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5 Things We Loved About Garry Marshall

The late director gave us Mork, 'Happy Days,' 'Pretty Woman' and so much more

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July 20, 2016
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The comedy world lost another great with the passing of Garry Marshall at the age of 81 on July 19, 2016. Marshall was an incomparable talent, having worked as a director, writer, creator, producer and actor for more than five decades.

Although he attended Northwestern University and worked briefly as a journalist, Marshall is best known for the work he did on television and in movies. After his start writing jokes for comedians, Marshall began writing forThe Jack Paar Tonight Show in 1960. His final film —Mother’s Day — starring Jennifer Aniston and Timothy Olyphant — appeared in theaters in 2016.

We look back at things we loved about him:

Five Things We Loved About Garry Marshall

  1. The Odd Couple's many lives. Marshall adapted the Neil Simon play The Odd Couple for the hugely successful TV show starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman that ran from 1970-75. A TV reboot, starring Ron Glass and Demond Wilson called The New Odd Couple ran one season from 1982-83. Most recently, Marshall served as a consultant on the recent Odd Couple TV reboot starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon, where he also played Walter Madison, Oscar’s father. His sister, actress/director Penny Marshall, appears in this clip, along with Teri Garr, Al Molinaro, Tony Randall, and Jack Klugman:
  1. Marshall helped launch the career of Robin Williams. Williams first appeared as Mork on an episode of Happy Days, a show created by Marshall, called “My Favorite Orkan.” It was so popular that Mork appeared again on the show and then got a program of his own when Marshall created Mork and Mindy. In this clip, Mork talks with Orson:
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  1. Marshall's best friend, actor Hector Elizondo, appears in almost all of his movies. The two men met in the early 1980s, and Marshall included Elizondo in everything from large to small roles in many of his flicks. In this clip from The Princess Diaries, Elizondo tries to teach Anne Hathaway to dance:
  1. Marshall made photo albums every time he made a movie. He made sure to include a separate picture of himself with each and every member of the cast and crew. Here’s a clip from Pretty Woman, which catapulted Julia Roberts into stardom. Wouldn't it be great to see that photo album?
  1. Marshall appeared in his sister’s film A League of Their OwnNearly two decades after Penny appeared in big brother Garry’s Odd Couple, Garry returned the favor and appeared in the classic movie she directed, playing baseball team owner Walter Harvey in A League of Their Own. In this clip, he talks about the movie at Dodgers Stadium:

 

 

Michele Wojciechowski Michele "Wojo" Wojciechowski is an award-winning writer who lives in Baltimore, Md. She's the author of the humor book Next Time I Move, They'll Carry Me Out in a Box. Reach her at www.WojosWorld.com. Read More
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