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Actor David Lander, better known as Squiggy on the ABC sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” died Friday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family confirmed. Variety. He was 73 years old.
Lander died of complications from multiple sclerosis, which he battled for 37 years. Since making his diagnosis public in 1999, Lander has worked closely with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, speaking about his experience at related conferences.
The actor was best known as Squiggy from “Laverne & Shirley,” which he played opposite Michael McKean, who portrayed Lenny. The characters were developed by longtime friends and collaborators while they were students at Carnegie Mellon University.
On Saturday morning, McKean responded to the news by tweeting an old photo of him and Lander.
– Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) December 5, 2020
Born June 22, 1947 in Brooklyn, NY, Lander had his eyes on the theater from an early age and attended the High School for the Performing Arts. After teaming up with McKean in college, the duo moved to Los Angeles, where they joined the comedy ensemble, The Credibility Gap.
The duo built their early careers together, co-starring in Steven Spielberg’s comedy film “1941” and “Used Cars” by Kurt Russell. Lander and McKean also voiced an animated television series, “Oswald,” in which they played the animated penguins Henry and Louie, respectively. In 1979, Lander and McKean released an album like Lenny and the Squigtones starring Christopher Guest on guitar, which was credited as Nigel Tufnel – an alias that Guest later reused in the fictional band Spinal Tap.
Lander has also made appearances on several television shows, including “The Bob Newhart Show”, “Barney Miller”, “Happy Days”, “Viva Valdez”, “Twin Peaks” and “The Drew Carey Show”, and performed smaller but memorable roles. in films like “A League of their Own” and “Say It Is not So”.
As a voice actor, Lander was the voice behind Smart Ass in the 1988 Disney film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, and was credited as Stephen Lander in “Boo” and “Zino and the Snurks”. He also voiced Ch’p in the DC Comics animated film, “Green Lantern: First Flight” in 2009.
Lander recently voiced Rumpelstiltskin on Disney’s children’s show, “Goldie & Bear,” and Donnie the Shark in an episode of “SpongeBob Squarepants” in 2016.
Lander is survived by his wife, Kathy Fields Lander, and daughter, Natalie Lander.
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