Celebrity
Actress Cindy Williams of “Laverne & Shirley” Passes Away at Age 75
Cindy Williams, one of America’s most recognizable stars in the 1970s and 1980s for her role as Shirley opposite Penny Marshall’s Laverne on the hit sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” has died, according to her family.
Williams died on Wednesday at 75 in Los Angeles after a brief illness, according to her children, Zak and Emily Hudson, in a statement released through family spokeswoman Liza Cranis.
“The death of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has left us with insurmountable sadness that can never truly be expressed,” the statement said. “Knowing and loving her has been both a joy and a privilege for us. She was one of a kind, beautiful, and generous, with a brilliant sense of humor and a sparkling spirit that everyone adored.”
Williams appeared in George Cukor’s 1972 “Travels With My Aunt,” George Lucas’ 1973 “American Graffiti,” and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 “The Conversation” in a film career that preceded her full-time move to television.
But she was best known for “Laverne & Shirley,” a “Happy Days” spinoff that aired on ABC from 1976 to 1983 and was one of the most popular shows on television at the time.
On the show about a pair of blue-collar roommates who worked on the assembly line of a Milwaukee brewery in the 1950s and 1960s, Williams played the stern Shirley Feeney to Marshall’s more libertine Laverne DeFazio.
“They were well-liked characters,” Williams said to The Associated Press in 2002.
Feeney was naive and trusting, while DeFazio was quick-tempered and defensive. For plot inspiration, the actors looked to their own lives.
“At the start of each season, we’d make a list of what talents we had,” Marshall told the Associated Press in 2002. “We used Cindy’s ability to touch her tongue to her nose in the show. “I did some tap dancing.”
Williams told The Associated Press in 2013 that she and Marshall had “very different personalities” but that stories about the two clashing on set were “a bit overblown.”
With its self-empowering opening song, “Give us any chance, we’ll take it, read us any rule, we’ll break it,” the series was a rare network hit about working-class characters.
That scene would become as well-known as the show itself. Williams’ and Marshall’s chant of “schlemiel, schlimazel” as they skipped along became a cultural phenomenon and a source of nostalgia for many.
Penny Marshall died in 2018, along with his brother, Garry Marshall, who co-created the series.
Singing this song with so much gratitude for both of you ladies. Absolute gems. United again… Rest in Paradise Cindy Williams https://t.co/G9LVZfym0s
— Rosario Dawson (@rosariodawson) January 31, 2023
On Tuesday, actress Rosario Dawson tweeted a video of the opening theme.
“Singing this song with so much love for both of you ladies,” Dawson wrote on Twitter. “These are absolute gems. Reunited once more… Cindy Williams, rest in peace.”
Lenny and Squiggy, Laverne and Shirley’s oddball hangers-on, were also played by Michael McKean and David Lander. Lander died in the year 2020.
McKean paid tribute to Cindy Williams on Twitter with a production memory.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/CLBPX4WSVZAIRC23AI2G4VRT7A.jpg)
“Season 1 Backstage: I’m offstage waiting for a cue. “The script was challenging, so we’re giving it our all, and the audience is having a great time,” McKean tweeted. “Cindy scoots past me to make her entrance and exclaims, ‘Show’s cookin’!’ Amen. Cindy, thank you.”
As the show’s ratings fell in the sixth season, the characters relocated from Milwaukee to Burbank, California, trading their brewery jobs for jobs at a department store.
Cindy Williams became pregnant in 1982 and requested that her working hours be reduced. She walked off the set when her demands were unmet and sued the production company. During the final season, she made only a few appearances.
Williams was born in 1947 as one of two sisters in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Van Nuys. Her family relocated to Dallas shortly after her birth, but she later returned to Los Angeles, where she pursued acting while attending Birmingham High School and majoring in theatre arts at LA City College.
Her television acting career began in 1969, with appearances on “Room 222,” “Nanny and the Professor,” and “Love, American Style.”
Her performance in George Lucas’ “American Graffiti” would become a defining role for her. The film foreshadowed the subsequent nostalgia boom for the 1950s and early 1960s. The following year, “Happy Days,” starring her “American Graffiti” co-star Ron Howard, would be released. Before they had their show, the characters of Laverne and Shirley appeared on TV as dates for Henry Winkler’s Fonzie.
Lucas also considered her for the role of Princess Leia in “Star Wars,” which was eventually filled by Carrie Fisher.
Williams has appeared in dozens of TV shows over the last three decades, including “7th Heaven,” “8 Simple Rules,” and “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” She and Marshall appeared in a “Laverne & Shirley” tribute episode of the Nickelodeon show “Sam and Cat” in 2013.
