Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall
Marshall in 2013
Born	Garry Kent Marshall (1934-11-13)November 13, 1934 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	July 19, 2016(2016-07-19) (aged 81) Burbank, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Northwestern University
Occupations	Screenwriter film director producer actor
Years active	1959–2016
Known for	Creator of Happy Days
Spouse	Barbara Sue Wells ​ (m. 1963)​
Children	3, including Scott Marshall
Father	Anthony W. Marshall
Relatives	Penny Marshall (sister) Tracy Reiner (niece)

Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for The Lucy Show and The 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 the ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984).

Marshall went on to direct 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 (2001), Raising Helen (2004), Georgia Rule (2007), Valentine's Day (2010), New Year's Eve (2011), and Mother's Day (2016).

As an actor, Marshall appeared in the films 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). He also provided voice acting roles in the animated films The Majestic (2001) and Chicken Little (2005).

Early life and family

Garry Kent Marshall was born in Manhattan 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. 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, Irish 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.

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).

Career

Marshall c. 1995

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, he and Freeman moved to Hollywood, where they broke into writing sitcoms on The Joey Bishop Show. Freeman, however, found that he did not enjoy sitcom work, and moved back to New York. Marshall teamed up with writing partner Jerry Belson, and the two worked together 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, who had earlier had a recurring role on The Odd Couple), 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. Of all Marshall's films, Elizondo had his biggest role in The Flamingo Kid as main character Matt Dillon's father.

Marshall had several responsibilities 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 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.

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 and Jonny Blu on the set of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in 2004

Marshall was also an actor, appearing in Murphy Brown and in such films as Soapdish, On the Lot, his sister's A League Of Their Own and Albert Brooks' Lost in America, and provided a guest-starring voice for The Simpsons episodes "Eight Misbehavin'" and "Homer the Father" (one of his first roles as an undercover cop in the counter-culture drama Psych-Out starring Jack Nicholson). He appeared in two episodes of Happy Days as a drummer. He was a drummer in the second last scene of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and he plays a drummer in his film Overboard.

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.

Death and tributes

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

Henry Winkler paid tribute to him on Barry in 2019, and SAG-AFTRA made a Memoriam Tribute to Marshall on the SAG Awards in 2019. Julia Roberts paid tribute to him in Pretty Woman: The Musical in 2018. She also paid tribute to him in an interview: "To know Garry Marshall was to love him. And I was luckier than most to have loved him for my entire adult life and luckier still to have been loved by him because his love was unconditional, inexhaustible and magical."

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

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1968	How Sweet It Is!	No	Yes	Yes
1970	The Grasshopper	No	Yes	Yes
1982	Young Doctors in Love	Yes	No	No
1984	The Flamingo Kid	Yes	No	Yes
1986	Nothing in Common	Yes	No	Uncredited
1987	Overboard	Yes	No	No
1988	Beaches	Yes	No	No
1989	The Lottery (Short film)	Yes	No	No
1990	Pretty Woman	Yes	No	No
1991	Frankie and Johnny	Yes	Yes	No
1994	Exit to Eden	Yes	Yes	No
1996	Dear God	Yes	No	No
1999	The Other Sister	Yes	No	Yes
	Runaway Bride	Yes	No	No
2001	The Princess Diaries	Yes	No	No
2004	Raising Helen	Yes	No	No
	The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement	Yes	No	No
2007	Georgia Rule	Yes	No	No
2010	Valentine's Day	Yes	No	No
2011	New Year's Eve	Yes	Yes	No
2016	Mother's Day	Yes	No	Story

Executive producer

• Walkin' Walter (1977)
• The Twilight of the Golds (1996)

