NEW YORK (AP) — Penny Marshall, who starred in “Laverne & Shirley” before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood, has died. She was 75.
Marshall’s publicist, Michelle Bega, said Marshall died in her Los Angeles home on Monday due to complications from diabetes. “Our family is heartbroken,” the Marshall family said in a statement.
Marshall starred as Laverne DeFazio, the Milwaukee brewery worker, alongside Cindy Williams in the hit ABC comedy “Laverne & Shirley.” The series, which aired from 1976 to 1983, was among the biggest hits of its era.
It also gave Marshall her start as a filmmaker. She directed several episodes of “Laverne & Shirley” before making her feature film directorial debut in “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” the 1986 comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg.
Penny Marshall through the years [photos]
“Hair,” the internationally celebrated musical is now a film by director Milos Forman. Scores of entertainment world and civic celebrities, including Paul Simon, left, and Penny Marshall, right, gathered at the Ziegfeld Theatre, New York on Monday, March 12, 1979, to give the picture a rousing send-off. The Invitational Premiere was for the benefit of the Film Division of the Columbia University School of the Arts. Following the performance the guests were sped to the Pier at the Hudson, Berth 5/6 for a posh Supper. A Lester Persky and Michael Butler Production, “Hair” is released by United Artists, a Transamerica Company. (AP Photo)
Actress Penny Marshall and singer-composer-actor Art Garfunkel arrive at the Uris Theater in New York City, Feb. 17, 1981. They were arriving to attend a performance of the revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.” (AP Photo/Steve Sands)
Actress Penny Marshall is shown in Los Angeles, July 14, 1982. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Actress Penny Marshall listens in a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday, March 30, 1984 during a preliminary hearing concerning the alleged break-in of two intruders into the television star’s Hollywood Hills home on March 13. (AP Photo/Pool)
Penny Marshall relaxes with friend Art Garfunkel at an opening night party in a New York restaurant on Tuesday, May 14, 1985, following her performance in “Eden Court” at the Promenade Theater. (AP Photo/Frankie Ziths)
Actors from left, Henry Winkler, Penny Marshall, Ed Begley, Cindy Williams and Garry Marshall pose after Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams received their stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2004. Penny Marshall and Williams starred together in the TV show “Laverne and Shirley.” (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Director/actor Penny Marshall talks with courtside television reporter Willie Maye before the start of Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference basketball finals between the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons in Boston, Wednesday night, May 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Actresses Penny Marshall, left, and Cindy Williams present the legend award on stage at the TV Land Awards on Sunday June 8, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Robin Williams, left, and Penny Marshall are seen backstage at the TV Land Awards on Sunday June 8, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Actresses Penny Marshall, left, and Cindy Williams present the legend award on stage at the TV Land Awards on Sunday June 8, 2008 in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Actress and director Penny Marshall, left, poses with her brother Garry Marshall as they stand with a bronze statue of the “Happy Days” character Arthur Fonzarelli, also known as “The Fonz,” at an unveiling, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008, in Milwaukee. The program, which ran from 1974-1984 and was created by Garry Marshall, was based in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)
Singer and musician Paul McCartney, left, and director Penny Marshall talk at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
Penny Marshall arrives at the premiere for “Ted” on Thursday, June 21, 2012 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
Director Penny Marshall attends The Friars Foundation Gala honoring Robert De Niro and Carlos Slim at The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
FILE – In this Dec. 6, 1982 file photo, actress Penny Marshall poses with her brother, producer-director Garry Marshall at a dinner given in honor of Garry Marshall by the Los Angeles Free Clinic in Los Angeles. Penny Marshall died of complications from diabetes on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, at her Hollywood Hills home. She was 75. Gary Marshall died in 2016. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
FILE – In this Sept. 9, 1979 file photo, Penny Marshal, left,l and Cindy Williams from the comedy series “Laverne & Shirley” appear at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Marshall died of complications from diabetes on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, at her Hollywood Hills home. She was 75. (AP Photo/George Brich, FIle)
FILE – In this Dec. 17, 1990 file photo, director Penny Marshall poses with co-stars of “Awakenings” Robin Williams, left, and Robert De Niro at the premiere of the film in New York. Marshall died of complications from diabetes on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, at her Hollywood Hills home. She was 75. (AP Photo/Chrystyna Czajkowsky, File)
FILE – In this April 9, 1984 file photo, actress Penny Marshall arrives for the 56th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Marshall died of complications from diabetes on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, at her Hollywood Hills home. She was 75. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Her next film made Marshall the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million. Her 1988 hit comedy “Big,” starring Tom Hanks, was about a 12-year-old boy who wakes up in the body of a 30-year-old New York City man. The film earned Hanks an Oscar nomination.
Marshall reteamed with Hanks for “A League of Their Own,” the 1992 comedy about the women’s professional baseball league begun during World War II. That, too, crossed $100 million, making $107.5 million domestically.
A Bronx native, Marshall became a dedicated Los Angeles Lakers fan, and a courtside regular. Her brother Garry Marshall, who died in 2016, was also one of Hollywood’s top comedy directors. Penny Marshall was married to Michael Henry for two years in the 1960s and to the director Rob Reiner from 1971-1981. Their daughter Tracy Reiner is an actress; one of her first roles was a brief appearance in her mother’s “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
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Marshall is also survived by her older sister, Ronny, and three grandchildren.
“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,” the family told TMZ.com.
Marshall was treated for cancer in 2009.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News