Was it because writers were no longer able to work around her pregnancy, or were there other reasons?

IIRC her back hurt from stunts and she wanted to have her baby in peace

Of course, it didn't help matters that Miss Williams's then new-husband Bill Hudson seemed to essentially want her to be bedridden on the set during her entire pregnancy and although Miss Williams didn't think that was necessary was still too enthralled with him to openly defy him. I know things hadn't been entirely smooth for her and the Marshalls for some time even before her marriage but I can't help but wonder if she wound up regretting having ended things on L&S on such an angry note- especially after her split from Mr. Hudson in 2000!

The show had ran it's course anyway by the time.

Because she was not getting along with Penny Marshall at the time. Since Penny's brother had control of the show, she probably felt she could not get her view across.

PracTz is correct. There’s an interview with Penny and Cindy on Youtube - for the Archive of American Television - where the interviewer asks why Cindy left. Penny says in that deep voice of hers, “It was the husband.” And Cindy says dreamily, “I was in love!”

PracTz is correct. There’s an interview with Penny and Cindy on Youtube - for the Archive of American Television - where the interviewer asks why Cindy left. Penny says in that deep voice of hers, “It was the husband.” And Cindy says dreamily, “I was in love!”

I love those interviews!

It's interesting that per Penny's book, none of them wanted to come back for S8, but Cindy had a dream that made her want to do it. It was a little awkward since Betty Garrett had already accepted a role on Broadway, and Michael McKean had to have it written in his S8 contract that he would only do a few shows since he had to promote "Spinal Tap".

Of course, it didn't help matters that Miss Williams's then new-husband Bill Hudson seemed to essentially want her to be bedridden on the set during her entire pregnancy and although Miss Williams didn't think that was necessary was still too enthralled with him to openly defy him. I know things hadn't been entirely smooth for her and the Marshalls for some time even before her marriage but I can't help but wonder if she wound up regretting having ended things on L&S on such an angry note- especially after her split from Mr. Hudson in 2000!

Here's some experts (https://books.google.com/books?id=sYe2gYZ3AHcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Penny+Marshall&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjl3a232bzyAhXMXc0KHZG6BV0Q6AEwAHoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Penny%20Marshall&f=false) from Penny Marshall's autobiography:
Over the years I had seen Cindy in a number of relationships, but never one where she fell as fast or as hard as she did for Bill Hudson. Best known as one-third of the musical comedy trio The Hudson Brothers, he had split with Goldie Hawn following a brief marriage that produced two children, Oliver and Kate, before meeting Cindy at a celebrity softball game in 1981. In March 1982, Cindy got pregnant, and two months later, after Bill finalized his divorce from Goldie Hawn, they married. I went to the wedding. There was a lot of pink. Everything seemed good.

I was happy for Cindy and supportive. I thought, She’s pregnant; let her be healthy and happy, and we’ll figure out a way to deal with her growing belly on the show. At the time, we were headed into our eighth season. We had the show down. I didn’t see why it had to be a big deal.

But it was. In May she told the studio about her pregnancy and began negotiating an out date of her own. I was in New York and followed the details long-distance. She was due in November and only wanted to act in thirteen episodes, insisting she finish in October so that she could rest through the end of her pregnancy. She also indicated a willingness to make small appearances after the first of the year if more episodes were ordered. In any event, whether she did thirteen or slightly more, she wanted to be paid for a full season of episodes, and she wanted her hours kept to a minimum. Everyone said okay.

A month later — the same month Tracy graduated from high school — Bill, now acting as her manager, delivered an additional set of demands, including more money, a Winnebago trailer, and shorter workdays not to exceed eight hours. I think Bill wanted credit, too. But Paramount balked. I guess they’d had their fill of demands the previous month.

By the time we began shooting in July, Cindy was one very unhappy pregnant actress. I thought I could talk sense to her the way I had years earlier, alone and logically. I said, “Take all the dialogue. Go home after four hours. Have them write all your scenes with you lying in bed. Be the biggest pain-in-the-ass pregnant person. I’ll do the running around. Let’s just do the work.” But she deferred to Bill. She was in love and thought Bill was taking care of her.

Whatever the reason, we managed to get through the first two episodes, “The Mummy’s Bride” and “Window on Main Street,” and then she was gone. It all just blew up. I tried calling Cindy at home, thinking I could work out the problem. Bill refused to let me speak to her. I ended up not talking to her for years because Bill wouldn’t let me.

