People who knew and admired actor David Lander paid tribute to him Sunday via social media.
Lander, who gained fame as Squiggy on the long-running ABC sitcom “Laverne & Shirley” in the 1970s and ’80s, died from multiple sclerosis Friday evening at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, TMZ reported. He was 73.
Lander’s appearances as Sguiggy were almost always accompanied by the character’s friend Lenny, played by Michael McKean, and he almost always entered the scene with a cheery “Hello.”
The two actors also appeared together in Steven Spielberg’s 1979 comedy “1941,” and in the 1980 film “Used Cars.”
McKean posted a vintage photo on Twitter of Lander standing behind him with his head on McKean’s back.
“He was my oldest friend,” McKean told the Los Angeles Times. “We knew this was coming for a while – we watched his physical deterioration – but nothing upstairs deteriorated. He was as funny as he always was ’til the end. He was the funniest man I ever knew.”
“Brady Bunch” star Maureen McCormick and comedian Kathy Griffin each re-posted McKean’s photo with broken heart emojis.
Director Kevin Smith tweeted: “This funny man made my childhood happier with his work on “Laverne & Shirley” and his guest appearance on @TheSimpsons as himself still makes me laugh Sunday (“Hello, Laverne…”). Rest In Peace David, and thank you: There’s a little Lenny & Squiggy in the DNA of “Jay & Silent Bob.”
Penny Marshall’s ex-husband, actor, director and producer Rob Reiner, recalled: “David and I met when we were both 19. He and Michael KcKean auditioned for Lenny and Sguiggy by just improvising in front of Garry Marshall at a party at Penny and my house. He was brilliant then and forever after. He will be missed. “Hello!” was a mainstay on “Laverne & Shirley.”
“Laverne and Shirley” co-starred the late Penny Marshall as LaVerne DeFazio with Cindy Williams as her best friend and roommate, Shirley Feeney. Lenny and Squiggy were their neighbors.
The Hollywood Reporter quoted Lander as saying in 2009 that “Squiggy is the dumb guy who sees himself as a genius; Lenny is the dumb guy who thinks Squiggy is a genius.”
Lander’s other film credits include “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” “A League of Their Own” and “The Man with One Red Shoe.”
Besides “Laverne & Shirley,” his numerous television appearances include “Twin Peaks,” “The Simpsons,” “The Nanny,” “Family Matters,” “Dream On,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Matlock,” “Head of the Class,” “Highway to Heaven,” “Father Dowling,” “Simon and Simon,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Barney Miller,” “Happy Days,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Married… with Children” and “The Drew Carey Show.”
His daughter Natalie Lander is also an actress and has appeared on ABC’s “The Middle,” “Castle,” “Touch” and “Hannah Montana.”
Lander battled multiple sclerosis for decades, and was an ambassador for the National MS Society and was the group’s Ambassador of the Year in 2000.
That same year, he published an autobiographical memoir, titled “Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody.”
In addition to his daughter, Lander is survived by his wife of 41 years, Kathy Fields Lander.