Who Is Still Alive From ‘Laverne and Shirley’?
49 years ago, Laverne & Shirley — the first and most successful of the many Happy Days spin-off shows — premiered, on January 27, 1976. Originally introduced as acquaintances of Fonzie, Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) were roommates and best friends in 1950s Milwaukee, working together at the Shotz Brewery and enjoying wacky relationships with landlady Edna, Shirley’s boyfriend Carmine (a.k.a. the Big Ragu), and neighbors Lenny and Squiggy. Though Williams reportedly told cast member Michael McKean, “You know, this is gonna flop” before shooting the first episode, the show ran for eight successful seasons, and became the number one TV show in the country two years in a row.
Today, sadly, only one classic cast member is still with us — though two others who were added to the show’s later seasons, when the gang all moved to Los Angeles, are also still alive.
Michael McKean (77)
Lenny
Sony Pictures Classics/Courtesy Everett Collection
One half of the greaser duo who lived upstairs from Laverne and Shirley, McKean actually created the character of Lenny while in college at Carnegie Mellon University; David Lander, who played Squiggy, was a fellow student. “Lenny and Anthony,” as they were originally called, were among a large array of characters that McKean and Lander performed during their days in the Chicago live improv comedy scene. And according to a 2010 interview with McKean, “we thought [Lenny and Squiggy] were the least commercial things we did.”
After Laverne & Shirley was sold to the network, the series needed more characters, so Penny Marshall invited McKean and Lander to a party where the show’s producers would be present. Marshall urged them to perform as Lenny and Squiggy — which impressed the producers enough to offer McKean and Lander spots on the show as writers, with the idea that maybe Lenny and Squiggy would make small cameos somewhere down the line.
But when the show’s first script needed more jokes, the decision was made to throw the comedians in front of the cameras, and they appeared in almost every episode thereafter. Lenny and Squiggy were so popular, they released a 1979 live album, Lenny & Squiggy Present Lenny and the Squigtones, which featured future McKean collaborator Christopher Guest on guitar.
After leaving the show in 1982, McKean starred alongside Guest in Rob Reiner‘s infamous 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, and turned in a memorable performance alongside Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd and Madeline Kahn in 1985’s Clue.
In the decades since, McKean has become one of the most recognizable faces in comedy, whether from his frequent TV roles, his time as a Saturday Night Live cast member in the 1994-95 season, or his frequent collaborations with Guest, which include 2000’s Best in Show and 2003’s A Mighty Wind, which won McKean a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture.
His most recent appearance was on the 2023 TV show Dead Ringers, but he, Guest, Reiner and the rest of the crew are currently hard at work on a Spinal Tap sequel, which is scheduled to be released in 2025.
McKean has two sons with first wife Susan Russell, whom he was married to from 1970 to 1993. In 1999, he married actress Annette O’Toole. His son Colin passed in 2012.
Leslie Easterbrook (75)
Rhonda Lee
Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection
The name “Rhonda Lee” may not immediately stir up any Laverne & Shirley memories — Rhonda was introduced as an aspiring actress who lived next door in the sixth season, when the girls relocated to southern California. But if you spent much time at the cineplex in the ’80s, you might remember Easterbrook as Sgt. Debbie Callahan, who she played in six Police Academy films.
She’s stayed busy with film and TV roles in the decades since, with her most recent credit a role in the 2022 film Give Til It Hurts.
Ed Marinaro (74)
Sonny St. Jacques
Level 33 Entertainment / courtesy Everett Collection
Another addition from the show’s California seasons, Marinaro was a professional football player who competed at Super Bowl VIII and Super Bowl IX with the Minnesota Vikings. After retiring from football, he joined Laverne & Shirley in 1980, appearing in 11 episodes as Sonny, the girls’ new landlord.
After the series, Marinaro starred in six seasons of Hill Street Blues as Officer Joe Coffey from 1981-86, and three seasons of the football comedy Blue Mountain State, from 2010-11. He’s also made guest appearances on countless TV shows, with his most recent credit a 2019 TV movie called SnowComing.
What happened to the rest of the cast members who have passed away?
Penny Marshall
Danielle Mathias / © IFC / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Marshall, who played Laverne, went on to a career as one of the most successful comedy film directors of the ’80s and ’90s. Her hit 1988 Tom Hanks film Big became the first movie directed by a woman to gross over $100 million. In addition to directing classics like 1992’s A League of Their Own, Marshall continued to direct, produce, and occasionally act on TV; her final appearance was in a 2016 episode of The Odd Couple reboot. She died in 2018, at age 75.
Cindy Williams
Scott Gries/Getty Images
Williams, who played Shirley, left the show at the beginning of its eight season, due to both a pregnancy that producers refused to properly accommodate, and an alleged feud with Marshall (which the two later resolved). After the show, she appeared in a number of films and TV shows, and also appeared in a number of touring and regional theater productions. She and Marshall reunited on screen in 2013, on an episode of the Nickelodeon show Sam & Cat. Williams passed away in 2023, at age 75, after a brief illness.
David Lander
Lander, who played Squiggy on the show until 1982, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984, an ailment that sadly slowed down his acting career. However, he still made live guest appearances on shows including Twin Peaks, Married…with Children, and The Drew Carey Show. Lander became an accomplished voice actor in the years after Laverne & Shirley, appearing as a recurring character on the Garfield animated series, as well as in A Bug’s Life, Titan A.E., Tom and Jerry: The Movie and Galaxy High. He began speaking publicly about his multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 1999, and in 2002, released the memoir Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody. He died in 2020, at the age of 73, from complications from multiple sclerosis.
Eddie Mekka, who played Carmine “The Big Ragu” Ragusa, appeared on Laverne & Shirley until its 1983 cancellation. After the show, Mekka appeared as a guest star on TV shows ranging from The Bold and the Beautiful to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He also performed in live theater, which twice led him to share a stage with Williams — in a 2000 production of Grease, and again in a 2008 production of the play It Had to Be You. He died in 2021, at the age of 69.
Betty Garrett, who played Edna, appeared on dozens of shows after leaving the series, including Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls and Grey’s Anatomy, and maintained a theater career. She died in 2011, at the age of 91, after suffering an aneurysm.
Phil Foster, who played Frank DeFazio, died shortly after the series ended, in 1985, at the age of 72.
Remind 
1970s Fall TV
September 2023
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