{{Infobox Actor
| name = Penny Marshall
| image = Penny Marshall at the 1988 Emmy Awards cropped.jpg
| caption = Penny Marshall at the 1988 Emmy Awards
| birthname = Carole Penny Marshall
| birthdate = | location =
The Bronx,
New York
| spouse = Michael Henry (1961-1963)
Rob Reiner (1971-1981)
}}
Penny Marshall (born
October 15,
1942) is an
American Golden Globe-nominated actress, producer and director. She was the first woman to direct two films that grossed over $100 million each (''
Big'' and ''
A League of Their Own'').
Biography
Early life
Marshall was born
Carole Penny Marshall in
The Bronx,
New York City to Anthony Wallace Marshall, a director of
industrial films and later a producer, and Marjorie Irene (Ward), a tap dance teacher who ran a tap dance school.
[http://www.comedyontap.com/film/marshall.html] She is the sister of actor/director
Garry Marshall and Ronny Hallin, a TV producer. Her father was of Italian descent, his family having come from
Abruzzo,
[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/26/DDG85J1KVV1.DTL&type=movies] and her mother was of English and Scottish descent;
[http://www.movieweb.com/news/49/12649.php][http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/pennym/index.html] her father changed his last name from "Marsciarelli" to "Marshall" before Penny was born.
[http://www.grouchoreviews.com/index.php?module=subjects&func=viewpage&pageid=157] She is a graduate of
Walton High School in
New York City and attended the
University of New Mexico.
Career
Marshall first gained prominence as a television actress with a recurring guest role on ''
The Odd Couple'' from 1971 - 1975. She then played the role of the wise-cracking brewery worker
Laverne De Fazio in the popular
TV sitcom ''
Laverne and Shirley'' from 1976 - 1983. While on ''Laverne and Shirley'', she made two guest star appearances on ''
Mary Tyler Moore'' as Mary's neighbor in her new apartment building, Paula Kovacks.
She has directed several successful feature
motion pictures since the mid-1980s, including ''
Big'' (first film directed by a woman to gross over USD $100 million), ''
Awakenings'' starring
Robin Williams and
Robert DeNiro, and ''
A League of Their Own'', which starred
Madonna and
Rosie O'Donnell. She has also lent her voice the evil nanny in ''
The Simpsons'', Ms. Botz, and played a cameo role as herself in HBO's hit series ''
Entourage''.
In April 2007, it was announced that Marshall would reunite with her ''
Laverne & Shirley'' co-star
Cindy Williams for a
TV Land network reality series in which the ladies would play themselves and live in Marshall's house, where the show would be filmed.
Personal life
Marshall was married to actor and director
Rob Reiner (1971 -1981). She has one daughter from her first marriage to Michael Henry, actress Tracy Reiner, who took her stepfather's name. Marshall is an avid collector of sports memorabilia and a season ticket holder for the
Los Angeles Clippers and
Los Angeles Lakers. She is also a diehard fan of the
New York Yankees.
References