Garry Marshall Biography

Movie director and producer Garry Marshall’s biggest film hit was 1990’s Pretty Woman, but he’s probably best known as the man behind the TV show Happy Days (1974-84).

A graduate of Northwestern University, Marshall left journalism to be a New York comedian. He had success as a joke writer, and in the early 1960s worked with some of the biggest names in television, including Jack Paar, Danny Thomas, Lucille Ball, Dick Van Dyke and Joey Bishop.

Marshall launched his own sitcom in 1967 (Hey, Landlord), but his first big hit was the television version of Neil Simon‘s The Odd Couple. The show ran from 1970 to 1975 and won several Emmys. With his partner Jerry Belson, Marshall went on to produce Happy Days, which in turn spawned the hit series Laverne & Shirley (1976-83, starring his sister, Penny Marshall) and Mork & Mindy (1978-82, starring Robin Williams).

His first feature film was 1984’s The Flamingo Kid, the first of several features that featured the Garry Marshall touch: mild comedy with a heartfelt message. His big hits for the big screen were Pretty Woman (starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts) and The Princess Diaries (2001, starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews).

Marshall’s other films include Beaches (1988, starring Bette Midler), Exit to Eden (1994, starring Dana Delany), The Other Sister (1999) and Runaway Bride (1999).