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	The Phony American	U.S. Recruiting Officer
1968	Maryjane	Service Station Attendant	Credited as Garry K. Marshall
	Psych-Out	Plainclothesman
	How Sweet It Is!	Man in top bunk	Voice, Uncredited
1977	Grand Theft Auto	Underworld Boss	Credited as Gary K. Marshall
1985	Lost in America	Casino Manager
1986	Jumpin' Jack Flash	Police Detective
1987	Overboard	Drummer	Uncredited
1988	Beaches	Audition Director
1990	Pretty Woman	Bum Tour Guide
	Secret Agent OO Soul	—
1991	Soapdish	Edmund Edwards
1992	A League of Their Own	Walter Harvey
1993	Hocus Pocus	Devil (Husband)	Uncredited
1994	Exit to Eden	Priscilla's Client	Voice, Uncredited
1995	Live Nude Girls	Mobster Don	Uncredited
	Statistically Speaking	—	Short
1996	Dear God	Preston Sweeney, Postmaster	Uncredited
	Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore	Complaining Customer
	The Twilight of the Golds	Walter Gold
1998	With Friends Like These...	Frank Minetti
	Hole in the Paper Sky	Warren	Short
1999	Runaway Bride	First Baseman in Softball	Uncredited
	Kismet	Stepfather	Short
	Never Been Kissed	Rigfort
	The Space Between Us	Steve Mayland
	Can't Be Heaven	Pawn Shop Broker
2000	It's a Shame About Ray	Mr. Brezhnev	Short
2001	Tomcats	Uncle Murray	Uncredited
	The Hollywood Sign	Director
	The Majestic	Studio Executive	Voice
2002	Orange County	Arthur Gantner
	Mother Ghost	Arthur
2003	The Long Ride Home	Arthur
	They Call Him Sasquatch	Stu Glassman
	Devil's Knight	Big Eddie
2004	The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement	Drummer
2005	Mute	Pastor	Short
	Chicken Little	Buck Cluck	Voice
2006	Keeping Up with the Steins	Irwin Fiedler
	I-See-You.Com	Himself
2008	Chronic Town	The Doctor
2009	Finding Bliss	Himself
	Race to Witch Mountain	Dr. Donald Harlan
	Grand Drip	Larry Rosenberg	Short
2010	Valentine's Day	Musician	Uncredited
2014	Life After Beth	Grandpa
2015	Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery	Manny Goldman	Voice, Direct-to-DVD

Television

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Creator	Notes
1960	The Jack Paar Tonight Show	No	No	Yes	No	3 episodes
1962–1965	The Joey Bishop Show	No	No	Yes	No	12 episodes
1963–1964	Make Room for Daddy	No	No	Yes	No	5 episodes
1964	The Bill Dana Show	No	No	Yes	No	2 episodes
	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	No	No	Yes	No	Episode: "Think Pretty"
	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	No	No	Yes	No	2 episodes
	Danny Thomas Special	No	No	Yes	No	TV Special
1964–1966	The Lucy Show	No	No	Yes	No	11 episodes
1965	Hank	No	No	Yes	No	Episode: "Will the Real Harvey Wheatley Pleas Stand Up?"
	I Spy	No	No	Yes	No	Episode: "No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise"
1965–1966	The Dick Van Dyke Show	No	No	Yes	No	18 episodes
1966–1967	Hey, Landlord	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Episode "Czech Your Wife, Sir?"
1967–1968	The Danny Thomas Hour	No	Yes	Yes	No	Episode: "My Pal Tony"
1968	Dick Van Dyke	No	Yes	No	No	TV special
1970	Barefoot in the Park	No	No	Yes	No	Episode: "The Bed"
1970–1971	Love, American Style	No	No	Yes	No	19 episodes
1970–1975	The Odd Couple	Yes	No	Yes	No	Director: (6 episodes) Writer: (7 episodes)
1972	Me and the Chimp	Yes	Executive	Yes	Yes	13 episodes
1972–1974	The Brian Keith Show	No	Executive	Yes	Yes
1974–1984	Happy Days	Yes	Executive	Yes	Yes	Director: Episode: "Haunted" Writer: (2 episodes)
1976–1983	Laverne & Shirley	Yes	Executive	Yes	Yes	Director: Episode: "The Society Party"
1977	Blansky's Beauties	Yes	Executive	Yes	Yes	Director: Episode: "Blansky's Biking Beauty"
1978–1982	Mork & Mindy	Yes	Executive	Yes	Yes	Director: Episode: "Dueling Skates"
1978–1979	Who's Watching the Kids?	No	Executive	No	No	10 episodes
1979–1980	Angie	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
1981	Mean Jeans	Yes	Executive	No	No
1982	Young Doctors in Love	Yes	Executive	No	No
1982–1983	The New Odd Couple	No	Executive	Yes	No	Also developer
	Joanie Loves Chachi	No	Executive	Yes	Yes	3 episodes
1983	Laverne & Shirley	Yes	No	No	No	Episode: "The Monastery Show"
1987	Nothing In Common	No	Yes	No	Yes	Based on his 1986 film
2014	See Dad Run	No	No	Yes	No	Episode: "See Dad See Joe Sleepwalk"

