movies of all time, "American Graffiti." Her acting was well-received in "Travels with My Aunt" and "The Conversation." She was funny and appealing as Shirley in "Laverne and Shirley" and after she left, the show was essentially over. So I would say her talent was far from "minimal." And as far as "riding on coattails" goes...well, Penny Marshall got the role of Laverne because her fucking brother produced the show. She got a lot of breaks because of her connections, not because of any great talent. I'd say in terms of talent Cindy Williams has a lot more of it than Marshall.

Williams and Marshall were a great comic duo.

Anyone catch Williams on one of the L&O (SVU I think) playing an evil grandmother purposely made her little granddaughter sick for money and it was also the episode that was a take off on Michael Jackson molesting kids. He wasn't too bad in the acting, not great but good enough.

R58 See R9.

[quote]The Mafia is the only reason Scott Baio still has a career.

This is ridiculous. Not the part about the Mafia-- the fact that you think Scott Baio still has a career.

Does anyone remember the pre-L&S Cindy on a short-lived, but innovative show called "The Funny Side"? It featured five couples (elderly, black, teenaged, blue collar, wealthy) and had musical numbers. The host was Gene Kelly. It featured such DL faves as John Amos, as well as Michael Lembeck (Mr. Julie Cooper), Teresa Graves, at Pat Finley. And there was singing and dancing! And also Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon, a comedy team that created "The Family" on the Carol Burnett Show. (Dick Clair was gay, BTW.)

R87 her mom was Siclian/Italian. Her father your basic WASP mix. I don't see what you're all talking about - she's pretty Irish/all American looking to me.

Incidentally, Penny is also (only) half-Italian - her mother was some kind of Scottish/WASP mix, so basically Penny and Cindy are "the same" ethnically. Which just goes to show you can't always pinpoint someone's ethnicity/heritage based on their looks.

Of course now they're both fat as cows so all is moot.

she looks quadroon

I'm so tired of everyone who thinks that "Laverne and Shirley" was mediocre.

That sitcom was one of the BEST in history. Watch the DVDs.

The synergy between Penny and Cindy was amazing. The physical comedy was often outrageous and gut-busting.

It will always be a classic to me.

God, so many DLers are just plain snobs.

If it makes you feel any better, R98, it probably held up the best out of all the shows in the [italic]Happy Days[/italic] universe.

I've always wondered WHET Candy Clark. Now we know.

I Think you nailed it R98. I know that I can no longer stand to watch Happy Days or Mork and Mindy but I will still watch L&S at least the ones from the first couple of years when it was at it's best.

Anyone remember L&S's dramatic episode, the one where Laverne has a boyfriend (Ted Danson). He's a fire fighter and he dies in the line of duty and they have to tell her? Everyone was able to shine a little in that episode.

I think it's the episode at the link. I don't have the time to watch it now to make sure.

Dinah Shore had the cast on her talk show once. What a bunch of unfunny people, especially Williams. She did make this interesting TV movie called "Suddenly Love" produced and directed by Ross Hunter. It was actually pretty good.

What about Michael Keaton and David Langer as Lenny and Squiggy? They were both greatly talented comedic actors, were a lot funnier than Marshall and Williams.

[quote]they should've bounced her out and replaced her with Big Rosie Greenbaum.

I've always wondered if they got rid of Rosie Greenbaum because she was stealing laughs from L&S. Especially in those early days when they were counting lines in the script I bet the one thing they could agree on was some supporting actor stealing their laughs.

[quote]What about Michael Keaton and David Langer as Lenny and Squiggy?

Seriously? You think Oscar nominee Michael Keaton played Lenny?

Michael MCKEAN and David L. LANDER.

I'm an Oscar nominee too r105 you shithead!

Michael McKean likes Mexican food, is an Oscar nomineee and t.v. favorite, and is married to a redhead named Annette O'Toole.

I for one, loves me some Lonestar Bar-be-que, I like monster truck rallies, and making out with David Bowie.

If any of y'all are are interested, I can provide you a run-down of my likes and dislikes.

Likes: Monster truck rallies, Lonestar Bar-Be-Que, copper piping installation, making out with David Bowie, honest, good-hearted type folks, a good jello recipe, starring in classic, avant-gard films, and Toby Keith.

Dislikes: Suzanne Somers, lying snakes in the grasses, a lousy hamburger, overpriced wheel-alignment repairs, the "Thighmaster," con artists on QVC, baroque instrumentals that do not include harmonics in the opening movement, yankee c.u.n.t.s, Priuses are for pussies, and coffee enema advocates.

In reply to poster 38, the ratings for L&S were still good enough after Cindy Williams left that ABC wanted to renew the show for a 9th season. Look it up! It was Penny Marshall who turned it down because she wanted to concentrate on her directing career. So no humble pie was served, maybe to Cindy Williams when she saw that the show could and did survive without her! Good try though!

Right r109! For the 9th season, everyone was going to tune in to a show called "Laverne &" Penny Marshall couldn't carry the show by herself. It wasn't a show like Cheers where one cast member leaving didn't make that big of a difference. If either Laverne or Shirley left, the show would crumble. And it did.

Very limited acting talent & not excessively pretty nor built. And reputedly, kind of a bitch.

Nexxxxxtttttt !

I love that episode, r94! Cindy is excellent in it. I thought she really reminded people that when properly cast, she always delivers. It's also just a great L&O episode all around.

Cindy was almost Princess Leia

R113 - Watch Carrie's tape and then watch Cindy's, Carrie is SO much better.

Cindy looked high as a fucking kite in her audition.

Travels with My Aunt is a horribly flawed film but the parts that are good are so good it's still one of my all time favorites.

"Carrie is SO much better."

Actually, if you watch "Star Wars" again, it's astounding how BAD she is. Really, her acting is awful. I have no idea how she got that role. Because she's the daughter of a Hollywood legend, maybe? There must have been hundreds of young actresses who were prettier and more talented and appealing than Carrie Fisher. But she did have a certain bitchy quality to her than George Lucas may have thought was suitable for the rather snotty Princess Leia. Yes, I guess that was it. Princess Leia was a bitch, so Carrie Fisher had the edge. She is SUCH a bitch.

R117 - I thought Carrie was rather good in SW, and handled her role well. That said I like how she delivered the speech better in the clip than in the movie.

"I thought Carrie was rather good in SW, and handled her role well."

She spoke some of her lines with a British accent, which sounded really stupid. And she was called "beautiful" by Luke Skywalker, which was ridiculous, since she's not and never was beautiful. There were probably lots of young actresses who would have been better than her.

Cindy was almost Princess Leia

So was Terri Nunn of Berlin!!!

Travels With My Aunt is a fantastic novel.

The movie is kind of a mess, in spite of having Dame Maggie Smith and her then real life husband Robert Stephen and some beautiful photography. I love the railroad station scene with the party and Dame Maggie and Robert dancing. And I like the prissy nephew. But the movie should have been so much better,

Why did they change the end? Why does the movie not hold up to the quality of the novel?

Wasn't Miss Cukor involved in this? Did she f--- up everything she touched?

R98: in the top 25 WORST TV shows ever made:

HAPPY DAYS LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY MORK AND MINDY JOANIE LOVES CHACHI

PERIOD. END OF STORY.

stupid, sophomoric stories with mostly poor acting and dumb loud sweetened laugh tracks.

Was Cindy's requests her attempt to be Suzanne Sommers 2.0?

I wonder how much her out of court settlement was.