Penny Marshall Penny Marshall owes the beginning of her career to her brother Garry Marshall, but since that early jump start, it's been all her. She may have had her start in television and movies thanks to Garry, but it was her own comedic talents that kept her in the top of the Nielsen ratings, and it was her own directing talents that made her the first female to direct a movie grossing over $100 million.
Marshall was born as Carole Penelope Marsciarelli in The Bronx, New York, to Anthony Wallace Marsciarelli and Marjorie Irene Ward. The family later changed their surname to Marshall. Her brother is Garry Marshall, the famous director and producer, and her sister, Ronny Hallin, is also a producer, as well as an actress. Marshall's mother allowed her to attend the University of New Mexico, believing it was close to New York. It was while she was there she became pregnant with her daughter, Tracy Reiner, and later on married the father, Michael Henry. During this time, Marshall became a secretary, then divorced Henry after only two years.
Marshall's first acting gig came thanks to brother Garry who had written the movie How Sweet It Is! starring James Garner and Debbie Reynolds, and he gave her a small part as the tour girl. She then appeared in small parts on television shows such as That Girl with Marlo Thomas and Love, American Style, and she also appeared as a secretary on a few episodes of Disneyland, hosted by Walt Disney himself. Up for the part of the girlfriend/wife of her real life boyfriend Rob Reiner in All in the Family, she lost out to Sally Struthers.
Not getting the part in All in the Family, however, allowed Marshall's brother to cast her in a reoccurring role on his show The Odd Couple, as the secretary, Myrna Turner, alongside Jack Klugman and Tony Randall. She also had a reoccurring role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Mary's neighbor, and had small guest star roles on other sitcoms such as The Bob Newhart Show and Chico and the Man with Freddie Prinze.
It was Marshall's brother, Garry, who was once again looking for a guest star, and cast his sister on Happy Days as one of Fonzie's girlfriends. He was looking for two girls, so Marshall brought along friend Cindy Williams who was also a writing partner to Marshall. The two appeared on an episode as the dates of the characters played by Ron Howard and Henry Winkler. Williams was also an off-screen girlfriend of Winkler's.
Marshall and Williams' characters were so popular, they were given their own spinoff, Laverne & Shirley, which also starred Michael McKean and David L. Lander. The characters of Laverne and Shirley became very popular and allowed many crossovers between Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days, as well as another spinoff, Mork & Mindy, starring Robin Williams. Looking to breathe new life into the show, the characters moved from Milwaukee to L.A., and shortly after, Williams became pregnant and left the show just a few months before it ended its long run.
After Laverne & Shirley ended, Marshall enjoyed a few acting roles, mostly guest star spots in shows such as The Simpsons and Frasier. What she's been most known for since, though, has been her directing talents. Starting out directing a few episodes of Laverne & Shirley, she moved on to trying her luck with movies with her directing debut of Jumpin' Jack Flash, starring Whoopi Goldberg. The very second movie Marshall directed turned her into the first female director to gross over $100 million. Big was a huge hit for her, as well as its star, Tom Hanks.
With such a huge success under her belt, Marshall next directed Awakenings, reuniting her with its star, Robin Williams. This movie was a stretch for both of them because it was a drama rather than a comedy. Moving back to her comedic roots, Marshall became the first female director to have two movies that grossed over $100 million. Working again with Tom Hanks, as well as Geena Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell, A League of Their Own was a huge hit. She followed this success directing A Preacher's Wife with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston and Riding in Cars with Boys with Drew Barrymore.
In Awakenings and A League of Their Own, Marshall donned the producer's hat as well as the director's hat, and then turned her attentions solely towards producing with the film Calendar Girl, working with Jason Priestley. With the success of this, she continued to work as producer on Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe and Bewitched starring Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman.
Marshall had married Reiner in 1971 during her time on The Odd Couple and his time on All in the Family, yet they were divorced by 1979 while she was still on Laverne & Shirley. She considers Carrie Fischer a best friend, and is godmother to her daughter. YUDDY
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