Cindy Williams dies in LA: ‘Laverne & Shirley’ and ‘American Graffiti’ actress turns 75

Los Angeles — Cindy Williams, who played Penny Marshall’s Shirley opposite Laverne on the popular sitcom “Laverne” & Shirley,” she died, her family said Monday.

Williams died in Los Angeles at the age of 75, on Wednesday, after a short illness, her sons, Zack and Emily Hudson, said in a statement released by family spokeswoman Lisa Kranes.

“The death of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us an indomitable grief that can never be truly expressed,” the statement said. “Knowing and loving us was our joy and our privilege. She was so unique, beautiful, generous, and had a wonderful sense of humor and a sparkling spirit that everyone loved.”

Williams also starred in George Lucas’ “American Graffiti” in 1973, and Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” from 1974.

But she is most famous for “Laverne”. & Shirley, the “Happy Days” series that ran on ABC from 1976 to 1983 and which in its prime was among the most popular shows on television.

Williams played Shirley Strait to Marshall’s freer Laverne in the show about a pair of roommates who work in a Milwaukee bottling plant in the 1950s and 1960s.

Marshall passed away in 2018.