Soon lawyers got involved, allegations flew, and she went to the press, claiming the studio wanted to exclude her from the series or “drastically reduce her participation.” She also told TV Guide, “What they want to do is axe me out of the show, and finally give it all to Penny.” It was all absurd.

As this transpired, I realized that I had to get out of directing The Joy of Sex. I couldn’t handle developing a movie at the same time the show was blowing up. I jetted to New York, where I hid out at Lorne’s house in Amagansett while the studio negotiated with Cindy. If she wasn’t going to do the show, I didn’t want to do it, either. It was Laverne AND Shirley. However, my agent said I had to come back. Mike Ovitz explained that walking out, or in my case, hiding out, was not an option. “We did enough episodes,” I said. “Let’s just stop.”

That’s not the way it works,” he said. “It’s not your call.”

“I don’t want to come back,” I said.

“You have to,” he said. “They’ll sue you.”

I flew back and met with Gary Nardino, Paramount’s president of TV. I asked for double or nothing. I didn’t even go to Ovitz. I said, “Since I’m here and it’s Laverne AND Shirley, I get her money and her points. If she comes back, it reverts. But if I’ve got to do it alone and explain to the goddamn audience why she ain’t here, it’s got to be worth more money.”

They gave me the money.

I went back to work, but the show was a mess. Although the show’s title stayed the same, Shirley was edited out of the opening montage and her absence was explained in a note she left behind saying that she moved suddenly overseas with her husband. I recall the log in the TV Guide saying that Laverne was depressed and then angry that Shirley would only write a few words and not say good-bye. I felt the same way in real life. I was depressed, angry, and hurt.

The following week things went from bad to worse. I was injured on the set. In the episode, Laverne takes a job at an aerospace company. Bored, she slips into an antigravity suit. As we shot the big comedic scene, I was in a harness attached to wires and spun all over the room. During rehearsals, my brother and I had a to-do because I didn’t wear a helmet. It was hot.

“I don’t care,” Garry said. “The next time you do it, you put on the damn helmet.”

That was at the taping. I did as my brother said. I wore a helmet — and I was lucky I did. As I flew over the stage, one of the wires snapped and I fell to the floor with a thud that just stopped time. Everyone froze. Director Tom Trbovich yelled cut as my driver, Clarence, watching from the wings, raced over to me. I told him not to touch me. I stayed down and assessed the damage. My toes moved. My fingers moved. I was breathing. But my upper body hurt like hell.

Phil Foster was already entertaining the audience, distracting them with jokes that Garry had written for his act twenty-five years earlier. Ironically, my brother wasn’t on the set that night. I heard someone say they were going to take me to the hospital. Then I could come back to finish. No, I didn’t think so.

Slowly, I got up on one knee and said I wasn’t going anywhere. I called the cast together and said I didn’t want to come back and do this **** over again. Instead, I showed those who still had scenes with me where they could touch me (my head, the right side of my body) and where they couldn’t (my left shoulder, the left side of my body). Then we finished the show. I could’ve sued, but I didn’t want some prop guy to get reamed. **** happens.

Later, I did go to the hospital. That was funny — trying to explain to the ER doc that I hurt myself while flying across the room in an astronaut suit. Luckily, nothing was broken. I’d heal. I went home, took a Quaalude, and reported to work the next day.

The rest of the season was simply painful. At least I still had my November “out” date from the movie. I wouldn’t have to work through March. To get through the remaining episodes, I called friends, including Laraine Newman, Carol Kane, Louise Lasser, Anjelica Houston, Jimmy Belushi, and Larry Breeding, who I’d gone out with for about a month while Artie was off walking God knows where. Carrie also came on; she was a Playboy bunny with me.

We taped that episode (Laverne gets a job as a Playboy bunny) the same week Tracy left for Bennington College. My niece took her; I had to work. I was in a bunny costume as I hugged her good-bye in front of the soundstage. Carrie cracked, “Study hard and one day you can be as successful as your mother.”

Finally, after 178 episodes, Laverne & Shirley taped its final episode (“Here Today, Hair Tomorrow”). The series went out with a whimper. The last show focused on Carmine (Eddie Mekka). I was barely in it, Michael had left to work with Rob on This Is Spinal Tap, and Cindy was long gone. Although lawsuits from her departure made the end more bitter than sweet, the memories from the eight seasons were positive. We had done more good episodes than bad ones and provided millions of people with laughs. I was proud. Between reruns and syndication around the world, I felt confident that Laverne & Shirley would always be best friends.

It turned out I was right.

It should have went out after season 5.

