Barton_Keyes Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Writer, director, producer and actor Garry Marshall has died. He was 81. In a career which spanned sixty years, Marshall, for good or ill, played an integral role in shaping popular television and film of the modern era. Marshall began his career writing for Jack Paar's Tonight Show and Joey Bishop's variety program before Carl Reiner hired Marshall and his writing partner Jerry Belson as writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Belson and Marshall later developed Neil Simon's The Odd Couple into the classic TV series starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Subsequently, Marshall created a string of TV series which were hits with audiences, if not with critics, such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, the latter of which made a star out of Robin Williams. Moving into filmmaking in the mid 1980s, Marshall developed a reputation as a director of lightweight romantic comedies -- including the popular hits THE FLAMINGO KID (1984) OVERBOARD (1987), BEACHES (1988), PRETTY WOMAN (1990) and THE PRINCESS DIARIES (2001). His more recent efforts such as VALENTINE'S DAY (2010) and NEW YEAR'S DAY (2011) were commercially unsuccessful. Sadly, Marshall's last completed film, the critically panned box office bomb MOTHER'S DAY (2016), really marked the nadir of his career. As an actor, Marshall's most memorable film roles were in A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992), directed by his sister Penny Marshall, and as the casino owner opposite Albert Brooks in LOST IN AMERICA (1985). On the small screen, Marshall had a memorable recurring role on Murphy Brown in the mid-'90s. Variety remembers Garry Marshall here: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/garry-marshall-dead-dies-pretty-woman-happy-days-1201817964/. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Sadly, Marshall's last completed film, the critically panned box office bomb MOTHER'S DAY (2016), really marked the nadir of his career. Well, let's not be harsh-- Marshall had a decade-defining sense for TV sitcom in the 70's (the TV "The Odd Couple" is still one of the great role models), but in the early-80's trend for trying to capture Airplane's lightning in a bottle, Young Doctors in Love (1982) was definitely out of his element. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Marshall was credited as an executive consultant for the current CBS sitcom version of "The Odd Couple," which stars Matthew Perry as Oscar and Thomas Lennon as Felix. He even appeared in a recent episode as Oscar's father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 And believe it or don't, Marshall appeared in "Goldfinger" (1964) as one of the ill-fated crime bosses assembled to hear the title character's plan to infiltrate Fort Knox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess of Tap Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Writer, director, producer and actor Garry Marshall has died. He was 81. In a career which spanned sixty years, Marshall, for good or ill, played an integral role in shaping popular television and film of the modern era. Marshall began his career writing for Jack Paar's Tonight Show and Joey Bishop's variety program before Carl Reiner hired Marshall and his writing partner Jerry Belson as writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Belson and Marshall later developed Neil Simon's The Odd Couple into the classic TV series starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Subsequently, Marshall created a string of TV series which were hits with audiences, if not with critics, such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, the latter of which made a star out of Robin Williams. Moving into filmmaking in the mid 1980s, Marshall developed a reputation as a director of lightweight romantic comedies -- including the popular hits THE FLAMINGO KID (1984) OVERBOARD (1987), BEACHES (1988), PRETTY WOMAN (1990) and THE PRINCESS DIARIES (2001). His more recent efforts such as VALENTINE'S DAY (2010) and NEW YEAR'S DAY (2011) were commercially unsuccessful. Sadly, Marshall's last completed film, the critically panned box office bomb MOTHER'S DAY (2016), really marked the nadir of his career. As an actor, Marshall's most memorable film roles were in A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992), directed by his sister Penny Marshall, and as the casino owner opposite Albert Brooks in LOST IN AMERICA (1985). On the small screen, Marshall had a memorable recurring role on Murphy Brown in the mid-'90s. Variety remembers Garry Marshall here: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/garry-marshall-dead-dies-pretty-woman-happy-days-1201817964/. I absolutely loved Garry Marshall. And I think he was just one of the best comic actors I've ever seen. He gave us so much, but The Odd Couple was truly a Crown Jewel in TV situation comedies. However, I will never forget the character that he played in Murphy Brown. My favorite line from his character was so memorable. Murphy's TV anchor had moved to cable, and Gary told him that was the END of his career. The guy's name was Dial. Hurrying through a restaurant, Gary pointed at the anchor and yelled at him, "You're dead, Dial. You're dead!" It doesn't sound so funny when you just read the words-- you have to see him do it, the rhythm, the timing and that New York accent! He and Pee Wee Herman gave us some of the best TV situation comedy we had seen in years on Murphy Brown. It was so beautiful the way he groomed his sister on The Odd Couple for TV stardom. Their mother was a tap dance instructor. Penny used to do little tap and twirl rotines on The Odd Couple, just like I had done as a kid. I recently saw one episode that he appears in with his sister. That was just priceless. Their home life must have been something else. Tonight I think I'll try to catch a