Actor David L Lander Who Played "Squiggy" Passes Away At 73

David L. Lander

Popular ABC comedy Laverne & Shirley's character "Squiggy"- Actor David L. Lander(aged 73) has passed away after a decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis, his wife said. He was also baseball scout comedian, composer, musician and voice actor.

Lander breathed his last on Friday(4th December) in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife, daughter and son-in-law, Kathy Fields Lander said in an email Saturday to the Associated Press.

“It was very peaceful,” Lander said. “He had a tough battle with MS for 37 years and he persevered like no one I have ever seen, and it taught me a great deal about the important things of life.”

Lander had a longtime comedic partnership with Michael McKean, whom he met at Carnegie Mellon University. Together they created the characters of Lenny and Squiggy that they would play on the show, which ran from 1976 to 1983. Lenny and Squiggy - or Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman - were friends and upstairs neighbors of Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams), bottle-cappers in 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

McKean tweeted a photo in tribute to Lander on 6th December of the two actors in the early days.

pic.twitter.com/G804z4F5bR

— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) December 5, 2020

Lander is survived by his wife and a daughter, Natalie Lander.