Henry Rifle Forums

I don't know how many noticed, but Cindy Williams passed this month. She was Ronnie Howards Gal in American Graffiti and Shirley of Laverne and Shirley fame. I always thought she was cute as a button, and she played that sweet girl next door. It got me to thinking again how I had always been the Girl Next Door type.

It was never a hard choice for me...

Janet over Chrissy
Shirley over Laverne
Mary Anne over Ginger

I was always going to choose the gal next door

On WKRP, I ignored the Blonde Jennifer and had a thing for Bailey
On Charlies Angels everyone was hot for Farrah Fawcett's Jill, but I loved the Girl Next door character of Kate Jackson's Sabrina.

As I got older, it was still the gal next door, just in a different light...
Tim's wife on Home Improvement over the tool babes
Raymond's Wife over the babes that showed up there.

Am I alone here...?

90% my choice would be the girls next door. Except for Home Improvement then it's the tool babes.

Bailey over Jennifer 100x over.

Redthies wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:38 am

Bailey over Jennifer 100x over.

and what the heck was Burt thinking picking Jennifer over Frog?

I kind of liked the professor.

Yep, Ginger over Maryanne every time. Although I have to admit I was Marsha Brady all the way.

I take the girl next door, in fact I married one.

Sad to see Cindy Williams pass so young. American Graffiti is one of my all time favorite movies. Period. Because of it this 70’s teen discovered music from that era. I bought the soundtrack on LP and then recorded it to cassette. Boy, how old school is that.

Loved Laverne and Shirley, especially the characters Lenny and Squiggy.

I married the girl from the farm next door. Unfortunately it didn't work out.

I too am a Girl Nextdoor type! Kate Jackson and Olivia Newton-John!!!❤❤❤

Yup, something about them. I went to a public school where the lot was full of high end cars, and the kids parents had lots of money. (Most of them, not mine.) LOL. Of course there were a lot of VERY pretty girls in the school, but I could only see one. A girl next door type, bookish, glasses, nice as can be. We became friends, but I never asked her out. Her dad was a Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Richmond, and she was my friend.

(Sounds like a movie, doesn't it.)

A couple years later, the high school girls were no longer the center of attention, they were lost amid the sea of college beauty. My friend had moved to New York and had already been on three magazine covers.

Bailey from WKRP has them all beat.

As a youngster, I also had a thing for Kristy McNichol. She was on a TV series, then in a movie with Mark Hamell few people saw called "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia." She was also in a Musical Comedy called "The Pirate Movie." It's a gas.

BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 2:58 pm

As a youngster, I also had a thing for Kristy McNichol. She was on a TV series, then in a movie with Mark Hamell few people saw called "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia." She was also in a Musical Comedy called "The Pirate Movie." It's a gas.

I knew a girl in Jr High that could have been her twin.

Wasn't Cindy Williams in American Graffiti ? Lots of good ones old and young passing on in 2023!
https://youtu.be/G59CF-7fAlU
Yep here is a scene....

fortyshooter wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:04 pm

Wasn't Cindy Williams in American Graffiti ? Lots of good ones old and young passing on in 2023!
https://youtu.be/G59CF-7fAlU
Yep here is a scene....

In my original post, I said she was Ronnie Howard's Gal in AG, it's one of my favorite movies. There are so many unknowns or those just starting out in it that made it big. In addition to Cindy Williams you had: Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Wolfman Jack, Charlie Martin Smith, Candy Clark, MacKenzie Phillips, Suzanne Sommers, Bo Hopkins... to name just a few.

In my book, the music and the cars were stars as well. I have the two disc soundtrack to this movie and it's often in the CD stack when I'm working in my woodshop, whether I'm working with handtools on the woodwork, or doing leatherwork. THESE are songs I can sing along with.

Mary Ann, Kate Jackson and I alway thought Elizabeth Montgomery was it. Even if she was a witch

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 7:44 pm

Mary Ann, Kate Jackson and I alway thought Elizabeth Montgomery was it. Even if she was a witch

Oh yeah, Liz was hot in a movie called Butch and Sundance.

Careful nowadays fellas, that gal next door might be a guy. Just sayin'....

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:04 pm

Careful nowadays fellas, that gal next door might be a guy. Just sayin'....

Yeah, I was sorry to hear of Cindy's passing. The amazing thing was how mated she was to Ron Howard in American Graffiti. She fit the part very well, only to learn that she was actually over 6 years older than Ron in real life.

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:04 pm

Careful nowadays fellas, that gal next door might be a guy. Just sayin'....

I started to think along these lines when I read “I like the professor”, but then I saw it was NCG who made the post and it suddenly made sense!