Tribute: Garry Marshall

We mourn the loss of writer/director/actor Garry Marshall, who died this week at age 81. Marshall gave “Happy Days,” “Mork and Mindy,” “Laverne and Shirley,” “Pretty Woman,” “The Princess Diaries,” and, as an actor, unforgettable performances in films like “Soapdish,” “A League of Our Own” (directed by his sister, Penny Marshall), and “Lost in America.” He began as a writer for my all-time favorite television series, “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” No one was better at discovering and supporting new talent. He gave the first important roles to actors from Henry Winkler and Robin Williams to Julia Roberts and Anne Hathaway.

The New York Times wrote:

If one were to count up the number of times any American — or maybe anyone anywhere — laughed in the last half-century, the person responsible for more of those laughs than anyone else might well be Garry Marshall.

Two of my favorite Garry Marshall films are smaller, more personal stories: “The Flamingo Kid,” with Matt Dillon and Richard Crenna, and “Nothing in Common,” with Tom Hanks.

And I always loved his performances in films, especially in “Soapdish” as a television executive who liked things to be “peppy.” Here he is in “Lost in America,” with Albert Brooks.

May his memory be a blessing.