Garry Marshall
Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016)[1][2] was an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor.[3] Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for The Lucy Show and Dick Van Dyke Show until he developed the television adaptation of Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. He rose to fame in the 1970s for creating four ABC sitcoms including Happy Days (1974–1984), Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983), Blansky's Beauties (1977), and Mork & Mindy (1978–1982).
Garry Marshall
July 19, 2016 (aged 81)
- Screenwriter
- film director
- producer
- actor
1959–2016
Creator of Happy Days
3, including Scott Marshall
- Anthony W. Marshall (father)
Penny Marshall (sister)
Tracy Reiner (niece)
Marshall went on to direct the numerous films including Young Doctors in Love (1982), The Flamingo Kid (1984), Nothing in Common (1986), Overboard (1987), Beaches (1988), Pretty Woman (1990), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Exit to Eden (1994), Dear God (1996), The Other Sister and Runaway Bride (Both in 1999), The Princess Diaries 1 and 2 (2001 and 2004), Raising Helen (2004), Georgia Rule (2007), Valentine's Day (2010), New Year's Eve (2011), and Mother's Day (2016). As an actor, he also appeared in many films including Soapdish (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), With Friends Like These... (1998), Orange County (2002), Keeping Up with the Steins (2006), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), and Life After Beth (2014), as well as voiced as Studio Executive in The Majestic (2001) and as Buck Cluck in Chicken Little (2005).
Early life and family[edit]
Garry Kent Marshall was born in the Bronx, New York City, on November 13, 1934, the only son and the eldest child of Anthony "Tony" Masciarelli (later Anthony Wallace Marshall; 1906–1999), a director of industrial films and producer, and Marjorie Irene (née Ward; 1908–1983), the owner and teacher in a tap dance school.[4] He was the brother of actress-director Penny Marshall and Ronny Marshall Hallin, a television producer. His father was of Italian descent, his family having come from San Martino sulla Marrucina, Chieti, Abruzzo,[5] and his mother was of German, English, Irish and Scottish ancestry.[6] His father changed his last name from Masciarelli to Marshall before his son Garry was born.[3] Garry Marshall was baptized Presbyterian and also raised Lutheran for a time.[7]
He attended De Witt Clinton High School and Northwestern University, where he wrote a sports column for The Daily Northwestern, and was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.[8][9] Beginning in 1956, Marshall served a stint in the U.S. Army as a writer for Stars and Stripes and Seoul News, and was production chief for Armed Forces Radio Network; serving in Korea.[10][11][12]
On March 9, 1963, Marshall married Barbara Sue Wells. They resided in Los Angeles; the couple have three children: Scott; Lori (with whom he co-wrote a book); and Kathleen (who appeared in all of his films).
Death and tributes[edit]
Marshall died at a hospital in Burbank, Los Angeles on the morning of July 19, 2016 due to complications of pneumonia after suffering a stroke.[24][25] He was 81.
Henry Winkler paid tribute to him on Barry in 2019,[26] and SAG-AFTRA made a Memoriam Tribute to Marshall on the SAG Awards in 2019.[27] Julia Roberts paid tribute to him in Pretty Woman: The Musical in 2018.[28]
ABC aired the special The Happy Days of Garry Marshall on May 12, 2020.[29]