Dec. 5 (UPI) — Actor David L. Lander, best known as greaser “Squiggy” on the 1970s and 80s American sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” died Friday from complications of multiple sclerosis, his family said. Lander was 73.
He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, TMZ reported.
Lander performed as the squeaky-voiced sidekick to Michael McKean’s “Lenny” in a routine developed by the two actors when they were students at Carnegie University in Pittsburgh.
Lander, a character actor, also played the memorable radio sportscaster in the 1992 baseball movie “A League of Their Own,” uttering the memorable line, “I have seen enough to know I have seen too much.”
Born June 22, 1947, in Brooklyn, Lander attended New York’s High School for the Performing Arts. After college, he and McKean moved to Los Angeles, joining the comedy ensemble, The Credibility Gap, Variety reported.
The duo co-starred in “1941,” a comedy by Steven Spielberg, and Kurt Russell’s “Used Cars.” The two also voiced animated penguins Harry and Louie in “Oswald.”
Lander also voiced Rumpelstiltskin in Disney’s children’s show, “Goldie & Bear,” and Donnie the Shark in “SpongeBob Squarepants.”
In 1979, Lander and McKean released an album as Lenny and the Squigtones.
A lifetime baseball fan, Lander also worked as a talent scout for the Anaheim Angels and the Seattle Mariners and briefly was a co-owner of the minor-league Portland Beavers baseball team.
Lander went public with his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 1999 and served as Goodwill Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Lander and his wife, actress Kathy Fields, spoke out in October about the changes to health insurance benefits faced by retired members of the SAG-AFTRA actors union.
“You can see where this gets people into medical bankruptcy,” Fields said.
Lander is survived by his wife, and their daughter Natalie Lander, who were at his bedside when he died.
McKean posted a black and white photo of the duo on Twitter Saturday.
