Garry Marshall

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Date of Birth : Nov 13th 1934

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. 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, and his mother was of English and Scottish descent; his father changed his last name from “Masciarelli” to “Marshall” before Garry was born. Marshall was baptized Presbyterian and also raised in the Lutheran religion for a time. 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.

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, 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.