I wonder if the unpleasant experiences in filming L&S’s final season led Penny to give up acting in favor of directing.

Thanks TMC! I have never seen such a detailed explanation from Penny's side, other than brief comments like, "It was the husband!"

Cindy's original demand, for reduced episodes (13+a few additional spots) seemed like a reasonable request as a pregnancy exemption, and although the show would have been inferior to earlier seasons, it wouldn't have been the trainwreck Season 8 became.

Did Bill Hudson not only manipulate Cindy Williams into leaving L&S, did he also ruin her post-L&S acting career?

Of course, while Miss Marshall went into some detail in her autobio re her side of what happened with Miss Williams's departure, Miss Williams herself was incredibly coy and vague about it even all those years after the fact (and after her split from Mr. Hudson). She more or less just said that she'd gotten pregnant and the departure happened- as though she herself had had no say-so whatsoever in parting ways with the show! In fact, she only would admit that a late season cast picture showed everyone looking sad and tense in the caption but didn't say a word as to WHY that might have been in her autobio. It was a rather disappointing book.

I believe the late Dave Lander also confirmed Penny's reports of Bill Hudson being the cause of Cindy Williams leaving L&S.

Two people almost certainly cannot be lying about it. Also with Bill Hudson's behavior in disowning his first two children with Goldie Hawn a few years back - that certainly carries weight in terms of Penny's description of it.

I believe the late Dave Lander also confirmed Penny's reports of Bill Hudson being the cause of Cindy Williams leaving L&S.

Two people almost certainly cannot be lying about it. Also with Bill Hudson's behavior in disowning his first two children with Goldie Hawn a few years back - that certainly carries weight in terms of Penny's description of it.

It's kind of telling that Kate and Oliver view Kurt Russell as more of a dad to them then their actual biological father.

Did Bill Hudson not only manipulate Cindy Williams into leaving L&S, did he also ruin her post-L&S acting career?

I went back to look at Cindy Williams' filmography (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Williams#Filmography) post-L&S, and it appears that most of her career since that time she has appeared in forgotten made-for-TV movies, or one-off TV guest appearances. Her most noteworthy role post-L&S was probably the sitcom Getting By, and even that only lasted 31 episodes on two different networks.

Cindy also back in 1990, shot a pilot for CBS which was going to be a follow-up to the film Steel Magnolias. Cindy was going to play the Sally Field character from the movie.

Besides the Bill Hudson factor, I don't know if Cindy Williams merely got type-cast as Shirley Fenney, she in a sense, got blackballed as payback for her abrupt departure from the show, or she was merely a victim of Hollywood ageism.

I'm guessing that Cindy was naturally labeled as being "difficult" because she left the show before the last season. It sort of made her seem unstable as well. Also, the fact that she was having a kid around that time would naturally put the breaks on a lot of women's careers.

If you're an actress who is away too long then people will inevitably forget that you ever existed. Also, from my understanding, Cindy sued and it was settled out of court. Simply put, suing a producer in Hollywood is a kiss of death, especially one that was as big and powerful as Garry Marshall was at the time.

FWIW, while of course there are three sides to every story, I definitely believe Miss Marshall's is closer to that 3rd side (AKA the truth) than Miss Williams's has been so far. If anything the late Marshall was extra tactful re not mentioning previous disagreements in her autobio she and Miss Williams had had before Mr. Hudson came into the picture (and she pulled few punches in said autobio). I'm not holding my breath waiting for Miss Williams to own her own part re the either the earlier disputes or her character's departure (and I also believe that her now-ex Mr. Hudson was a big contributing factor). Yeah, the fact that he publicly blessed out his two kids by his first ex Miss Hawn and they are closer to her longtime companion Mr. Russell does speak volumes about how likely he wasn't above butting in re his 2nd wife's career when it was neither needed nor wanted.

it's too bad. she was great in that role and it would have been fun to see her play other parts

FWIW, while of course there are three sides to every story, I definitely believe Miss Marshall's is closer to that 3rd side (AKA the truth) than Miss Williams's has been so far. If anything the late Marshall was extra tactful re not mentioning previous disagreements in her autobio she and Miss Williams had had before Mr. Hudson came into the picture (and she pulled few punches in said autobio). I'm not holding my breath waiting for Miss Williams to own her own part re the either the earlier disputes or her character's departure (and I also believe that her now-ex Mr. Hudson was a big contributing factor). Yeah, the fact that he publicly blessed out his two kids by his first ex Miss Hawn and they are closer to her longtime companion Mr. Russell does speak volumes about how likely he wasn't above butting in re his 2nd wife's career when it was neither needed nor wanted.

