Why did Cindy Williams leave L&S?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Cbalducc

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 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.

[PracTz]

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.

[Chocolate Moose]

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

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by PracTz

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.

[HuntingtonM15]

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.

[Cbalducc]

Originally Posted by TMC

I went back to look at 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?

[shotzette]

Originally Posted by Cbalducc

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.

[Cocoa8]

Originally Posted by shotzette

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.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Cbalducc

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 reminds me of Suzanne Somers' husband, Alan Hamel, who also took control of his wife's career much to its determent.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by shotzette

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...

LOS ANGELES -- 'Laverne and Shirley' star Cindy Williams 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. 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.

[TMC]

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 seems to be a tell-tale example of a hit TV series that was in effect, "ruined" by a real life pregnancy.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

Bill Hudson kind of 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.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Duster76

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. And I reiterate my stance that her husband was misguided in the way that the situation over at Three's Company was going to be handled.

Also, Suzanne was blacklisted from Hollywood for many years after she left 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.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by TMC

I'm merely talking abut Suzanne's career as an actress. And I reiterate my stance that her husband was misguided in the way that the situation over at Three's Company was going to be handled.

Also, Suzanne was blacklisted from Hollywood for many years after she left 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.

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.

[TMC]

'I Just Wanted To Be Treated Fairly': Why Cindy Williams Made An Abrupt Exit From Laverne & Shirley

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