Message #64495

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/garry-marshall-%e2%80%98pretty-woman%e2%80%99-director-and-creator-of-%e2%80%98happy-days%e2%80%99-dies-at-81/ar-BBuxnFp?ocid=spartandhp
Garry Marshall, ‘Pretty Woman’ Director and Creator of ‘Happy Days,’ Dies at 81
7/19/16

Garry Marshall, who created some of the 1970s’ most iconic sitcoms including “Happy Days,” “The Odd Couple,” “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy” and went on to direct hit movies including “Pretty Woman” and “The Princess Diaries,” died Tuesday. He was 81. The news was first reported by Access Hollywood.

Marshall’s first bigscreen blockbuster was 1990’s “Pretty Woman,” starring Julia Roberts as a highly idealized **** and Richard Gere as her client-cum-Prince Charming. The romantic comedy grossed $463 million worldwide. Roberts was Oscar nominated for best actress, the film was nominated for a Golden Globe for best comedy/musical — and Marshall scored a Cesar nomination as “Pretty Woman” drew a mention in the French awards’ foreign-film category.

In 1970 Marshall had a substantial hit when he developed and exec produced an adaptation of Neil Simon’s play “The Odd Couple” for ABC. The show drew several Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series and wins for stars Jack Klugman and Tony Randall over the course of its five-season run. (In 2015 Marshall served as a consultant on a CBS remake of the series that starred Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon.)

Marshall penned the 1971 pilot for “Happy Days,” which was recycled in 1972 as a segment of ABC’s comedy anthology series “Love, American Style” called “Love and the Happy Days.” George Lucas asked to view the pilot before deciding to cast Ron Howard, who starred in it, in “American Graffiti,” released in 1973.

“Happy Days” debuted as a series on the network in 1974, riding high on the wave of 1950s nostalgia generated in part by the success of “American Graffiti.”

During its peak, “Happy Days” was the No. 1 show on television during the 1976-77 season, No. 2 in 1977-78 and No. 4 the following year, and Henry Winkler’s the Fonz became a cultural touchstone, with his leather jacket eventually landing in the Smithsonian. Years later Marshall acknowledged being the one behind the idea, for a 1977 episode, of putting Fonzie on water skis — an idea so outlandish that it spawned the phrase “jumped the shark,” said in reference to a show that is clearly past its prime.

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