“We’ve got four siblings we don’t spend any time with,” she said.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 4, 2023. It has since been updated.
Actress Cindy Williams of Laverne & Shirley passed away at the age of 75, following a brief illness. The senior Hollywood celebrity died on January 25, 2023, in Los Angeles.
Zack and Emily Williams, Cindy's son and daughter from her marriage with Bill Hudson opened up about their loss through a statement issued by a family representative named Liza Cranis. "The passing of our kind, hilarious mother, Cindy Williams, has brought us unsurmountable sadness that could never truly be expressed. Knowing and loving her has been our joy and privilege. She was one of a kind, beautiful, generous, and possessed a brilliant sense of humor and a glittering spirit that everyone loved," they penned, per AP.
Cindy Williams was married to Bill Hudson of the musical group the Hudson Brothers from 1982 until 2000. Hudson was father to Zack and Emily Williams, as well as Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson from his marriage to Goldie Hawn from 1976 to 1982, per USA TODAY.
Bill Hudson was Married to Goldie Hawn and then to Cindy Williams.. Kate Hudson is his daughter pic.twitter.com/riM8IO3Qua
— Scott Stewart (@scottastewart71) February 11, 2021
In recent years, relations between the Hudson family have not been fantastic. With the message "Happy abandonment day," Oliver's Father's Day Instagram post in 2015 officially blew up their whole relationship. Bill Hudson then stated that he wanted Kate and Oliver to stop using the Hudson name. "I had posted something that was darkly comedic and it blew up into something, and it helped us with our relationship,” Oliver shared with Larry King in an interview, adding that everything is smoother between them and “now we’re kind of keeping in touch.”
Kate confessed to having forgiven her father in 2016 to Howard Stern. “I did understand that it didn’t have to do with me and Oliver. We did understand that," she said of the estrangement between them, adding, “I do recognize whatever those issues are, it’s just something that he has to live with. And that must be painful for him.”
She and her brother Oliver made an appearance on the Sibling Revelry podcast in 2021, during which she confessed that she had been considering their other side of the family, per PEOPLE. “You know what I’ve been thinking about lately? Dad,” Kate told Oliver, 44 while sharing New year's resolutions, adding that she feels weird that “We’ve got four siblings we don’t spend any time with.”
"Everybody’s getting older,” she remarked with sentimentality, and she added that she occasionally has the thought, “It would be nice to connect a little bit.”
We at the DCBA are sad to announce the passing of actress Cindy Williams, best known as Shirley of "Laverne and Shirley" fame.
— Disney Channel Broadcast Archive (@dcba1983) January 31, 2023
On Disney Channel, she appeared with her husband Bill Hudson in the short-lived 1989 sitcom "Just Like Family". pic.twitter.com/YzNZNxzjj6
She then added that she feels it's hypocritical of them to just focus on one side of the family and say it's the best when they don't talk about the other side of their family. She said, "We’ve been talking so much about sibling relationships and distraught relationships or good relations. And we’re sitting here like, 'We have the best family, we’re so great,' and we don’t ever acknowledge the fact that we have four other siblings. Four,” she said. “So I’ve been thinking about the Hudsons, and thinking it’s important that we reach out with all of our siblings and maybe connect with them a little bit."
Maybe now, after her step-siblings have suffered such a huge loss, the Hudson siblings will reconnect!
References:
https://people.com/movies/kate-hudson-hopes-to-reconnect-with-estranged-father-bill-hudson-children/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Monica Schipper
