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Garry Marshall

Since his career began in the late 1950s, Garry Marshall has established himself as one of Hollywood's most respected writers, producers and directors of television, film and theater and is still going strong today.

Among his many film directing credits, Marshall directed the box-office hit Pretty Woman, with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere; Frankie & Johnny, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino; Beaches, with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey; Overboard, with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell; Nothing in Common, with Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason; The Flamingo Kid, with Matt Dillon; The Other Sister, with Diane Keaton; Runaway Bride, the box-office hit that reunited Marshall with two old friends, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts; and The Princess Diaries, which was a box-office success and his first G picture, starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway. In addition, he directed two movies in 2004: Raising Helen, starring Kate Hudson and Joan Cusack, and another box-office success, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, with the same wonderful cast as before.

Marshall has helped launch the careers of such well-known Hollywood personalities as Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, Pam Dawber, Matt Dillon, his sister Penny Marshall, Jason Alexander, Henry Winkler, Mayim Bialik, Crystal Bernard, Anne Hathaway, Heather Matarazzo, and, most recently, Chris Pine from The Princess Diaries 2.

A Bronx native and a Northwestern University journalism graduate, Marshall has created and executive produced some of the longest-running and most celebrated sitcoms in American television history. Among these are Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple and Mork & Mindy.

In 1983, he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards such as the American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and Publicists Guild Motion Picture Showmanship Award for Film and Television. In 1995, he was voted the Valentine Davies Award winner by his fellow writers of the Writers Guild of America. In November 1997, Marshall was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Television Academy Hall of Fame. He was honored by Washington, D.C.'s National Italian American Foundation in 2002.

As an actor, Marshall has played many notable roles, including the casino owner in Lost in America; head of the network in Soapdish; team owner Mr. Harvey in A League of Their Own; Mr. Gold in The Twilight of the Golds, with Faye Dunaway; the network head and Candice Bergen's boss on TV's Murphy Brown; and, most recently, Irwin in his son's directorial debut, Keeping up With the Steins.

In 2005, Marshall took a turn and directed his first opera, Jacques Offenbach's Grand Duchess, starring Frederica von Stade, which opened the season for the Los Angeles Opera. He will direct a second, Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love) for the San Antonio Opera in January 2008.

Adams Publishing released Marshall's autobiography Wake Me When It's Funny, which he wrote with his daughter Lori in 1995. Newmarket Press released it in paperback version in 1997.

Also, in 1997, Marshall followed his dream by building a 130-seat live theater space with his daughter Kathleen in Burbank, California. The Falcon Theatre has flourished since its opening.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Garry Marshall Facts

Birth Name Garry Kent Marsciarelli
OccupationDirector, Producer
BirthdayNovember 13, 1934 (89)
SignScorpio
BirthplaceNew York, New York, USA

Selected Filmography

Mother's Day
Runaway Bride
The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Bada Ping
Pretty Woman
Wendy Season 1: Ep. 1 Happy Trails
Overboard
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