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Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American screenwriter, 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 Lost in America (1985), Soapdish (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993) along with his sister Penny Marshall, 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).
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. Remembering Garry Marshall – Entertainer and Korean War Veteran (Army). Veteranownedbusiness.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020. Garry Marshall Bio. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 12, 2020. Garry Marshall via Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
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).
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 collaborated with writing collaborator 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 Marshall, 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 (1988), Pretty Woman (1990), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), (2004), Valentine's Day (2010), and New Year's Eve (2011). Other films he directed included Nothing in Common (1986), Overboard (1987), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Dear God (1996), The Other Sister (1999), Raising Helen (2004), Georgia Rule (2007), and Mother's Day (2016). Marshall was also an actor, appearing in television series such as Murphy Brown and On the Lot, and in such films as Albert Brooks' Lost in America (1985), his sister Penny Marshall's Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Soapdish (1991), his sister's A League of Their Own (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993) along with his sister, With Friends Like These... (1998), Orange County (2002), Keeping Up with the Steins (2006), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), and Life After Beth (2014). His voice acting included 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), as well as voice roles in the animated films The Majestic (2001) and Chicken Little (2005). He appeared in two episodes of Happy Days as a drummer. He was a drummer in the second-to-last scene of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and he played 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.
Marshall was cremated at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in its crematory alongside his sister upon her death in 2018. His memorial tribute was held at California State University, Northridge's Younes and Soraya Nazarian Performing Center for the Performing Arts on November 13, 2016.
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 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.
Executive producer
| Credited as Garry K. Marshall |
| Plainclothesman |
| Voice, Uncredited |
| Credited as Gary K. Marshall |
| Casino Manager |
| Police Detective |
| Uncredited |
| Audition Director |
| Bum Tour Guide |
| Uncredited |
| Voice, Uncredited |
| Uncredited |
| Short |
| Uncredited |
| Short |
| Uncredited |
| Short |
| Short |
| Uncredited |
| Voice |
| Short |
| Voice |
| Short |
| Uncredited |
| Voice, Direct-to-DVD |
| 3 episodes |
| 12 episodes |
| 5 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Think Pretty" |
| 2 episodes |
| TV Special |
| 11 episodes |
| Episode: "Will the Real Harvey Wheatley Pleas Stand Up?" |
| Episode: "No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise" |
| 18 episodes |
| Episode "Czech Your Wife, Sir?" |
| Episode: "My Pal Tony" |
| TV special |
| Episode: "The Bed" |
| 19 episodes |
| Director: (6 episodes) Writer: (7 episodes) |
| 13 episodes |
| Director: Episode: "Haunted" Writer: (2 episodes) |
| Director: Episode: "The Society Party" |
| Director: Episode: "Blansky's Biking Beauty" |
| Director: Episode: "Dueling Skates" |
| 10 episodes |
| Also developer |
| 3 episodes |
| Episode: "The Monastery Show" |
| Based on his 1986 film |
| Episode: "See Dad See Joe Sleepwalk" |
Executive consultant
TV movies
| Episodes "Body and Sol" and "The Gunslinger" |
| Episode: "A Legend Dies" |
| Episode: "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Maybe" |
| 4 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Lost Monday" |
| TV special |
| Recurring role (5 episodes) |
| Documentary film |
| 2 episodes |
| TV short |
| Recurring role (24 episodes) |
| Episode: "Arctic Heat" |
| Episode: "Celebrity Award Winners (Game 3)" |
| TV special |
| Voice, Episode: "A Pinky and the Brain Halloween" |
| Episode: "Brideface Revisited" |
| Episode: "Bye Mom" |
| TV movie |
| Episode: "Norm vs. Norm" |
| Voice, Episode: "Eight Misbehavin" |
| Episode: "A Celebrity Jeopardy! (Game 5)" |
| Episode: "#5.23" |
| Recurring role (5 episodes) |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Airplane" |
| Voice, Episode: "Club Fred" |
| Episode: "Bada-Ping!" |
| Episode: "The Gift of the Ton-I" |
| Voice, recurring role (5 episodes) |
| 5 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "High, It's Sarah" |
| Episode: "Love Is a Battlefield" |
| Episode: "Physical Therapy" |
| Voice, Episode: "Homer the Father" |
| Voice, recurring role (9 episodes) |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "See Dad Run See Dad Run" |
| Episode: "Bite Me, Supreme Court" |
| Episode: "Space Werewolf-A-Rooney" |
| Episode: "The Wednesday Incident" |
| Episode: "All Dolled Up" |
| Voice, Episode: "Yes And" |
| Voice, 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Dr. Phil McGraw vs. Garry & Penny Marshall" |
| Episode: "Madison & Son", (final appearance) |
| Voice |
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.
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | 2011 | Hall of Shame | Valentine's Day | |
| American Cinema Editors | 2004 | Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award | — | |
| American Comedy Awards | 1990 | Creative Achievement Award | — | |
| BAFTA Awards | 1991 | Best Film | Pretty Woman | |
| Casting Society of America | 1995 | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | |
| Cesar Awards | 1991 | Best Foreign Film | Pretty Woman | |
| Gold Derby Awards | 2008 | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | |
| 2010 | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | ||
| Golden Raspberry Awards | 2012 | Worst Director | New Year's Eve | |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 1971 | Outstanding New Series | The Odd Couple | |
| 1971 | Outstanding Comedy Series | The Odd Couple | ||
| 1972 | Outstanding Comedy Series | The Odd Couple | ||
| 1974 | Outstanding Comedy Series | The Odd Couple | ||
| 1979 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Mork & Mindy | ||
| PRISM Awards | 2008 | Prism Award | Georgia Rule | |
| Producers Guild Awards | 1998 | Lifetime Achievement Membership Award | — | |
| 1998 | Lifetime Achievement Award in Television | — | ||
| Publicists Guild of America | 1980 | Showmanship Award – Television | — | |
| 1992 | Showmanship Award – Motion Picture | — | ||
| TV Land Awards | 2008 | Legend Award | — | |
| Walk of Fame | 1983 | Star on the Walk of Fame — Television 6838 Hollywood, Blvd. | — | |
| Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards | 1996 | Lucy Award | — | |
| Writers Guild of America | 1965 | (for "The Bowling Partners") | Make Room for Daddy | |
| 1966 | (for "Romance, Roses and Rye Bread", "4 1/2") | The Dick Van Dyke Show | ||
| 1995 | Valentine Davies Award | — | ||
| 2014 | Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement | — |
| +Accolades for Marshall's directed films | |||||||
| 1984 !scope="2" | The Flamingo Kid | 1 | |||||
| 1988 !scope="2" | Beaches | 1 | |||||
| 1990 !scope="2" | Pretty Woman | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 1991 !scope="2" | Frankie and Johnny | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
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