Executive consultant

• The Odd Couple (2015–2016)
• Grandfathered (2015–2016)

TV movies

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1967	Sheriff Who	No	Yes	No
1970	The Murdocks and the McClays	No	Yes	Yes
1972	Evil Roy Slade	No	No	Yes
	Wednesday Night Out	No	No	Yes
1974	Dominic's Dream	Yes	Yes	Yes
1975	Wives	No	Executive	Yes
1979	Beane's of Boston	No	Executive	No
1983	Herndon	Yes	Executive	No
1986	Four Stars	No	Executive	No
1989	Let's Get Mom	Yes	No	No

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965–1966	The Dick Van Dyke Show	Referee, Bartender	Episodes "Body and Sol" and "The Gunslinger"
1966–1967	Hey, Landlord	Big Leonard	Episode: "A Legend Dies"
1967	Good Morning World	Man	Episode: "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Maybe"
1970–1975	The Odd Couple	Man #2 / Werner Turner / Drummer / Man #1	4 episodes
1974–1984	Happy Days	Prom Drummer/Drummer	2 episodes
1976–1983	Laverne & Shirley	Drummer	2 episodes
1980	Vega$	Dr. Middleton	Episode: "Lost Monday"
1981	The Way We Were	Himself	TV special
1987–1988	The New Hollywood Squares	Himself (Panelist)	Recurring role (5 episodes)
1992	Street Scenes: New York on Film	Himself	Documentary film
1993	A League of Their Own	Walter Harvey	2 episodes
	The Last Shot	Mark Tullis, Sr.	TV short
1994–1997	Murphy Brown	Mr. Stan Lansing	Recurring role (24 episodes)
1995	Night Stand	Garry Marshall	Episode: "Arctic Heat"
	Wheel of Fortune	Himself (Celebrity Contestant)	Episode: "Celebrity Award Winners (Game 3)"
	The Laverne & Shirley Reunion	Himself	TV special
1997	Pinky and the Brain	Mr. Itch – The Devil	Voice, Episode: "A Pinky and the Brain Halloween"
	The Naked Truth	Garry Marshall	Episode: "Brideface Revisited"
	City Guys	Mr. Giordano	Episode: "Bye Mom"
1998	CHiPs '99	Tour Bus Driver	TV movie
1999	Norm	Big Nick	Episode: "Norm vs. Norm"
	The Simpsons	Mr Larry Kidkill	Voice, Episode: "Eight Misbehavin"
	Jeopardy!	Himself (Celebrity Contestant)	Episode: "A Celebrity Jeopardy! (Game 5)"
2000	MADtv	Himself	Episode: "#5.23"
2001	Hollywood Squares	Himself (Panelist)	Recurring role (5 episodes)
2001–2002	Three Sisters	Vince	2 episodes
2002	Monk	Warren Beach	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Airplane"
	Rugrats	Fred	Voice, Episode: "Club Fred"
	Sabrina, the Teenage Witch	Mickey Brentwood	Episode: "Bada-Ping!"
2004	Listen Up	Max Kleinman	Episode: "The Gift of the Ton-I"
	Father of the Pride	Bernie	Voice, recurring role (5 episodes)
2004–2008	Biography	Himself (Interviewee)	5 episodes
2007	Brothers & Sisters	Major Jack Wiener	2 episodes
2008	The Sarah Silverman Program	Sharkcorp President	Episode: "High, It's Sarah"
2009	ER	Harry Feingold	Episode: "Love Is a Battlefield"
	According to Jim	Doctor	Episode: "Physical Therapy"
2011	The Simpsons	Sheldon Leavitt	Voice, Episode: "Homer the Father"
2011–2013	The Looney Tunes Show	Dr. Weisberg	Voice, recurring role (9 episodes)
2012	Louie	Lars Tardigan	2 episodes
2013	See Dad Run	Bernie	Episode: "See Dad Run See Dad Run"
2014	Two and a Half Men	Garry	Episode: "Bite Me, Supreme Court"
	Liv and Maddie	Vic Defazerelli	Episode: "Space Werewolf-A-Rooney"
2015	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Marvin Miller	Episode: "The Wednesday Incident"
	Hot in Cleveland	Ari	Episode: "All Dolled Up"
	BoJack Horseman	Abe	Voice, Episode: "Yes And"
	Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero	Soda Jerk	Voice, 2 episodes
	Celebrity Family Feud	Himself (Celebrity Contestant)	Episode: "Dr. Phil McGraw vs. Garry & Penny Marshall"
2016	The Odd Couple	Walter Madison	Episode: "Madison & Son", (final appearance)

