After first appearing on the sitcom “Happy Days” Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams earned their own spin-off sitcom titled “Laverne & Shirley” and became one of the most popular programs on television.  Williams’ family announced on January 30 that she had died January 25 after a brief illness in Los Angeles at the age of 75.

Williams’ children issued a statement on the passing of their mother saying, “the passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed.  Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege. She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved.”

While appearing in over 80 film and television productions, Williams was best known for her role on “Laverne & Shirley”; but left in 1982 when the show would not cut the hours of a pregnant Williams.

She made her television debut in 1970 in “My World and Welcome to It”.  From there she appeared in dozens of productions including, “Barefoot in the Park”, “Room 222”, “American Graffiti”, “Hawaii Five-O”, “The Conversation”, “Police Story”, “More American Graffiti”, “Happy Days”, “Laverne & Shirley”, “Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen”, “Steel Magnolias”, “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”, “7th Heaven”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, and her final appearance as a guest on the show “Canaan Land”. 

Williams had been cast in the role of the grandma in “Sami”.  The show is currently in post production.

In 1996, Williams was a part of the Broadway touring cast for “Deathtrap” and in 2007 she had a short stint on Broadway in the musical comedy “The Drowsy Chaperone”.

Cynthia Jane Williams was born on August 22, 1947 in Van Nuys, California but the family moved to Dallas shortly thereafter.  Williams would return to Hollywood and Los Angeles during high school.  As a child, Williams dreamed of being an actress; putting on her own plays and dreaming that Debbie Reynolds would see one of them and sweep her off to Hollywood.  At one time George Lucas had even considered casting Cindy Williams in the role of Princess Leia; but it went to Reynolds’ daughter Carrie Fisher instead.

Predeceased by her “Laverne & Shirley” colleague Penny Marshall in 2018, Cindy Williams is survived by her two children Zak and Emily.

Feature photo credit: Cindy Williams.JPG