Laverne Esposito KLinger is Klinger's high school sweetheart and later his first wife. The character is frequently mentioned and her voice is heard once on radio but never seen on screen.
Background[]
In Springtime (Season 3), Klinger says that he and Laverne Esposito had been dating since high school. In The Interview (Season 4), Klinger says that she had gone to Waite High School on the "Hungarian side" of Toledo (i.e. Birmingham, East Toledo). Her maiden surname however suggests that she is probably Hispanic-Hungarian.
Marriage to Klinger[]
In Springtime, Laverne writes to Klinger telling him that she accepts his proposal of marriage. Henry Blake is reluctant to grant him a few days leave to go home to get married and a "quick 1-2-3 honeymoon". Instead he arranges a marriage by radio through a ham operator BS2XYZ in Des Moines, Iowa. He calls Laverne in her chapel and patches her phone into his radio. In Korea, Father Mulcahy conducts the ceremony and marries the two of them. This is the only time we hear Laverne's voice, which comes through on the radio.
In Mail Call Three (Season 6). Laverne writes that after she has taken Klinger's allotment checks and had built up a nice bank account; she is divorcing Klinger for Mority, a sausage maker. In Your Retention, Please (Season 9), Klinger has his heart broken again when Laverne writes she is leaving Mority to take up with Klinger's best friend, Gus Nagy. Given the fact that Laverne is not Arabic nor Lebanese, it is probable that like Klinger's second wife Soon-Lee Klinger, she would have been socially ostracised by Klinger's family.
Research notes[]
The actress that gave the voice for Laverne Klinger is not identified.