David Lander, Of Laverne & Shirley Fame, Is No More, Passes Away From Complications Related Multiple Sclerosis
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Actor David Lander, who was best known for playing Squiggy in the sitcom Laverne & Shirley, is no more. The senior actor, who also voiced the character Henry in the much-loved kids’ cartoon – Oswald, passed away at the age of 73.
As per reports, Lander had been battling multiple sclerosis for nearly 40 years and dies due to complications of the disease.
Variety reported that David Lander passed away on Friday night (December 4) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
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Lander was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984 and publicly revealed his diagnosis in 1999 with the release of his memoir, ‘Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody’. Since then became an advocate for those also battling the disease.
David Lander was born in Brooklyn, New York and starred in close to 120 movies and television series. Some of his notable works include ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, ‘Used Cars’, ‘Scary Movie’ and ‘101 Dalmatians: The Series’. He attended the High School of the Performing Arts and later Carnegie Mellon University.
While students at Carnegie Mellon University, David and his longtime friend Michael McKean created the characters Squiggy and Lenny. They then played the characters on Laverne & Shirley for eight seasons.
David Lander also lent his voice for television shows like Johnny Bravo, Superman: The Animated Series, Oswald and SpongeBob SquarePants.
On hearing the sad news of David Lander passing away, many celebrities took to social media remembering him. His former partner McKean simply shared an image of the two of them from their early years. Actor Adam Sandler wrote, “RIP David Lander”
Mark Hamill wrote, “Awful news. He will be sorely missed. I’ll never forget how I nearly injured myself laughing when I first saw you guys in The Credibility Gap. Then came Lenny & Squiggy & the laughs just kept coming. I’ll always be grateful for that. #RIPDavidLander”
Awful news. He will be sorely missed. I’ll never forget how I nearly injured myself laughing when I first saw you guys in The Credibility Gap. Then came Lenny & Squiggy & the laughs just kept coming. I’ll always be grateful for that. #RIPDavidLanderhttps://t.co/fq6CACT8YY
I’m not sure how many people know this, but the man who played Squiggy on Laverne & Shirley also voiced Smart Ass in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Thumper in A Bug’s Life #ripdavidlanderpic.twitter.com/112Q5qMZvP
