header
                        banner
My City, Entertainment

David Lander, ‘Squiggy’ on ‘Laverne & Shirley,’ dies at 73

Actor David L. Lander, who played the character of Squiggy on the popular ABC comedy “Laverne & Shirley,” has died a...
By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES 


Actor David L. Lander, who played the character of Squiggy on the popular ABC comedy “Laverne & Shirley,” has died after a decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis, his wife said. He was 73.


Related story

Julia Garner, Anna Chlumsky, Laverne Cox board Shonda Rhimes' A...


Lander died Friday in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, Kathy Fields Lander said in an email Saturday to the Associated Press.


“It was very peaceful,” Lander said. “He had a tough battle with MS for 37 years and he persevered like no one I have ever seen, and it taught me a great deal about the important things of life.”


Lander had a longtime comedic partnership with Michael McKean, whom he met at Carnegie Mellon University. Together they created the characters of Lenny and Squiggy that they would play on the show, which ran from 1976 to 1983. Lenny and Squiggy — or Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman — were friends and upstairs neighbors of Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams), bottle-cappers in 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


McKean tweeted a photo in tribute to Lander on Saturday of the two actors in the early days.


Lander is survived by his wife and a daughter, Natalie Lander.

Related Stories
My City

Shirley Boone, wife of Pat Boone and philanthropis...

1 min read
My City

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Shirley Ann Grau d...

1 min read
My City

Veteran actor Shirley Douglas passes away at 86

1 min read
Lifestyle

Mars lander starts digging on red planet, hits sna...

1 min read
WORLD

Japan launches rocket carrying lunar lander and X-...

1 min read