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David Lander
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| David Lander | |
|---|---|
 Lander on the cover of his autobiography |
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| Born | June 22, 1947 Brooklyn, New York |
David Lander (born June 22, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, composer, musician, and baseball scout. David is also the Goodwill Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Lander was born David Landau in Brooklyn, New York to schoolteacher parents.[1] He is known for his portrayal of Squiggy on the situation comedy Laverne and Shirley from 1976 to 1982, with sitcom sidekick Lenny (Michael McKean). Lander's partnership with McKean began during their acting classes at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh 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 1980; it featured Christopher Guest on guitar, credited as Nigel Tufnel, the name Guest would use a few years later in the spoof rock band Spinal Tap. Lander and McKean also appeared together in the 1980 Kurt Russell film Used Cars.
Lander has also appeared in numerous other TV shows and movies including The Bob Newhart Show, Barney Miller, Happy Days, Married... with Children, Twin Peaks, The Weird Al Show, Mad About You, as well as voice roles for animation films like The Big Bang, A Bug's Life and the animated TV series Galaxy High as the six-armed Milo de Venus. He also played the minor league baseball radio announcer in the film, A League of Their Own. Lander also provided the voice of Smartass, head weasel of Judge Doom’s Toon Patrol, in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Lander suffers from multiple sclerosis. Officially diagnosed on 15 May 1984 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he went public in 1999 and regularly speaks at related conventions. In 2002, his autobiography was published, Fall Down Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn't Tell Nobody (ISBN 1-58542-052-2), written with Lee Montgomery.
In addition to acting, Lander, a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, has a small stake in the Portland Beavers, and has been a baseball talent scout since 1997, first for the Anaheim Angels, and now for the Seattle Mariners.
Lander was married 10 March 1979. He currently lives in Thousand Oaks, California.