Cynthia Jane "Cindy" Williams (born August 22, 1947 - died January 31, 2023) is made 5 guest cast member on Happy Days as Shirley Feeney, which she also played on the Happy Days spinoff series ABC-TV's Laverne & Shirley. In addition to her role as Shirley Feeney, Cindy is also well recognized to moviegoers for her role as Laurie Henderson in the blockbuster 1973 film Wikipedia:American Graffiti, where she co-starred with Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and Mackenzie Phillips.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Williams was born in Van Nuys, California, to Francesca (née Bellini) and Beachard Williams. She has a sister named Carol Ann Williams, a brother James Leroy Gaines, She graduated from Birmingham High School. She attended Los Angeles City College. To date she has appeared in 19 films.
Career[]
After graduating from college, Cindy was cast in several commercials before landing roles on shows such as The Nanny, Room 222, and Love, American Style. She then landed on more important roles on programs such as Travels with My Aunt, American Graffiti, and The Conversation. Having honed her skills at The Actors Studio West,[1][2] Cindy picked up important film roles early in her career: George Cukor's Travels with My Aunt (1972); as Laurie Henderson, Ron Howard's character's high school sweetheart in George Lucas's American Graffiti (1973) for which she earned a BAFTA award nomination as Best Supporting Actress;[3] and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974). She auditioned for Lucas's next project, Star Wars, but lost the role of Princess Leia to Carrie Fisher.[4]
"Happy Days" & "Laverne & Shirley"[]
In 1976, she landed the role of Shirley Feeney on Laverne & Shirley after playing the same character on Happy Days in 1975, co-starring with Penny Marshall, who played Shirley's roommate and best friend Laverne DeFazio. The show lasted until 1982, due to Williams and Marshall's feuding and controversy concerning Williams's pregnancy.
In 2013, she and Marshall guest-starred on Sam & Cat as two producers active in the 1970s who fought and stopped speaking to each other, which sort of lampooned the situation which led to Cindy's departure from Laverne & Shirley years earlier.
Personal life[]
Williams was married to Bill Hudson of the musical trio Hudson Brothers in 1982, but the marriage ended in divorce in 2000. Together they have two children: A daughter, Emily Hudson (born 1982), and son, Zachary Hudson (born 1986). Cindy Williams is a practicing Catholic.
References[]
- ↑ The Cindy Williams Picture Pages. SuperiorPics.som. Retrieved on 2012-12-09.
- ↑ Garfield, David (1980). . MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
- ↑ http://awards.bafta.org/award/1975/film/supporting-actress
- ↑ Moore, Frazier. "George Lucas and the Trials and Tribulations of a Trilogy: 'Empire of Dreams'", 2004-09-10. Retrieved on 2012-12-09.
External links[]
- Cindy Williams article at Wikipedia
Cindy Williams at the Internet Movie Database