falling star and put it in my pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 If you ever wondered why actor Hector Elizondo was in so many of Marshall's movies -- 17 in all -- it's because the filmmaker considered him a "good luck charm." Marshall and Elizondo http://www.etonline.com/news/193640_hector_elizondo_remembers_director_garry_marshall_he_was_my_best_friend/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Was one of the good ones. Rest in peace, Mr. Marshall. Sepiatone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCid Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 We enjoy Gary and Penny in Hocus Pocus each Halloween. Very funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 And believe it or don't, Marshall appeared in "Goldfinger" (1964) as one of the ill-fated crime bosses assembled to hear the title character's plan to infiltrate Fort Knox http://www.moviemistakes.com/film551/corrections A very young Garry Marshall (future successful producer/director) has a cameo as one of the American gangsters gathered to hear about Project Grand Slam. Correction: This is questionable. After repeatedly reviewing the scene(s) in question by pausing the DVD and using the zoom feature I cannot see anyone who remotely resembles Garry Marshall. I'm not the first to question this trivia claim and respectfully request that the OP cite their source(s). Marshall did appear as a cop who arrests no good hippie Jack Nicholson in Psych-Out (1968). A few years earlier Garry had played a boxing referee on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Marshall did appear as a cop who arrests no good hippie Jack Nicholson in Psych-Out (1968). A few years earlier Garry had played a boxing referee on The Dick Van Dyke Show. You could see a change in the humor when Marshall was writing for the last two TDVDS seasons, when the episodes started to focus more and more about funny, oddball guest-episode characters that Rob, Jerry and Buddy ran into. (Like the warehouse owners when Buddy tries to sell Rob a coat wholesale, or the wacky folks at the club where Buddy moonlights his act.) It started showing that the 50's sitcom was transitioning more into what became the "Laverne & Shirley" 70's sitcom, and Marshall's fingerprints were all over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 http://www.moviemistakes.com/film551/corrections Marshall did appear as a cop who arrests no good hippie Jack Nicholson in Psych-Out (1968). A few years earlier Garry had played a boxing referee on The Dick Van Dyke Show. "Goldfinger" is the second chronological entry on Marshall's IMDb filmography as an actor. It could be incorrect. But that's what it says. He's also listed -- uncredited -- in the entry for film itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 http://www.moviemistakes.com/film551/corrections Marshall did appear as a cop who arrests no good hippie Jack Nicholson in Psych-Out (1968). A few years earlier Garry had played a boxing referee on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Well, in a sort of a "six degrees of separation" kind'a thing here, Garry DID write the script for the 1966 Van Dyke Show episode "The Man from My Uncle"(cleverly topical at the time), and in which Rob becomes an unwanted pest to Agent (Harry) Bond played by Godfrey Cambridge and who had set up a surveillance operation within the Petrie's home in order to spy on their new across the street neighbor suspected of espionage. (...and sorry, but no matter how I try, I just can't seem to get to Kevin Bacon from here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 You could see a change in the humor when Marshall was writing for the last two TDVDS seasons, when the episodes started to focus more and more about funny, oddball guest-episode characters that Rob, Jerry and Buddy ran into. (Like the warehouse owners when Buddy tries to sell Rob a coat wholesale, or the wacky folks at the club where Buddy moonlights his act.) It started showing that the 50's sitcom was transitioning more into what became the "Laverne & Shirley" 70's sitcom, and Marshall's fingerprints were all over it. If there was a change it was probably due more to Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who took over from Reiner around '63-4. Looking over Marshall's DVDS scripts I see he wrote "Young Man with A Shoehorn", which is clearly from the Lucy template of establishing a situation resulting in a big final scene. According to Marshall, Ball would meet all new writers and tell them she didn't care what happened in the first 20 minutes of a script, but she had to have that big final scene because that's what the audience expected. Marshall claimed that when writing for The Lucy Show he and his writing partner would conceive the climax first, then work backwards to figure out how to get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepclassic Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 May he rest in peace. I loved everything I saw that had his name on it, from tv to film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LornaHansonForbes Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 As an actor I ADORED HIM; especially when he played a variation of himself, as in SOAPDISH and HOCUS POCUS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElCid Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I remember seeing the "pilot" for Happy Days which was actually shown as an episode on Love American Style. It may have had a different title, but Ron Howard was in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I remember seeing the "pilot" for Happy Days which was actually shown as an episode on Love American Style. It may have had a different title, but Ron Howard was in it. It was titled "Love and the Happy Days," and it was written by Marshall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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