Last year, Williams performed “Me, Myself, and Shirley,” a one-woman stage show filled with stories from her career, at a theatre in Palm Springs, California, near her home in Desert Hot Springs.
From 1982 to 2000, Williams married singer Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers. Hudson raised her two children. He previously married Goldie Hawn and is the father of actress Kate Hudson.
Retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce destroyed a Penn State football fan’s phone after the alleged heckler called his brother, Travis Kelce, a fag.
In now-viral footage published on X (previously Twitter) on Saturday, Nov. 2, the retired Philadelphia Eagles great was seen accompanied by football fans outside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., for the Penn State-Ohio State game.
As the individual capturing the tape lifted a fist to Jason, 36, and called his name for a fist bump, another man nearby hurled the homophobic slur at the retired Philadelphia Eagles star.
Hey, Kelce. How does it feel that your brother is a queer dating Taylor Swift?” the man questioned, referring to Travis, 34, who has been seeing Swift since 2023. Jason turned around seconds later, snatched the man’s phone, and crushed it to the ground.
“Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason,” the original X user who submitted the video remarked. “Wild scene in State College.”
“Kelce how does it feel that your brother is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?”
Jason Kelce proceeded to slam this kids phone on the ground.
Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason. Wild scene in State College pic.twitter.com/3PEdZXWhSg
— Chives (@jarrett_daveler) November 2, 2024
Additional footage on X shows Jason smashing the phone on asphalt before picking it up and walking away. The phone’s owner, wearing a Penn State hoodie at the time of the incident, was shown in many videos strolling closely behind Jason and recording him before the conflict occurred.
Another footage published on X, which appears to have been filmed after Jason shattered the man’s phone, showed the hooded Penn State supporter trudging through a mob to pick up his phone off the ground.
“Give me my phone, bro,” he seemed to say to Jason.
The NFL alum seized the gadget first, then stood in front of the man and asked, “Who’s the fag now?” Others appeared to interfere.
The incident occurred while Jason was at Beaver Stadium for an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay. The Ohio State Buckeyes won Saturday’s game 20-13 over the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Trending News:
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Romantic Date Night
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Romantic Date Night Has Alarming Details.
Shaun White, the Olympic snowboarding champion, already has an impressive medal tally, but his surprise proposal to Nina Dobrev deserves a gold medal.
On Wednesday, the couple announced their engagement on Instagram. Dobrev posted photographs of the two hugging under an arch of white roses and showing off her five-carat Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring.
“RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé,” Dobrev said in the caption.
However, the photographs only tell half the tale, as Shaun devised an elaborate plan to surprise Dobrev with his proposal.
Shaun White’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
According to a Vogue interview published Wednesday, Shaun said he assembled a team of people from the couple’s inner circle and Vogue personnel to trick Dobrev into thinking she had been invited to an intimate dinner party with Anna Wintour.
Dobrev accepted the invitation, joking that Shaun made it “look so legitimate.”
He even asked Dobrev’s stylist to outfit her in Chanel for the event.
Dobrev said she recognized what was happening when she entered the venue and saw White standing beneath the flowery arch.
.JPG)
Shaun’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
“I went into shock,” Dobrev admitted, later adding that White “said all the right things” before she agreed.
According to the publication, after Shaun proposed, the couple partied into the early morning hours with close friends and relatives.
“Best night of my life,” Shaun captioned his Instagram story on Wednesday.
The duo first became romantically involved in 2020, and they have since publicly recorded their relationship, globe vacations, and White’s Olympic farewell on social media.
SOURCE | CNN
Hollywood actress Teri Garr, known for her roles in classics like “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” has passed away at 79. She died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” said publicist Heidi Schaeffer.
Admirers took to social media in her honor, with writer-director Paul Feig calling her “truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more” and screenwriter Cinco Paul saying: “Never the star, but always shining. She made everything she was in better.”
Throughout her career, the performer, often known as Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann, seemed destined for show business from a young age.
Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comic, and her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dancing classes at six and was performing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies by age fourteen.
She was 16 years old when she joined the road crew of “West Side Story” in Los Angeles, and she began starring in small roles in films as early as 1963.
In an interview from 1988, she described how she landed the role in “West Side Story.” After being rejected at her initial audition, she returned the following day dressed differently and was accepted.
Teri Garr, a comedian
Teri Garr then found steady work as a movie dancer, appearing in the chorus of nine Elvis Presley films, including “Viva Las Vegas,” “Roustabout,” and “Clambake.”
