Penny Marshall Has Died

[AGBF]

Penny Marshall has died. I knew her first as Laverne on "Laverne and Shirley", but she did so much more in her long career!

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/obituaries/penny-marshall-dead.html

 

[missy]

Sad. Penny Marshall was a comic genius and she made the world a better place.

Some photos through the years for those who are interested.

https://www.aol.com/article/enterta...ath-at-75/23621903/##slide=7488803#fullscreen

 

[partgypsy]

I was really sad to hear this. Yes I was a watcher of Laverne and Shirley.

 

[AGBF]

I was surprised that so few people had commented in this thread and it made me wonder if only those of us who knew Ms. Marshall as an actress knew her work. I wanted to share this part of her obituary from "The New York Times" about her work as a director in Hollywood.

"Ms. Marshall became the first woman to direct a feature film that grossed more than $100 million when she made 'Big'. That movie, a comedy about a 12-year-old boy who magically turns into an adult (Tom Hanks) and then has to navigate the grown-up world, was as popular with critics as it was with audiences.

The Washington Post said it had 'the zip and exuberance of a classic romantic comedy.' The Los Angeles Times described it as 'a refreshingly grown-up comedy' directed 'with verve and impeccable judgment.' Mr. Hanks received his first Oscar nomination for his performance.

Four years later she repeated her box-office success with 'A League of Their Own,' a sentimentally spunky comedy about a wartime women’s baseball league with an ensemble cast that included Madonna, Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell and Mr. Hanks.

In between, she directed 'Awakenings' (1990), a medical drama starring Robert De Niro as a patient coming out of an encephalitic trance and Robin Williams as the neurologist who helps him. 'Awakenings,' based on a book by Oliver Sacks, was only moderately successful financially, but Mr. De Niro received an Academy Award nomination."

 

[Ellen]

I had no idea she directed, I basically knew her from L&S. She was good.

 

[LLJsmom]

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

No.

Not Laverne...

 

[stracci2000]

That crazy big "L" on her pink bath robe..............

 

[monarch64]

https://www.childrensmuseum.org/blog/the-story-of-lavernes-l

I remember watching (re-runs?) of Laverne and Shirley. I can certainly hum the tune to the theme song. And I remember "Schlemiel, Schlemazel, something something Incorporated" (ok that's what the words are in my mind but they're probably inaccurate).

I remember Ms. Marshall directing several things in the 90s when I was in high school and college. And I remember seeing her age much differently than her Hollywood cohorts/fellow stars--she gained weight and got jowly and basically didn't give a rip, and I thought that was really cool.