| Wikipedia: David Lander |
| David Lander | |
| Born | June 22, 1947 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
|---|---|
David L. 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 best known for his portrayal of Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman 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 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 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. His film roles were more sparse but still memorable; these included the part of a minor league baseball radio announcer in the film, A League of Their Own and a bit part of the minister officiating the marriage ceremony in Say It Isn't So.
Lander also has experience as a voice actor, with a resume dating back to 1970 when he was the voice of Jerry Lewis in the Filmation series Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down. Later voice roles included The Big Bang, A Bug's Life, Tom and Jerry: The Movie and the animated TV series Galaxy High as the six-armed Milo de Venus. He also reprised his role as Squiggy in the animated sitcom, The Simpsons. Lander also provided the voice of Smartass, the head weasel of Judge Doom’s Toon Patrol in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His latest voice role is that of Henry the Penguin in the Noggin children's cartoon, Oswald.
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. He has worked as 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. He has a daughter, Natalie Lander, who was on Mtv's show, Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods.
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