She has also appeared on various television shows, including “Star Trek,” “Dr. Kildare,” and “Batman,” and was a featured dancer on the rock ‘n’ roll music show “Shindig,” the rock concert performance “T.A.M.I.,” and a cast member of “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”
Her breakthrough role was as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 thriller The Conversation. This led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who offered her the Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant role in Young Frankenstein if she could speak with a German accent.
“Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,” Garr once said.
The film established her as a great comic performer, with New Yorker film writer Pauline Kael calling her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on screen.”
Her big smile and off-center appeal helped her land roles in “Oh, God!” with George Burns and John Denver, “Mr. Mom” (as Michael Keaton’s wife), and “Tootsie,” in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange and discovers he has dressed up as a woman to revive his career.
A gift for spontaneous humor
Teri Garr, best known for comedy, has shown in films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion, and The Escape Artist that she can also tackle drama.
She had a gift for spontaneous humor, frequently playing David Letterman’s foil during early guest appearances on N.B.C.’s “Late Night With David Letterman”.
Her appearances grew so frequent, and the pair’s good-natured bickering so convincing that rumors of romantic involvement circulated for a while. Years later, Letterman acknowledged those early appearances with helping the program become a success.
During those years, Garr began to experience “a little beeping or ticking” in her right leg. It started in 1983 and expanded to her right arm, but she thought she could handle it. By 1999, her symptoms had gotten so bad that she saw a doctor and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
After disclosing her diagnosis, Garr became a spokesman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, giving hilarious remarks at events in the United States and Canada.
Source: AP
“
Democrats Now Leaderless After Trump Presidential Win
Kamala Concession Speech Trends on Google
A Trump Presidency Spells Disaster for Trudeau
Despite All the Odds Donald Trump Elected 47th President
Trudeau Accused of Sowing Divisions Between Sikhs and Hindus
Police Officer Suspended for Joining Pro-Khalistan Protest
India Slams Trudeau Over Pro-Khalistani Sikhs Attacking Canadian Hindus
US Election Polls Who’s Leading in the Swing States
Felipe VI of Spain Pelted with Mud By Angry Protesters
Subsidies for Electric Vehicles Cut as Consumer Interest Fades
Documents Show OpenAI’s From Nonprofit to $157B Valued Company Long Trip
Experts Are Perplexed By Tesla’s Sporty, Two-Seater Robotaxi Design.
Apple Unveiled A Fresh Glimpse Of Their AI Featuring ChatGPT Integration.
Connection Problems With The App Store Are Stopping Customers From Downloading Apps.
OpenAI Plans To Establish Offices In Paris, Singapore, And Brussels To Facilitate Global Development.
Uber And Lyft Stock Prices Surge After Telsa’s “Toothless” Robotaxi Revelation.
Documents Show OpenAI’s Long Journey From Nonprofit To $157B Valued Company
The Meta Foundation Launches a New Anti-Sextortion Campaign on Instagram.
Meta Cleans Bogus Accounts in Moldova Before The Presidential Contest.
Ozempic-Fueled Slimming Is Blowing Up The Wedding Dress Industry
Pro-Khalistanis Sikhs Attack Hindu Temple in Brampton
Galaxy Gas the News Craze on TiKTok May Have Negative Consequences
Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ a Box Office Success Gets 4.5 Stars
Megalopolis Trailer Pulled By Lionsgate Over Fabricated Critics Quotes
Netflix Releases Squid Game Season 2 Teaser
Police Pepper Spray Antisemitic Protesters at McGill University, 15 Arrested
Thousands Descend on New York’s South Bronx for Trump Rally
Singapore Airlines Passenger Killed During Severe Turbulence
Former NDP Leader Mulclair Says Trudeau Should Retire
David Lee Roth Unloads Over Wolfgang Van Halen “This F—in’ Kid”
-
Tech4 weeks agoDocuments Show OpenAI’s From Nonprofit to $157B Valued Company Long Trip
-
Business4 weeks agoExperts Are Perplexed By Tesla’s Sporty, Two-Seater Robotaxi Design.
-
Tech2 weeks ago
Apple Unveiled A Fresh Glimpse Of Their AI Featuring ChatGPT Integration.
-
Tech3 weeks ago
Connection Problems With The App Store Are Stopping Customers From Downloading Apps.
-
Tech4 weeks ago
OpenAI Plans To Establish Offices In Paris, Singapore, And Brussels To Facilitate Global Development.
-
Business4 weeks ago
Uber And Lyft Stock Prices Surge After Telsa’s “Toothless” Robotaxi Revelation.
