"Hello!"
If you just heard that high-pitched, nasal squeak in your head, you’re probably a fan of classic television. Or maybe you just spent too much time in the late 70s glued to a rabbit-eared TV set. Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman wasn’t just a sidekick. He was a force of nature. Alongside his buddy Lenny, played by Michael McKean, Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley redefined what it meant to be the "annoying neighbor" in a sitcom.
But there’s a lot more to the man behind the grease than just a leather jacket and a weird laugh. Honestly, the story of how Squiggy came to be—and the secret battle the actor David Lander fought while filming—is way more intense than anything that happened at Shotz Brewery.
The Secret Origin of Lenny and Squiggy
You might think some corporate TV writer in a suit came up with the idea of two bumbling greasers living upstairs. Nope. Not even close. David Lander and Michael McKean actually met at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech) in the late 1960s. They were theater students. They were also, by Lander's own admission, occasionally high when they started riffing on these characters.
Originally, they weren't Lenny and Squiggy. They were "Lenny and Anthony." They performed these bits as part of a comedy troupe called The Credibility Gap. When Penny Marshall and her brother, legendary producer Garry Marshall, saw them, they knew they needed that energy on Laverne & Shirley.
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There was one catch, though. The network thought there were already too many Italian characters on the show. So, "Anthony" had to go. Lander pivoted. He created "Squiggy," a character supposedly of German descent (Andrew Helmer Squiggman), just to satisfy the suits.
That Iconic Entrance
Every time Squiggy and Lenny burst through the door, the audience went nuts. It became a ritual. They’d barge in, usually interrupting a private moment, and Squiggy would belt out that "Hello!" like he’d just discovered the concept of greeting people.
What's wild is that the actors actually wrote most of their own material. The producers gave them carte blanche because nobody else could capture that specific brand of "dumb but confident." They weren't just playing roles; they were performing a refined comedy act they’d been polishing for years in clubs and on the radio.
David Lander’s Secret Battle
While the world was laughing at Squiggy’s antics, David Lander was dealing with something terrifying. In 1984, right around the time the show was winding down, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
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He didn't tell a soul. Not at first.
For 15 years, he kept it a secret from the industry. He was terrified that if producers knew he was sick, the work would dry up. He even kept it from Michael McKean for a long time. Think about that. The man was a physical comedian, doing bits and slapstick, all while his body was fighting a progressive neurological disease.
He finally went public in 1999 with his book, Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn't Tell Nobody. It’s a heartbreaking and hilarious read. He basically decided that if he was going to "fall down," he might as well do it in a way that helped other people understand the disease.
Why He Still Matters
Squiggy wasn't a "cool" greaser like the Fonz. He was a loser. But he was a loser with an incredible amount of self-esteem. He genuinely thought he was a ladies' man. There’s something kinda beautiful about that level of delusion.
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He and Lenny even released an album: Lenny and the Squigtones. It featured a young Christopher Guest on guitar (playing the character Nigel Tufnel, who would later appear in This Is Spinal Tap). The show was a launching pad for some of the greatest comedic minds of the century.
What You Can Learn From the Squiggy Legacy
Looking back at David Lander’s career, especially his time as Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley, offers some pretty solid life lessons:
- Own your weirdness. Squiggy never apologized for who he was.
- Partnership is everything. The chemistry between Lander and McKean is a masterclass in comedic timing.
- Resilience is quiet. Lander’s ability to keep working while facing MS shows a level of grit that far surpasses any sitcom script.
- Don't let labels define you. He was a voice actor, a baseball scout for the Anaheim Angels and Seattle Mariners, and a minority owner of a minor league team. He was so much more than a guy in a leather jacket.
If you’re feeling nostalgic, go back and watch an episode where they try to "help" Laverne and Shirley with a problem. You’ll see that the humor isn't just in the jokes—it’s in the absolute, unwavering confidence David Lander brought to a character who had no business being that confident.
To honor the memory of the man behind the grease, consider looking into the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Lander spent his later years as a Goodwill Ambassador for them, turning his "secret" into a mission to help others. That's a pretty great way to be remembered.
Next Steps:
If you want to dive deeper into this era of TV, your best bet is to find a copy of David Lander's memoir, Fall Down Laughing. It changes the way you look at every "Hello!" he ever shouted. You can also find clips of The Credibility Gap on YouTube to see the raw, edgier version of Lenny and Squiggy before they became household names.