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Name: Garry Marshall
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Date of Birth:
November 13, 1934
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Place of Birth:
New York, New York, USA
Mini-bio:
The career of producer/director Garry Marshall has been marked by many peaks, the highest of which include such classic television sitcoms as The Odd Couple (1970-1975), Happy Days (1974-1984), and Mo... read morerk and Mindy (1978-1982), and the phenomenally popular feature film Pretty Woman (1990). A Brooklyn native, Marshall (born Gary Marsciarelli) is the son of an industrial filmmaker and a dance instructor. His sister, Penny Marshall, is a comic actress and noted film director. Marshall majored in journalism at Northwestern University and subsequently served a stint in the army before becoming a reporter for the New York Daily News. He was also a jazz drummer in a band before becoming a television comedy scriptwriter for such artists as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster and the writer for Jack Parr on The Tonight Show.Marshall moved to Los Angeles in 1961, but he didn't make it big until he teamed up with writer Jerry Belson. Together, they penned numerous episodes for several sitcoms, notably The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Lucy Show. In 1970, Marshall produced The Odd Couple, which starred Jack Klugman and Tony Randall and was based on a popular Neil Simon play and movie. He reached his apex as a television producer during the '70s, with such hits as Laverne and Shirley (1976-1983) (a Happy Days spin-off starring sister Penny) and Mork and Mindy. In addition to his producing and television directorial efforts, Marshall occasionally appeared as a supporting actor. In features, Marshall co-produced and co-wrote (with Belson) his first film, How Sweet It Is!, in 1968. A year later, the two produced and penned The Grasshopper. Marshall made his directorial feature film debut in 1982 with Young Doctors in Love, a comic look at daytime serials. As a film director, Marshall's output has received uneven critical reviews. Films such as the Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell vehicle Overboard and the Bette Midler/Barbara Hershey melodrama Beaches (1988) had good box-office business, but were considered of average quality. 1990's Pretty Woman was Marshall's first big movie hit. Following its tremendous success, he tried his hand at a serious drama with Frankie and Johnny (1991) starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. Since then, Marshall's films have tended more toward sentimental and straight dramas such as The Twilight of the Golds (1997) and The Other Sister (1999). Marshall returned to comedy -- and to his teaming of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere -- in 1999 with Runaway Bride.In addition to his work behind the camera, Marshall has occasionally appeared as an actor in films and television shows alike. During the mid-'90s, many TV audiences came to recognize him for playing Candice Bergen's ratings-crazy boss, Stan Lansing, on Murphy Brown. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Garry Marshall mini-bio: Marshall was born in New York City, the son of Marjorie Irene (née Ward), a tap dance teacher who ran a tap dance school, and Anthony Wallace Marshall, a director of industrial films and later a producer.[1] He is the brother of actress/director Penny Marshall and Ronny Hallin, a TV producer. His father was of Italian descent, his family having come from Abruzzo,[2] and his mother was of English and Scottish descent;[3][4] his father changed his last name from "Marsciarelli" to "Marshall" before Garry was born.[5] Marshall was baptized Presbyterian and also raised in the Lutheran religion for a time.[6] He attended Northwestern University and is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, where he wrote a sports column for The Daily Northwestern.
Marshall began his career as a joke writer for such comedians as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster, and then became a writer for the Tonight Show with Jack Paar. In 1961 he moved to Hollywood, where he teamed up with Jerry Belson as a writer for television. The pair worked on The Dick Van Dyke Show, "The Joey Bishop Show", The Danny Thomas Show, and The Lucy Show. They then adapted Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple for television. On his own, Marshall created Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley (starring his sister Penny), and Mork & Mindy. He was also a co-creator of the short-lived sitcom Makin' It.[7]
In 1984, Marshall had a movie hit as the writer of The Flamingo Kid. He went on to direct Nothing in Common, Overboard, Beaches, Pretty Woman, Frankie and Johnny, Exit to Eden, The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Raising Helen and most recently Georgia Rule.
Marshall is also a comic actor who often plays wisecracking guys who tell it like it is[citation needed], and has appeared in the television series Murphy Brown and in such movies as Grand Theft Auto, Hocus Pocus, Tomcats, Lost in America, Never Been Kissed, Runaway Bride, Orange County, and Jumpin' Jack Flash and A League of Their Own, both directed by his sister. He also acts in stage productions. He is now a permanent judge on FOX's filmmaking-competition reality TV series On the Lot.
Marshall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His son, Scott Marshall, is also a director.