Thanks for the insightful comments. I can definitely see what you're saying. Cindy's comments (or lack thereof) do seem to lend credence to what Penny wrote; otherwise, Cindy could have shared her side, instead of saying almost nothing.

This is an interesting thread. I already knew about a lot of the things discussed but some were new to me. I'm in agreement with those who think Penny's side of the story is most spot-on with the truth.

While I enjoyed Cindy's book for what it was, it's in no way a "tell all." It was a super short and easy read, but I still liked it for the nostalgia.

I went back to look at Cindy Williams' filmography (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Williams#Filmography) post-L&S, and it appears that most of her career since that time she has appeared in forgotten made-for-TV movies, or one-off TV guest appearances. Her most noteworthy role post-L&S was probably the sitcom Getting By, and even that only lasted 31 episodes on two different networks.

Cindy also back in 1990, shot a pilot for CBS which was going to be a follow-up to the film Steel Magnolias. Cindy was going to play the Sally Field character from the movie.

Besides the Bill Hudson factor, I don't know if Cindy Williams merely got type-cast as Shirley Fenney, she in a sense, got blackballed as payback for her abrupt departure from the show, or she was merely a victim of Hollywood ageism.

I'm guessing that Cindy was naturally labeled as being "difficult" because she left the show before the last season. It sort of made her seem unstable as well. Also, the fact that she was having a kid around that time would naturally puts the breaks on a lot of women's careers.

If you're an actress who is away too long then people will inevitably forget that you ever existed. Also, from my understanding, Cindy sued and it was settled out of court. Simply put, suing a producer in Hollywood is a kiss of death, especially one that was as big and powerful as Garry Marshall was at the time.

What was the reason for the lawsuit?

What was the reason for the lawsuit?

She accused the producers of firing her for being pregnant, which is illegal. The suit was eventually settled out of court.

Cindy didn't act for a while after the case, but got involved with producing. She and now-former husband, Bill Hudson, co-produced Father of the Bride, and Father of the Bride II.

While Laverne & Shirley was in production, she and Penny Marshall each netted $75k per episode, which made them the two highest paid leading ladies of their time.

She accused the producers of firing her for being pregnant, which is illegal. The suit was eventually settled out of court.

Cindy didn't act for a while after the case, but got involved with producing. She and now-former husband, Bill Hudson, co-produced Father of the Bride, and Father of the Bride II.

While Laverne & Shirley was in production, she and Penny Marshall each netted $75k per episode, which made them the two highest paid leading ladies of their time.

Wow that was a lot of money at the time.

Did Bill Hudson not only manipulate Cindy Williams into leaving L&S, did he also ruin her post-L&S acting career?

Bill Hudson kind of (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/29153548-let-s-talk-about-penny-marshall) reminds me of Suzanne Somers' husband, Alan Hamel, who also took control of his wife's career much to its determent.

She accused the producers of firing her for being pregnant, which is illegal. The suit was eventually settled out of court.

Cindy didn't act for a while after the case, but got involved with producing. She and now-former husband, Bill Hudson, co-produced Father of the Bride, and Father of the Bride II.

While Laverne & Shirley was in production, she and Penny Marshall each netted $75k per episode, which made them the two highest paid leading ladies of their time.

This is from August 10, 1982:
'Laverne and Shirley' star Cindy Williams has filed a... (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/10/Laverne-and-Shirley-star-Cindy-Williams-has-filed-a/1750397800000/)

LOS ANGELES -- 'Laverne and Shirley' star Cindy Williams (https://www.quora.com/Why-didnt-Cindy-Williams-do-more-films-Did-doing-a-popular-long-running-sitcom-ruin-her-chances-of-film-stardom-Sally-Field-and-others-went-on-to-film-stardom-after-doing-TV-series-What-film-roles-could-Williams/answer/Jon-Mixon-1?__filter__=all&__nsrc__=notif_page&__sncid__=36359732042&__snid3__=48804342540) has filed a $20 million suit accusing the show's producers of trying to force her out of the long-running ABC-TV series because she is pregnant.

The suit filed Monday in Superior Court alleges that Paramount Pictures executive producer Garry Marshall, brother of co-star Penny Marshall, tried to exclude Miss Williams from the show after making oral commitments to her that she would continue to appear on the comedy program.

