The younger sister of late director Garry Marshall passed away on December 17 after suffering complications caused by her diabetes.
- Dec 19, 2018
AceShowbiz - Actress and filmmaker Penny Marshall has died, aged 75.
The "Laverne & Shirley" star passed away at her Hollywood Hills home on Monday night (December 17) after suffering complications from diabetes, family spokeswoman Michelle Bega confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.
"Our family is heartbroken over the passing of Penny Marshall," her loved ones shared in a brief statement after the news broke on Tuesday.
Born in New York City, Penny followed her older brother, the late writer/director Garry Marshall, to Los Angeles in 1967 to pursue her acting dreams.
Garry cast her in one of her very first screen roles, his 1968 film "How Sweet It Is!", and also helped Penny earn a spot on hit TV series "The Odd Couple", for which he became the executive producer in 1970.
She quickly racked up credits with shows like "That Girl with Marlo Thomas", "The Bob Newhart Show" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", but it was only after making a guest appearance on "Happy Days", which Garry created, with actress Cindy Williams that she scored her own series, the spin-off "Laverne & Shirley", which ran from 1976 until 1983.
Penny eventually stepped behind the camera to direct a few episodes of the popular sitcom, and made her feature film directorial debut with the Whoopi Goldberg comedy "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in 1986.
She would go on to score further success as a filmmaker with Tom Hanks' "Big", making her the first female director to have a film gross more than a $100 million (£79.1 million) in North America. Penny also made history with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams movie "Awakenings" in 1990, which made her only the second woman ever to direct a Best Picture Oscar nominee.
Her other films included "A League of Their Own", "Renaissance Man", 'The Preacher's Wife" and "Riding in Cars with Boys".
Her final movie, the documentary "Rodman", about the life of retired basketball star Dennis Rodman, is set for release next year (2019).
Marshall was married twice - first to her college sweetheart Michael Henry, the father of her daughter Tracy, and then to actor/director Rob Reiner. They wed in 1971 and split 10 years later.
She was previously diagnosed with brain and lung cancer in 2009, but claimed to be in remission in 2012.
