Cindy Williams passes away after brief illness at 75 years of age

The acting world is in mourning on Monday with the news that beloved actress Cindy Williams has passed away.

The actress – best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the hit sitcom Laverne & Shirley – passed away at 75 years of age after a brief illness, according to AP.

Her children Zak and Emily Hudson released a statement released through family spokeswoman Liza Cranis.

‘The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us insurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed,’ the statement began. 

‘Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege. She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved,’ the statement concluded.

Williams was born in Los Angeles in 1947 and spent her childhood writing and performing at Birmingham High School, where she was classmates with Sally Field and Michael Ovitz.

She got her start acting in the early 1970s with guest-starring spots in TV shows like Barefoot in the Park and Room 222 before he was cast by legendary director George Cukor in 1972’s Travels With My Aunt.

She then landed the role of Laurie, the girlfriend of Ron Howard’s Steve, in George Lucas’ American Graffiti, which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Williams then stared in Best Picture nominee The Conversation for director Francis Ford Coppola in 1974.

She first met Penny Marshall on a double date before they were both hired by Coppola’s American Zoetrope to write a TV spoof for the American Bicentennial.

Marshall’s brother Garry Marshall brought her on for an appearance on his hit TV series Happy Days before Williams and Marshall were cast as Shirley Feeney and Laverne DeFazio on the hit series Laverne & Shirley.

The series – created by Lowell Ganz, Garry Marshall and Mark Rothman – followed the title characters’ misadventures as single ladies throughout the 1950s and 1960s.