David Lander Dies: “Squiggy” On TV’s ‘Laverne & Shirley’ Was 73

David Lander, the actor best known as “Squiggy” on the long-running ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley, has died. He was 73 and passed Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications related to multiple sclerosis, which he battled for 37 years.

Lander studied acting at the High School for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Tech and New York University.

Teamed with Michael McKean, aka “Lenny” on Laverne & Shirley, Lander created a memorable comic turn on the eight-year run of the series, which ended in 1983. The two had met at Carnegie in Pittsburgh and created the characters there.

The two also appeared in Steven Spielberg’s film 1941 and Kurt Russell’s Used Cars. They also voiced an animated TV series, Oswald, which ran for two years, playing penguin cousins Henry and Louie.

Lander and McKean also were part of the Credibility Gap, an late-’60s and ’70s comedy troupe that also featured Harry Shearer.

Lander’s survivors in include his wife, Kathy, their daughter, Natalie and her husband.

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