Remembering Penny Marshall

So many people were saddened yesterday when news broke that Penny Marshall had passed away at the age of 75.  Such a talented lady.

Penny brought us Laverne DeFazio – that adorable character on the show Laverne and Shirley.  I watched it.  The theme song is still one of my favourites.  “Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

The show brought us so many laughs. Laverne and Shirley, and Lenny and Squiggy too.

But she was more than that.  Her brother Garry, got her interested in directing and actually made her debut as a director while starring on Laverne and Shirley, directing four episodes.  In 1979, she directed several episodes of the short-lived sitcom Working Stiffs, starring Michael Keaton and James Belushi. She moved on to films, her first the 1986 movie Jumpin’ Jack Flash  starring Whoopi Goldberg. She got the job when the original director dropped out.

She went on to direct several other big box office hits including Big (1988) starring Tom Hanks (the first film directed by a woman to gross over US$100 million), Awakenings (1990) starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, A League of Their Own (1992) with Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, and The Preacher’s Wife (1996) starring Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston. In 1991, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.

Penny Marshall wanted her legacy to be “I hope I gave you some enjoyment”.  You succeeded.  Penny, you will be missed.

Categorised in: Afternoons

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan