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David L. Lander (born David Leonard Landau; June 22, 1947 – December 4, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, musician, and baseball scout. He was best known for his portrayal of Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman in the ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley. He served as a goodwill ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Lander decided to become an actor when he was 10. He studied at the High School for the Performing Arts and continued at Carnegie Tech and New York University. It was in high school he took the stage name of David Lander, which he would later legally adopt, after a classmate "borrowed" his real name to register with an actors' union.
Lander's partnership with McKean began during their acting classes at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University, where they developed the characters of Lenny and Squiggy. After Pittsburgh, they teamed up in the Los Angeles–based comedy ensemble The Credibility Gap. The duo released an album as Lenny and the Squigtones in 1979 featuring Christopher Guest on guitar, credited as Nigel Tufnel, a name Guest would later reuse in the spoof rock band Spinal Tap. Lander and McKean also appeared together in the 1979 Steven Spielberg comedy 1941, and the 1980 Kurt Russell film Used Cars. They also lent their vocal talents to the children's animated TV series Oswald, which ran for just one season from 2001 to 2003. Lander voiced the character of Henry the penguin while McKean appeared as a voice guest role for Henry's cousin, Louie in the 17th episode "Odd One Out/Goodbye, Best Friend".
Lander appeared in numerous other TV shows, including The Bob Newhart Show, Barney Miller, Happy Days (as Squiggy), Viva Valdez, Married... with Children, Twin Peaks, On the Air, The Weird Al Show, Mad About You, Pacific Blue, and The Drew Carey Show. His other film roles included the part of a minor league baseball radio announcer in the film A League of Their Own (directed by his Laverne & Shirley co-star Penny Marshall) and a bit part of the minister officiating the marriage ceremony in Say It Isn't So. He also played "Tanning Intruder" in Christmas with the Kranks. Lander created the starring role of the demented fast-food franchise clown Bruce Burger in the cult film Funland, directed by Michael A. Simpson.
Lander's voice acting roles included the "dramatic reproduction" of Elvis Presley quotations for the Pop Chronicles music documentary and the voice of Jerry Lewis in the Filmation series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down in 1970. He voiced "Doc Boy" Arbuckle, the farm-boy brother of Jon Arbuckle, in most animated adaptations of the Garfield franchise. Later voice roles included The Big Bang, A Bug's Life, Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, Oswald, Titan A.E., and the animated TV series Galaxy High as the six-armed Milo de Venus. In 2002, he reprised his role as Squiggy in the animated sitcom The Simpsons. Lander was the voice of Smart Ass, the chief weasel of Judge Doom's Toon Patrol in the 1988 Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Lander reprised his role as Smart Ass on the related ride, but the character was renamed Wiseguy. He was credited as Stephen Lander in Boo, Zino & the Snurks. One of his later roles was that of Ch'p in the DC Comics animated film . His final credit was an episode of Goldie & Bear in 2017.
He played the psychiatrist in the video for "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' on Me?" by The Bloodhound Gang.
Lander died of complications from multiple sclerosis at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on December 4, 2020. He was 73. He was cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. His urn was entombed in a columbarium within its Abbey of Psalms Mausoleum.
Career
He was best known for his role as Andrew Helmut "Squiggy" Squiggman on the situation comedy Laverne & Shirley from 1976 to 1982 along with sitcom sidekick Lenny, played by Michael McKean.
Sports
Lander, a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, had a small stake in the Portland Beavers. In 1997, he began work as a baseball talent scout, first for the Anaheim Angels, and later for the Seattle Mariners. He was a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, the baseball organization, for many years.
Personal life
Lander was married to Thea Markus from 1969 until the couple divorced in 1976. He married Kathy Fields in 1979. His daughter is actress Natalie Lander.
Health and death
Lander was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1984. He went public in 1999 and regularly spoke at related conventions. In 2002, his autobiography was published, titled Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn't Tell Nobody (), written with Lee Montgomery.
Filmography
Film credits
Credited as The Credibility Gap Segment: "Interrogation" Voice Voice A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Uncredited Voice Voice, outtakes Direct-to-video Voice Voice, direct-to-video Voice Voice Short Voice, direct-to-video
Television credits
Video game credits
1996 Down in the Dumps Mr. Blub, Old Louse The Brickster, Shark, Gideon Worse Voice of the Inquisition, Bickering Torch
External links
Categories: 1947 Births, 2020 Deaths, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Comedians, 21st-century American Male Actors, American Male Comedians, American Male Film Actors, American Male Television Actors, American Male Voice Actors, Burials At Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Carnegie Mellon University College Of Fine Arts Alumni, Comedians From Brooklyn, Deaths From Multiple Sclerosis, People With Multiple Sclerosis, Fiorello H. Laguardia High School Alumni, Jewish American Male Actors, Male Actors From Brooklyn, Neurological Disease Deaths In California, New York University Alumni, Writers From Brooklyn
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