Garry Marshall is a director, producer and writer for film, television and theater. He has directed nineteen feature films, including the box office hits Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, and The Princess Diaries: Royal Engagement. Among his other film credits are the highly regarded Frankie and Johnny, Beaches, Overboard, Nothing in Common, The Flamingo Kid, Young Doctors in Love, Dear God, Runaway Bride, Raising Helen, Georgia Rule, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve. He began his career as a television writer for shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Lucy Show, and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., also working as an actor and producer. In the 1970’s, he created, executive produced and directed some of the longest running and most celebrated situation comedies in television history, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley (starring his sister, Penny Marshall), The Odd Couple, and Mork & Mindy.
For his work in television, Marshall has been honored with five Emmy nominations, a Producers Guild Golden Laurel Lifetime Achievement Award in Television, and the Valentine Davies Award from the Writers Guild. He is also the recipient of the 1990 American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement Award and the 1992 Publicists Guild Motion Picture Showmanship Award. In 1997, Marshall was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. The same year, he founded the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, where he directed the hit play, Wrong Turn at Lungfish, which he co-wrote with Lowell Ganz.
Marshall served on the DGA’s National Board from 2007-2013 and as well as the Western Directors Council after being first elected in 2001. His memoir, Wake Me When It’s Funny: How to Break into Show Business and Stay There, which he co-wrote with his daughter Lori Marshall, recounts his years in Hollywood.
Marshall passed away in September 2016.