The suit says the problems started last May when Miss Williams told Paramount she was pregnant (https://books.google.com/books?id=_3XnpqmYAxcC&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=laverne+and+shirley+paramount+lawsuit+cindy+williams+1982&source=bl&ots=q9yA7xkyMh&sig=ACfU3U0XARzc5dAt4-WOQ7TJNlS6H1iB0g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS2Krnn4j9AhW5nWoFHdDwBoE4PBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=laverne%20and%20shirley%20paramount%20lawsuit%20cindy%20williams%201982&f=false). In an oral agreement, the studio allegedly told Miss Williams that her pregnancy would be written into the show, and agreed to let her work through mid-October. Her baby is due in November.

Miss Williams said the studio promised that she would not be required to perform any services that would endanger her health or that of the unborn baby.

Miss Williams was to receive $75,000 for each of 22 episodes, plus $37,500 for reruns. The suit said Paramount reneged on the agreements, however, allegedly at Garry Marshall's urging.

The suit seeks $10 million in general damages, $10 million in punitive damages and a court determination of the validity of the oral agreements.

I hope of Cindy Williams' children somehow and some way, see this, they don't take or interpret this the "wrong way", but Laverne & Shirley (https://jacksonupperco.com/2021/11/23/the-six-best-laverne-shirley-episodes-of-season-eight/) seems to be a tell-tale example of a hit (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/17664817-laverne-shirley) TV series (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19820811&id=KaZhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5IYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5491,6623409) that was in effect, "ruined" (http://www.city-data.com/forum/tv/3374075-tv-shows-ruined-pregnancy.html) by a real life (https://www.reddit.com/r/childfree/comments/nndnk3/tv_shows_are_always_ruined_once_pregnancy_is/) pregnancy (http://www.refugees.bratfree.com/read.php?2,142148,142658).

Bill Hudson kind of (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/29153548-let-s-talk-about-penny-marshall) reminds me of Suzanne Somers; husband, Alan Hamel, who also took control of his wife's career much to its determent.


With respect to this statement "reminds me of Suzanne Somers; husband, Alan Hamel, who also took control of his wife's career much to its determent", you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. This is a little off the topic of Cindy Williams, but Suzanne Somers has had one of the best managed careers in show business history. To the extent that her husband has helped guide her it has been a very, very successful union. Somers net worth is over 100 million dollars, she has had a successful television career, a successful marketing career selling everything from exercise equipment to books, clothing, jewelry.

With respect to this statement "reminds me of Suzanne Somers; husband, Alan Hamel, who also took control of his wife's career much to its determent", you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. This is a little off the topic of Cindy Williams, but Suzanne Somers has had one of the best managed careers in show business history. To the extent that her husband has helped guide her it has been a very, very successful union. Somers net worth is over 100 million dollars, she has had a successful television career, a successful marketing career selling everything from exercise equipment to books, clothing, jewelry.

I'm merely talking abut Suzanne's career as an actress (https://purpleclover.littlethings.com/entertainment/8783-20-worst-celebrity-career-moves/item/suzanne-somers/). And I reiterate my stance that her husband (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/31413408-whet-joyce-dewitt-) was misguided in the way (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/ys7wr1/comment/ivydhcj/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) that the situation over at Three's Company (https://www.quora.com/Does-everyone-who-was-on-Threes-Company-still-dislike-Suzanne-Sommers) was going to be handled (https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/jzwm3l/comment/gdefv35/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).

Also, Suzanne was blacklisted (https://www.nickiswift.com/179196/actors-who-destroyed-their-careers-by-walking-away-from-a-hit-show/) from Hollywood (https://www.inquisitr.com/4059527/threes-company-cast-celebrates-40th-anniversary-without-suzanne-somers) for many years (https://groups.google.com/g/alt.fan.barry-manilow/c/CzYb77h38sg/m/YxxTtTdU8hsJ) after she left (https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/blacklisting-actors.224060/) Three's Company. It wasn't until She's the Sheriff some seven years later, that you could say that she once again landed a remotely substantial and high profile acting job (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001755/).

I'm merely talking abut Suzanne's career as an actress (https://purpleclover.littlethings.com/entertainment/8783-20-worst-celebrity-career-moves/item/suzanne-somers/). And I reiterate my stance that her husband (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/31413408-whet-joyce-dewitt-) was misguided in the way (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/ys7wr1/comment/ivydhcj/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) that the situation over at Three's Company (https://www.quora.com/Does-everyone-who-was-on-Threes-Company-still-dislike-Suzanne-Sommers) was going to be handled (https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/jzwm3l/comment/gdefv35/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).

