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Known largely for her role in the popular TV sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," Cindy Williams was also known for a few other things.
For one thing, the longtime actress expressed her strong faith in God in a few interviews during her career as well as in her book, "Shirley, I Jest: A Storied Life" (Taylor, 2015).
Her family said on Monday that the iconic actress died in Los Angeles at age 75 on Wednesday after a brief illness, the Associated Press reported.
CINDY WILLIAMS, ‘LAVERNE & SHIRLEY’ ACTRESS, DEAD AT 75
Her children, Zak and Emily Hudson, released a statement through family spokeswoman Liza Cranis.
Williams spoke of her belief of God in 2015 when her book came out in interviews connected to the book's release.
Cindy Williams starred in several films, including "American Graffiti," in which she played Ron Howard’s high-school sweetheart, before being cast as the fun-loving Shirley Feeney in "Laverne and Shirley" alongside Penny Marshall’s Laverne on the popular sitcom. (AP)
"Well, I was just born with it," she said in an interview with Psychology Today when her book came out.
"He was always present. So if it was imbued in my spirit; I mean, it gets really heady," she said.
"God was imbued in me from the time of my birth; and me in Him."
She added, "I don’t know how I can talk about this, but God was imbued in me from the time of my birth; and me in Him. And I just had this sense of always being all right, even though the situation might be dire."
She also said, "Where that came from, I don’t know, but it just enhanced my knowledge of a power that was unconditionally good, and there for me. And so it was in that spirit that I grew up."
She said that even "when horrible things would befall me … I still felt that presence, that spirit of unconditional love. I always like to think of Him as a person, as my father in heaven or as my God, but he doesn’t care."
Actress Cindy Williams (right) has died at the age of 75. (AP Images)
She added, "That power, that spirit doesn’t care because it’s unconditional. So whatever you want to call it."
In her book, "Shirley, I Jest," she wrote of her childhood that "if it was Sunday, I was in church."
"It’s very mystical to us, but I’m sure if you talked to God, He’d say, ‘Yeah, that’s how I did it.’"
She said she "even won a Bible for perfect attendance at a tent revival."
She said that Sunday school was, for her, a bit of an escape, too — particularly from her father's alcoholism.
Even so, he made sure she got to Sunday school.
"I learned all of my Bible stories. I loved all of the powerful images and escaped into them. Jesus and Moses and the great people of the Bible … For that hour in Sunday school, I was safe," she wrote in her book.
She also said in the interview with Psychology Today, "I also believe in the theory of evolution. I also believe in that — that’s a big part of God."
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She added, "It’s very mystical to us, but I’m sure if you talked to God, he’d say, ‘Yeah, that’s how I did it.’ Of course, evolution, you can’t deny that there was evolution. I can’t deny that any more than I can deny that God exists for me."
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She said as well, "God is there for me. And you can meld it into one. Maybe he meant something."
