Garry Marshall

Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, and actor who is best known for creating Happy Days and its various spin-offs, developing Neil Simon's 1965 play The Odd Couple for television, and directing Pretty Woman, Beaches, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, Mother's Day, The Princess Diaries, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

Early life

Garry Kent Marshall was born in The Bronx, New York, on November 13, 1934, the son of Anthony Wallace Marshall (né Masciarelli; 1906–1999), a director of industrial films and later a producer, and Marjorie Irene (née Ward; 1908–1983), a tap dance teacher who ran a tap dance school. 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, and his mother was of German, English, and Scottish ancestry. His father changed his last name from Masciarelli to Marshall before his son Garry was born. Garry Marshall was baptized Presbyterian and also raised Lutheran for a time.

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. 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.

Career

Marshall began his career as a joke writer for such comedians as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster and became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. He originally partnered with writer Fred Freeman.

In 1961, both he and Freeman moved to Hollywood, where they broke into writing sitcoms on The Joey Bishop Show. Freeman, however, found that he didn't enjoy sitcom work, and moved back to New York. Marshall soon teamed up with new writing partner Jerry Belson, and the two worked as a team through the 1960s. The pair worked on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Danny Thomas Show, and The Lucy Show. Their first television series as creator-producers was Hey, Landlord, which lasted one season (1966–67). Then they adapted Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple for television. Moving into the 1970s, Marshall worked on his own or with others, and created Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley (starring his sister Penny), and Mork & Mindy, which were produced by his associates Thomas L. Miller, Robert L. Boyett, and Edward K. Milkis. He was also a co-creator of Makin' It, which the three men also produced.

In the early 1980s, he met Héctor Elizondo while playing basketball, and they became great friends. Elizondo appeared in every film that Marshall directed, beginning with his first feature film Young Doctors in Love. Elizondo once noted that he is written into all of Marshall's contracts whether he wanted to do the film or not.

In the opening credits of Exit to Eden (their eighth film together), Elizondo is credited "As Usual ... Hector Elizondo". In 1984, Marshall had a film hit as the writer and director of The Flamingo Kid.

Marshall wore many hats during this period of his career: most of his hit television series were created and executive produced by him. His first producing assignment came with Hey, Landlord in 1966. He stepped up the very next year, producing The Lucy Show. Then came successes in producing The Odd Couple, Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Angie, and Happy Days. He launched independent productions through his theater (The Falcon in Toluca Lake) and in association with productions launched with talent he was grooming and working with for years.

One such project titled Four Stars was directed by Lynda Goodfriend (who portrayed Lori Beth in Happy Days), and was based on a play Goodfriend had read when she was studying at the Lee Strasberg Center, which had been written by John Schulte and Kevin Mahoney. It starred Julie Paris (the daughter of Jerry Paris) and Bert Kramer. Schulte later co-wrote with TV veteran writer and producer Fred Fox, Jr., who penned and produced a number of Marshall's television series, including Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. Marshall went on to focus on directing feature films, with a series of hits, such as Beaches, Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve.

Marshall was also an actor, appearing in Murphy Brown and in such films as Soapdish, On the Lot, and Lost in America, and provided a guest-starring voice for The Simpsons episodes Eight Misbehavin' and Homer the Father. He also appeared in two episodes of Happy Days as a drummer.

His theater credits included Wrong Turn at Lungfish, which he wrote in collaboration with Lowell Ganz, The Roast with Jerry Belson, Shelves and Happy Days: A New Musical with Paul Williams, which had its premiere at the Falcon Theater in Burbank, California, February 24, 2006. He portrayed the role of "director" on Burbank's "Lights... camera... action!" float in the 2014 Rose Parade. In 2014, Marshall appeared in a guest star role in a February episode in season 11 of Two and a Half Men.

In 1997, he co-authored the memoir Wake Me When It's Funny with his daughter Lori Marshall.

Personal life

Marshall married Barbra Wells on March 9, 1963. Together they have three children, including Scott Marshall.

Death and tributes

On the morning of July 19, 2016, Marshall, aged 81, died at a hospital in Burbank, California, due to complications of pneumonia after suffering a stroke.

Henry Winkler paid tribute to Marshall on Barry in 2019 and SAG-AFTRA made a Memoriam Tribute to Marshall on the SAG Awards in 2019. Also, Julia Roberts paid tribute to Marshall on Pretty Woman: The Musical, in 2018.

ABC aired the special The Happy Days of Garry Marshall on May 12, 2020.

Awards and nominations

In 1996, Marshall was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of excellence and innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame for his contributions to the field of television in 1997.

In 2012, he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters' Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

Marshall received the Valentine Davies Award (1995) and Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement (2014) from the Writers Guild of America.