Hollywood Legend Garry Marshall Dead at 81

Garry Marshall, the prolific film and TV writer, producer, and director responsible for Happy Days and Pretty Woman, has passed away. He was 81.

Marshall got his start as a writer on The Jack Paar Tonight Show and worked for years in TV on shows like The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show before developing Broadway icon Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple for television.

Marshall had already made a name for himself as one of the best comedy writers in the country when he came upon lightning in a bottle with Happy Days, a sitcom set in 1950s America that took some of the most talented performers in TV history including future producers and directors Henry Winkler and Ron Howard.

Ironically it was the Happy Days pilot — which Marshall directed and then allowed George Lucas to see — which got Howard a part in American Graffiti, and then American Graffiti helped to create the environment where ’50s nostalgia could head to TV and Happy Days could be a success.

Marshall would go on to create spinoffs Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley, and Joanie Loves Chachi.

His feature film career included directing such hits as Overboard, Beaches, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, and The Princess Diaries. His final feature film work was a trio of holiday-themed romantic comedies: New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, and Mothers Day, the last of which was released earlier this year.

His final TV work was directing episodes of Wendy, an animated show about a fifteen year-old, who lives on a riding school and stud farm. It appears the series never went past the pilot.