Actor Richard Dreyfuss and Oscar-nominated actress Candy Clark paid tribute to Happy Days star Cindy Williams. They did this at the TCM Classic Film Festival. Dreyfuss and Clark were present to talk about American Graffiti, George Lucas’ second film. It turns 50 years old this year. Williams played Shirley Feeney opposite Penny Marshall’s Laverne DeFazio on Laverne & Shirley.
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Dreyfuss and Clark appeared before a screening of the classic movie. The screening happened just months after Williams’ death, prompting the two stars to honor her. They also paid tribute to Bo Hopkins, who died in May 2022. And they shared fantastic stories about working with Lucas.
Cindy Williams Remembered By ‘American Graffiti’ Costars Richard Dreyfuss, Candy Clark
Towards the end of their pre-screening discussion with TCM co-host Dave Karger, Dreyfuss said he couldn’t let the moment go by without acknowledging Williams’ and Hopkins’ deaths. When he and Clark met the night before the screening, they both agreed that shouldn’t happen “because we were a tight group and we felt a real bonding and we shouldn’t be ready to go.” Dreyfuss suggested they have a moment of silence, but Clark came up with a better idea, PopCulture reports.
“She looked at me, and said, ‘Actually, that’s too serious because we’re going to burst into laughter,'” Dreyfuss recalled. “And I said, ‘OK, let’s do that.’ So I’m gonna say that in honor of Cindy Williams and Bo Hopkins and everyone else who is gonna drop dead in the next few years, I would like us all to observe a moment of silence.” After a beat, Dreyfuss let out a giggle, which gave everyone at the TCL Chinese Theatre permission to laugh too.
Dreyfuss and Clark also had great memories of working with Lucas. “George is the only director that I’m aware of who does not like being a director,” Dreyfuss said. “He really doesn’t like it. It’s too much for him.”
George Lucas Film Was Centered In Modesto, California, Circa 1962
American Graffiti was only Lucas’ second film, following his experimental sci-fi drama THX-1138. The movie is a two-hour nostalgic snapshot of Modesto, California, centering on teens trying to understand their place in the world in 1962.
Dreyfuss played Curt, who couldn’t decide if he was really leaving for college, while Clark played Debbie, whose misadventures with Terry the Toad (Charles Martin Smith) provide some of the funniest moments in the movie. Williams played Laurie, who dated Ron Howard’s Steve through high school.
The film famously cost just $700,000 to make, and Universal Pictures had no reason to believe it would become the cultural phenomenon it still is.
