The True Story Behind The ‘Feud’ Between Laverne And Shirley, Penny Marshall And Cindy Williams

On Monday evening, the world lost a great person in Penny Marshall who died at the age of 75. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, her cause of death was already determined and it was due to complications from diabetes. As the world mourns her loss, many celebrities and friends have expressed their grief and how much they will miss her. But what about her former co-star on Laverne & Shirley Cindy Williams? Were the two really estranged and feuding since the show?

For eight years, the series ruled the airwaves along with Happy Days of which Laverne & Shirley was a spin-off. The final season in 1983, though, was quite different as one big part of it was missing. Laverne was there and so was Squiggy, Lenny, Carmine, Frank, and many others.

But there was no Shirley.

In an interview with Today back in 2015, Cindy Williams revealed the true reason she was not around for the final season of Laverne & Shirley. She got married, became pregnant, and she expected to return and have them hide her baby bump “behind benches, couches, pillows, but that wasn’t it.”

As she was ready to sign her contract for the final season, the studio had her working on her due date. She told him, “You know, I can’t sign this.” It went back and forth for a while, but it never ended up working out and she had to leave.

A League Of Their Own was empowering but I was hooked on Laverne And Shirley as a little kid. Thanks Penny Marshall
Schlemiel, Schlimazel… pic.twitter.com/d8mji916N1

— Wendy Rollins (@wendyrollins) December 18, 2018

Some took Williams’ departure from the show as there being a problem between her and Marshall. There were even those who felt as if Laverne & Shirley had actually become estranged due to the so-called feud, and some believed they weren’t even speaking any longer.

In an interview with Fox News from 2012, Penny Marshall was asked about Williams being estranged, but she cleared that up. The actress and director stated that it had a good bit to do with Williams’ new husband.

“We were not estranged during the show but then she got married. I was very happy. She was having a baby but Bill (Hudson her then husband) was a pain in the a**. He wanted to be a producer. So that’s what happened. But she was married and she thought he was being protective.”

One year later, Marshall and Williams reunited to play feuding ex-TV partners on an episode of Sam & Cat on Nickelodeon. When speaking with USA Today, they said that there were no similarities to their time spent working together on Laverne & Shirley.

Marshall said that the idea they had a feud was nothing but “rumors” and that they just argued at times. Williams said that it was “a bit overblown” as they simply have “very different personalities” which will cause on-set issues at times.

The death of Penny Marshall is hitting the world hard as she and her work were loved by so many people in so many places. Her work on Laverne & Shirley jumped off a career that would last for decades, but it wasn’t full of hatred and a feud. While Cindy Williams may not have appeared on the last season of the hit show, the on-screen and off-screen friends were never in a feud or truly angry with one another.