Actor-Director Penny Marshall Dies At Age 75

Penny Marshall, who first became a household name as Laverne in Laverne & Shirley, before directing Hollywood hits like Big and A League of Their Own, died on Monday night. She was 75.

"Yes she did [die]... peacefully at her Hollywood Hills home. She passed away form complications from diabetes," her publicist Michelle Bega said. Her family wrote in a statement, "Our family is heartbroken over the passing of Penny Marshall. Penny was a tomboy who loved sports, doing puzzles of any kind, drinking milk and Pepsi together and being with her family."

Marshall was born in the Bronx and grew up in a Grand Concourse apartment. After a stint at the University of New Mexico and while raising a daughter on her own, Marshall moved to Los Angeles, where her older brother Garry was an established comedy writer. Following a number of guest roles, she landed a one-episode role on Happy Days (which Garry created) as Laverne, a Milwaukee brewery worker who, along with colleague Shirley (Cindy Williams), goes on a double date with Fonzie and Richie Cunningham. The audience loved Laverne and Shirley, and a spin-of show was born in 1976:

The show ran until 1983, and Marshall, who had directed a few episodes of the sitcom, turned her attention towards directing feature films, with her first being Jumpin' Jack Flash starring Whoopi Goldberg. (Fun fact: Both Marshall and Goldberg were replacements; the original director was Howard Zieff, while Shelley Long was the lead.) Then she helmed the film Big starring Tom Hanks, which made her the first female director to have a film that grossed over $100 million.

Marshall's next film, Awakenings, earned a Best Picture nomination and starred Robert De Niro and Robin Williams—who Marshall knew from back in the Mork days:

She also directed Renaissance Man, The Preacher's Wife, and Riding in Cars with Boys, but Marshall is best known for her iconic sports film, A League of Their Own.

Marshall was very strict about who could act in the film—first of all, they had to know how to play baseball:

Marshall's two marriages ended in divorce. Her first was to her college sweetheart, Michael Henry, with whom she had a daughter, Tracy. Her second husband was Rob Reiner, who adopted Tracy (Tracy later had roles in her parents films, playing Betty Horn in League and Harry's new girlfriend Emily in When Harry Met Sally). Marshall also had a five-year relationship with Art Garfunkel. Speaking to the New Yorker in 2012, she said, "I was married twice, and I was with Artie for five years, and anything else you’re not hearing about. I had a good run, though, way more than my mother thought I would do. I led an oddly charmed life for someone she thought was a not charming person."

She also had a great sense of humor. When she was too busy to do a video to promote her memoir, My Mother Was Nuts, she enlisted Fred Armisen, who had parodied her on Saturday Night Live:

In that memoir, she wrote that her "golden rules" were: "Try hard, play by the rules, help your friends, don't get too crazy, and have fun."

Marshall also produced films, including Cinderella Man, and guest-starred in many TV shows (she appeared in Armisen's Portlandia). Her legacy is being celebrated far and wide:

And Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said, "Penny Marshall was a Hollywood legend who never forgot her roots right here in The Bronx. I join the more than 1.4 million residents of this borough in not only mourning her passing, but remembering her legacy as an artist who made us laugh, cry and think. Rest in peace."