Also, Suzanne was blacklisted (https://www.nickiswift.com/179196/actors-who-destroyed-their-careers-by-walking-away-from-a-hit-show/) from Hollywood (https://www.inquisitr.com/4059527/threes-company-cast-celebrates-40th-anniversary-without-suzanne-somers) for many years (https://groups.google.com/g/alt.fan.barry-manilow/c/CzYb77h38sg/m/YxxTtTdU8hsJ) after she left (https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/blacklisting-actors.224060/) Three's Company. It wasn't until She's the Sheriff some seven years later, that you could say that she once again landed a remotely substantial and high profile acting job (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001755/).

Just to be clear this is what you wrote:

"Alan Hamel, who also took control of his wife's career much to its determent".

I don't see the word actress, but I'm not going to split hairs because this clarification does your case no good, in fact it could be argued it makes it worse.

In a sense Alan was Suzanne's agent and the first question an agent asks boils down to this, where do you see the Suzanne Somers career going from here.
Chris Mann in an interview summed it up this way:

"Suzanne wanted to be a celebrity, and she was business savvy. She had been quite poor at times, as a single mom, and she was a few years older, so she really approached this as 'Suzanne, Inc.".

That what Suzanne wanted. She had been in the series for 5 seasons, she was not interested in acting in a series that was becoming increasingly a one man show. She was being underpaid based on what Ritter was getting, she had watched Norman Fell and Audra Lindley get dispatched, and being an intelligent businesswoman with a husband who understood the business his wife was in wasn't going to put up with it. But wait there's more, let's take a look at what Priscilla Barnes had to say about her time on the series:

"Barnes revealed that she felt uncomfortable on set, calling her time on the show the "three worst years" of her life".

So we have Fell and Lindley, we have Barnes, but what about Joyce DeWitt:

She felt betrayed by John Ritter and the producers by the way they handled the final season to such a degree that she needed take several years off from acting.

Suzanne and her husband knew what they were dealing with and walked, good for her. We know what happened in the aftermath, her career as a celebrity was brilliantly managed the results, a one hundred million dollar empire speaks for itself.

The only person other than the owners who was going to benefit from this series was John Ritter, the way Suzanne and Alan handled themselves changed that equation.

'I Just Wanted To Be Treated Fairly': Why Cindy Williams Made An Abrupt Exit From Laverne & Shirley (https://www.thelist.com/2171199/why-cindy-williams-abruptly-left-laverne-and-shirley/)

Cindy Williams made an abrupt exit from the sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," and it would be decades before people learned what had really happened.

Just to be clear this is what you wrote:

"Alan Hamel, who also took control of his wife's career much to its determent".

I don't see the word actress, but I'm not going to split hairs because this clarification does your case no good, in fact it could be argued it makes it worse.

In a sense Alan was Suzanne's agent and the first question an agent asks boils down to this, where do you see the Suzanne Somers career going from here.
Chris Mann in an interview summed it up this way:

"Suzanne wanted to be a celebrity, and she was business savvy. She had been quite poor at times, as a single mom, and she was a few years older, so she really approached this as 'Suzanne, Inc.".

That what Suzanne wanted. She had been in the series for 5 seasons, she was not interested in acting in a series that was becoming increasingly a one man show. She was being underpaid based on what Ritter was getting, she had watched Norman Fell and Audra Lindley get dispatched, and being an intelligent businesswoman with a husband who understood the business his wife was in wasn't going to put up with it. But wait there's more, let's take a look at what Priscilla Barnes had to say about her time on the series:

"Barnes revealed that she felt uncomfortable on set, calling her time on the show the "three worst years" of her life".

So we have Fell and Lindley, we have Barnes, but what about Joyce DeWitt:

She felt betrayed by John Ritter and the producers by the way they handled the final season to such a degree that she needed take several years off from acting.

Suzanne and her husband knew what they were dealing with and walked, good for her. We know what happened in the aftermath, her career as a celebrity was brilliantly managed the results, a one hundred million dollar empire speaks for itself.

The only person other than the owners who was going to benefit from this series was John Ritter, the way Suzanne and Alan handled themselves changed that equation.

Suzanne Somers did not "walk away." They dynamically shrank her role, exiled her to a separate soundstage to shoot 60-second phone-booth segments, and then fired her completely. This came after she and Alan Hamel demanded a massive 500% salary increase (from $30,000 to $150,000 per episode) plus a 10% cut of the show's profits. When ABC refused, Hamel staged a disastrous strike, claiming Somers was suffering from fractured ribs.