Video game

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Chicken Little	Buck Cluck	Voice

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.

Association	Year	Category	Title	Result
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards	2011	Hall of Shame	Valentine's Day	Nominated
American Cinema Editors	2004	Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award	—	Won
American Comedy Awards	1990	Creative Achievement Award	—	Won
BAFTA Awards	1991	Best Film	Pretty Woman	Nominated
Casting Society of America	1995	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Won
Cesar Awards	1991	Best Foreign Film	Pretty Woman	Nominated
Gold Derby Awards	2008	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Nominated
	2010	Lifetime Achievement Award	—	Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards	2012	Worst Director	New Year's Eve	Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards	1971	Outstanding New Series	The Odd Couple	Nominated
	1971	Outstanding Comedy Series	The Odd Couple	Nominated
	1972	Outstanding Comedy Series	The Odd Couple	Nominated
	1974	Outstanding Comedy Series	The Odd Couple	Nominated
	1979	Outstanding Comedy Series	Mork & Mindy	Nominated
PRISM Awards	2008	Best Feature Film	Georgia Rule	Won
Producers Guild Awards	1998	Lifetime Achievement Membership Award	—	Won
	1998	Lifetime Achievement Award in Television	—	Won
Publicists Guild of America	1980	Showmanship Award – Television	—	Won
	1992	Showmanship Award – Motion Picture	—	Won
TV Land Awards	2008	Legend Award	—	Won
Walk of Fame	1983	Star on the Walk of Fame — Television 6838 Hollywood, Blvd.	—	Won
Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards	1996	Lucy Award	—	Won
Writers Guild of America	1965	Episodic Comedy (for "The Bowling Partners")	Make Room for Daddy	Nominated
	1966	Episodic Comedy (for "Romance, Roses and Rye Bread", "4 1/2")	The Dick Van Dyke Show	Nominated
	1995	Valentine Davies Award	—	Won
	2014	Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement	—	Won

Further reading

• Marshall, Garry (1995). Wake Me When It's Funny: How to Break into Show Business and Stay There. Newmarket Press. ISBN 1-55704-288-8.
• Marshall, Garry (2012). My Happy Days in Hollywood: A Memoir. Crown Archetype. ISBN 978-0307885005.

External links

• Garry Marshall at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Garry Marshall at IMDb
• Garry Marshall at the TCM Movie Database
• Garry Marshall at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television