Remembering David Lander, ‘Laverne & Shirley’s Squiggy

David Lander, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 73, is best remembered as Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman, the bug-eyed neighbor who burst into Laverne & Shirley with a drawn-out “Helloooo.” With the show’s 50th anniversary arriving on January 27, 2026, it is a fitting moment to look back at what Lander brought to the series, and how much of his life and career extended far beyond that instantly recognizable character.

How did David Lander begin his career?

Born David Leonard Landau on June 22, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York, Lander knew early on that he wanted to perform. He attended the High School for the Performing Arts before continuing his studies at Carnegie Tech and New York University. It was during this period that he adopted the name David Lander, which he later made legal, after a classmate used his birth name to register with an actors’ union.

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The origins of Squiggy and the partnership that made the character work can be traced back to Lander’s friendship with Michael McKean. The two met while studying at Carnegie Mellon University and began developing the Lenny and Squiggy characters well before they appeared on television.

After Laverne & Shirley was sold to the network, the series needed more characters, so Penny Marshall invited McKean and Lander to a party where the show’s producers would be present. Marshall urged them to perform as Lenny and Squiggy — which impressed the producers enough to offer McKean and Lander spots on the show as writers, with the idea that maybe Lenny and Squiggy would make small cameos somewhere down the line.

But when the show’s first script needed more jokes, the decision was made to throw the comedians in front of the cameras, and they appeared in almost every episode thereafter.

When Laverne & Shirley premiered, Lenny and Squiggy’s odd-couple energy quickly became a defining part of the show, particularly during the Milwaukee years. He and McKean extended the characters into music, releasing an album in 1979 as Lenny and the Squigtones, with Christopher Guest on guitar. Lander continued working steadily in film and television, including appearances in 1941, Used Cars, A League of Their Own and Christmas with the Kranks, while also becoming a prolific voice actor. Among his best-known voice roles was Doc Boy Arbuckle in multiple animated Garfield projects.

Everett Collection

What did David Lander do after Laverne & Shirley?

A lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan, Lander eventually became a professional talent scout, first with the Anaheim Angels and later with the Seattle Mariners. He was also a longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research.

Lander’s most enduring impact, however, may have come through his advocacy work. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984 but chose not to make it public until 1999. After speaking openly about his condition, he became a goodwill ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. In 2002, he shared his experience in his autobiography, Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn’t Tell Nobody, which chronicled the years he continued working while privately managing the disease.

David Lander died at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications related to multiple sclerosis on December 4, 2020 at 73 years old.

McKean said at the time, according to the Los Angeles Times, “He was my oldest friend. 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.”

Who Is Still Alive From 'Laverne and Shirley'?

Plus, which cast members released an album as their characters?

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