A family spokesperson confirmed that Marshall, 75, died at her Hollywood Hills home due to complications from diabetes.
Penny Marshall, who costarred in the television ratings hit Laverne & Shirley before becoming a successful movie director, has died. She was 75.
A family spokesperson confirmed that Marshall died at her Hollywood Hills home due to complications from diabetes.
“Penny was a girl from the Bronx, who came out West, put a cursive ‘L’ on her sweater and transformed herself into a Hollywood success story,” the family said in a statement. "We home her life continues to inspire others to spend time with family, work hard, and make all their dreams come true.”
Marshall first broke into television sitcoms by playing Oscar Madison’s secretary in the Odd Couple and later as a neighbor on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
But her real break came when her brother cast her and Cindy Williams, her writing partner, as two friends, Laverne and Shirley, on a double date with characters in Happy Days. Their bit parts later spun off into their own sitcom, Laverne & Shirley, a show that centered on the adventures of two roommates who worked at a beer bottling plant in Milwaukee.
The show was a ratings hit for ABC in the 1970s into the 80s.
After the show ended, Marshall went on to become a pioneering woman director in Hollywood. Her film Big, starring Tom Hanks, made her the first woman to direct a movie that grossed more than $100 million. She followed up that success with A League of Their Own, starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell.
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RIP.
