Main } ,
Phil Foster,
Eddie Mekka,
Betty Garrett. Middle row, standing:
Penny Marshall,
Cindy Williams. Seated:
Michael McKean,
David Lander. • Laverne Marie DeFazio (
Penny Marshall) is known for being a tough-talking tomboy. She grew up in
Brooklyn, with her Italian immigrant parents. Laverne's parents moved to Milwaukee, where her mother died. Laverne works alongside best friend and roommate Shirley. Milk and
Pepsi is Laverne's favorite drink. Her trademark is the script letter "L" monogrammed on her shirts and sweaters, an idea Marshall got from seeing a vintage sweater in the wardrobe department with an initial sewn in the upper left corner, something that would help the audience remember that she is Laverne. She is the only character to appear in all 178 episodes of the series. • In the first episode of Mork & Mindy (September 14, 1978), in a flash back to untold/new events from the time of Happy Days, Fonzi and Laverne are friends, who share several passionate kisses, so they are friends with benefits. • Shirley Wilhelmina Feeney (
Cindy Williams) is the perky, positive one. She also tends to be meek, while Laverne is more outspoken. She later becomes a huge fan of teen-idol
Fabian. Her overbearing mother Lily (
Pat Carroll) expects more from Shirley than she can give. Shirley is sensitive and tends to overreact. When she tries to hold back a laugh, she bites her knuckle on her index finger. Shirley works at Shotz brewery with Laverne. She has a special relationship with her stuffed cat, Boo Boo Kitty, a name Williams gave the toy after forgetting a line in rehearsal, and was the name of her mother's cat. • Leonard "Lenny" Kosnowski (
Michael McKean) is a lovable goofball
greaser who pesters Laverne and Shirley, along with his best friend and roommate Squiggy, both of whom live upstairs from Laverne and Shirley's lower-level apartment. Lenny works as a truck driver at the Shotz brewery. Lenny says that, while he is not completely sure, he thinks his last name is Polish for "Help, there's a hog in my kitchen". McKean's role was shortened in the eighth season due to his filming
This Is Spinal Tap. He appeared in only five episodes, credited as a guest star. As of 2025, McKean is the only surviving original cast member. • Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman (
David Lander) works and lives with childhood friend Lenny. Squiggy, who is a greaser like Lenny, makes nearly every entrance (as a
running gag, they usually enter just as Laverne and/or Shirley are describing something unpleasant) with his trademark "Hello" said in a comically dopey voice. In the final season, Squiggy's lookalike sister Squendoline is introduced. Originally created by Lander and McKean as Anthony Squiggliano, the character's name was changed to German because the producers believed there were already too many Italians in the show. • Carmine Ragusa (
Eddie Mekka) is Shirley's high-school sweetheart and on-again, off-again romance. "The Big Ragu" is a part-time boxer and former
Golden Gloves champion who owns a dance studio and is constantly working to make it big as a dancer and singer. In the final episode of the series, he auditions for the musical
Hair, at last landing a major role on Broadway. • Fabrizio "Frank" DeFazio (
Phil Foster) is Laverne's father who runs the Pizza Bowl, a local hang out. In season six, he opens up Cowboy Bill's in Burbank, California. Although he can be harsh and lose his temper sometimes, he has a heart of gold. He loves Laverne very much, having been her only parent for years. His pet name for his daughter is "Muffin". Frank is also protective of Shirley, becoming somewhat of a surrogate father to her since her family was far away. • Edna Babish DeFazio (
Betty Garrett, seasons 2–6) is the five-time-divorced
landlady who eventually marries Laverne's father. In season 2, she was dressed quite plainly, and Garrett's then-long hair was put under a more conservative wig, but in the third season, a new wardrobe worker suggested that she should be more "jazzy", with her real hair and colorful costumes, and this change fleshed out the character. Edna occasionally sings and dances in the local brewery talent shows. When the series was extended beyond the intended final season, Garrett had already committed to another project necessitating Edna be written out as having left Frank. • Rhonda Lee (
Leslie Easterbrook, seasons 6–8) is a tall, voluptuous, somewhat ditzy blonde actress/singer/dancer/model trying to get discovered and make it big in Hollywood. She is Laverne and Shirley's neighbor and a regular character after they move to Burbank. Rhonda, who also comes off as rather narcissistic about her good looks and self-obsessed, always refers to herself in the
third person, by her first name. Rhonda often bursts into Laverne and Shirley's apartment (occasionally at inopportune times, much like Lenny and Squiggy often do) to borrow things without really asking and to brag about her social engagements or romantic dates with desirable men with the intention of making the girls envious. • Sonny St. Jacques (
Ed Marinaro, season 6) is a
stuntman and Laverne and Shirley's landlord in Burbank. A tall, handsome, muscular man, Sonny is often seen with his shirt off or open. He was intended as a love interest for Laverne. After several episodes in Burbank, Sonny was written out of the show and rarely, if ever, mentioned again. (In reality, Marinaro left the series to star in
Hill Street Blues.)
Notes Recurring • (Big) Rosie Greenbaum (
Carole Ita White) is Laverne and Shirley's childhood nemesis. She married a rich doctor and rubs this in the ladies' faces, though they make fun of the fact that he is a
proctologist. She is Laverne's rival and upsets her by calling her a "bimbo". Big Rosie and fellow Milwaukee classmate Terri Buttefuco both return in the season-seven episode "Class of '56". • Terri Buttefuco (Judy Pioli) is a former classmate of Laverne and Shirley. She is tough and athletic and has a better relationship with Laverne and Shirley than they do with Rosie Greenbaum. Pioli also wrote and acted as a script consultant for the series. • Sgt. Alvinia T. Plout (
Vicki Lawrence) is a tough-as-nails drill sergeant Laverne and Shirley met when they went into the Army, who's known on the base as "The Frog". She returns in Season 6 having gone AWOL from the Army after falling in love with a four-star general who jilted her. • Officer Norman Hughes (Bo Kaprall) is a police officer and love interest for Laverne. • Mr. Hildebrand (
Norman Bartold) is Laverne and Shirley's boss at Bardwell's Department Store. • Mrs. Kolchek (Rose Mitchum) is a neighbor living in Laverne and Shirley's Milwaukee apartment building and appeared in 5 episodes from 1977 to 1980. She rarely has speaking roles, but when she does speak, she only speaks to Laverne, as she is annoyed at Shirley for always yelling at her because Shirley thinks she is very hard of hearing, which she isn't, and because she is also interested in Carmine in spite of their age differences. • Chuck (
Charles Fleischer) is Laverne's co-worker in season 8. ==Episodes==