In 1975, Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams were writing sketches at Francis Coppola’s production company for a bicentennial comedy special when Garry Marshall — Penny’s brother — cast them both in a couple of Happy Days episodes as Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney. The chemistry was right there. Two months later he’d built a show around them. Laverne and Shirley hit ABC on January 27, 1976, in the Tuesday night slot right after Happy Days. The debut pulled the highest Nielsen rating for a new series in over a decade. Williams hadn’t even wanted the role — Marshall had spent weeks talking her into it. By Season 2 it was the No. 2 show in America. By Season 3 it was No. 1.
The physical comedy was extraordinary. What was happening off screen was something else entirely. Both women were intensely competitive, and the writers were constantly trying to balance the material — if Laverne got a standout physical gag, Shirley needed something of equal weight. Williams had very particular ideas about her character. Marshall had hers. Garry Marshall was writing for both of them and somewhere in the middle of both of them. Henry Winkler later said the rumors of a feud were way overblown and that what came out was “the best slapstick comedy since Lucy.” That may be true. It doesn’t mean it was easy.
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The show ran for 8 seasons. In Season 6, the whole cast picked up and moved from Milwaukee to Burbank, California. The ratings had started slipping. By Season 8 in 1982, Williams was pregnant. When she came in to sign her contract, the studio had scheduled her to work on her due date. She walked off the set two episodes in. She filed a $20 million breach of contract lawsuit against Paramount, claiming they’d gone back on the terms of her deal. Shirley was written out — she’d gotten married and moved away — and Marshall carried the final season on her own. The show without Shirley wasn’t the show. ABC pulled it the following spring.
After the Show
Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams barely spoke for years. Marshall later wrote in her memoir that she’d run into Williams “once or twice at TV Land specials” but that it was always “more professional than personal.” They eventually worked it out.
Williams said she’d go to Marshall’s house and they’d watch television together in bed. After Laverne and Shirley, Marshall went on to direct “Big” — the first film directed by a woman to gross over $100 million — and then “A League of Their Own.” Penny Marshall died in December 2018. Cindy Williams died in January 2023. Both were 75. The show they made together was the No. 1 program in America for 2 of its 8 seasons. Getting there cost them more than it looked.
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