Fifty years ago, Laverne & Shirley made its debut on ABC. The sitcom spinoff, starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as Milwaukee beer factory workers Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeny, premiered on Jan. 27, 1976, after the characters first appeared on several episodes of Happy Days.
Early on, there were rumors of drama between co-stars Williams and Marshall. In the book Happier Days: Paramount Television's Classic Sitcoms, 1974-1984, author Marley Brant wrote that Williams walked off the set two months into the series because she felt Marshall’s Laverne got all the “attention.” Williams also told TV Guide in 1977 that the “terrific part" she was promised got “washed away.” There were rumors that the co-stars’ fighting could be heard by the Happy Days cast from their adjoining soundstage on the Paramount lot.
But Henry Winkler, whose Fonzie character helped introduce Laverne and Shirley on Happy Days, said rumors of nightmarish behavior were untrue.
In an interview on Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal podcast, Winkler was asked if Laverne and Shirley were a “nightmare,” and he quickly replied, “No, that’s not true.”
“They started as a guest couple on our show,” Winkler recalled in the January 2024 encore episode. “I dated one, and Richie dated Shirley. I dated Laverne. And the girls were so incredible together. You know, one of the great acting partners of my life was Ron Howard. We could do a three-page scene. We could memorize it, improvise it, and shoot it in 20 minutes, three times. And these young ladies, they were so connected in their humor and so yin and yang. They were so the opposite of each other."
“And then they went on to do their own show, and they each had an opinion, that is true,” Winkler continued. “But what came out was some of the best slapstick comedy since Lucy. Honest to God. Great physical comedians, both of them. Great physical comedians. And they worked together like bread and butter.”
Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall Explained Their Relationship
Laverne & Shirley ran for eight seasons, from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983, but Williams left in 1982. The solo Laverne episodes didn’t work, and the series was canceled the following spring.
Williams addressed the rumors of tension between her and Marshall in an interview for the Archive of American Television, describing Marshall as a "taskmistress," while she was the complete opposite.
"The attitude of the characters were real," she added of the dynamic between her and her co-star. "When she would get upset with me it would be real. I just let it roll off my back after a while and [I] didn't get upset by it.”
“We had our differences but not when it came to hitting that stage and doing what we loved doing,” Williams continued. “It was like [an] instinct with her, like telepathy. I don't think I've had that with anyone else in my life.”
In the same interview, Marshall added, "Our personalities are so alike in so many ways, and so different in so many ways. There would be squabbles, but in the end the entire experience, the entire thing was such a blessing and so much fun. I couldn't have done it without her, it wouldn't have been the same and I'm sure she would say vice versa."
The Laverne actress also described Williams as “one of my great, great friends, one of the greatest friends of my life.”
Marshall died in 2018 at age 75, and Williams died in January 2023, also at 75.
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