Garry Marshall

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.[3] 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,[4] and his mother was of German, English, Irish and Scottish ancestry.[5] His father changed his last name from Masciarelli to Marshall before his son Garry was born.[2] Garry Marshall was baptized Presbyterian and also raised Lutheran for a time.[6]

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.[7][8] 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.[9][10][11]

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.[12] 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.[13] He was also a co-creator of Makin' It,[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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,[19] The Roast with Jerry Belson,[20] Shelves and Happy Days: A New Musical with Paul Williams,[21] which had its premiere at the Falcon Theater in Burbank, California, February 24, 2006.[22] 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.

Marshall married Barbara Sue Wells on March 9, 1963.[23] They had three children: Scott Marshall;[23] Lori Marshall, with whom he co-wrote a book; and Kathleen Marshall, who appeared in all of his films.

Marshall died at a hospital in Burbank, California 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]

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.[30] He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame for his contributions to the field of television in 1997.[31]

In 2012, he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters' Broadcasting Hall of Fame.[32]

Marshall received the Valentine Davies Award (1995) and Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement (2014)[33] from the Writers Guild of America.[34]

• 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.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Garry Marshall.

• 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