Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall dies

Marshall, the older brother of director-actress Penny Marshall, started his career in television and brought us some of the funniest shows coming out of the 1970s: Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, The Odd Couple and Laverne & Shirley. In recent years, his record was spottier; he reteamed Julia Roberts and her Pretty Woman co-star, Richard Gere, in the popular Runaway Bride but his recent comedies centered around holidays like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day were less entertaining (if mostly big hits; Marshall understood his audience better than most). Above all of his professional accomplishments, Marshall had a reputation by all accounts in Hollywood of being a kind and generous guy.

Marshall reunited with his Pretty Woman stars Roberts and Gere for the 1999 box office success Runaway Bride, about a woman who keeps leaving her fiances at the altar. Besides being the pulse and life force of ‘Pretty Woman’… a steady helmsman on a ship that could have easily capsized.

Bette Midler, who was directed by Garry in her 1988 hit Beaches, honours her “wonderful, hilarious, big-hearted friend”, while the moviemaker’s Nothing In Common star Tom Hanks echoes Bette’s sentiments, tweeting, “Garry Marshall was a wonderful man, hilarious, gifted in the ways of humanity and storytelling”.

Henry Winkler begins his tribute by giving Garry Marshall full responsibility for the career he eventually built, which surely represents how humble the Happy Days actor is at heart.

Marshall was a prolific writer, so naturally he had a gift at turning a phrase, whether he was commenting on the television or film industries or just giving general advice on life.

Gayle; on “Happy Days” you couldn’t say the word virgin.

Rest in peace Garry Marshall.

“I miss Garry already”.

Alyssa Milano: I was blessed to have worked with Garry Marshall. We lost a handsome man & masterful story teller.

“You go to a theater now and you literally see parents watching the movie and they suddenly cover their kid’s ears. He was thoughtful and sweet and so amusing you would pee yourself a little”.

His representative confirmed the sad news. Funeral services will be private, the family said, though a memorial is planned for his birthday on November 13.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, nurse Barbara Sue Marshall, two sisters, Ronny Hallin and Penny Marshall, three children, Lori, a writer, Kathleen, a theatre producer, and Scott, a film and TV director, as well as six grandchildren.