Penny Marshall, who became a household name playing Laverne in Laverne & Shirley and went on to direct many popular movies including Big, A League of Their Own and Awakenings, has died at the age of 75.
Carole Penny Marshall was born October 15, 1943 in the Bronx, New York City. She was a single mother when she moved to Hollywood to join her brother Garry in the 1960s, and her first acting role was in a movie he had written and was producing, How Sweet It Is (1968). She met actor Rob Reiner and married him in 1971 and her big acting break came when she was cast as the role of Laverne DeFazio in an episode of Happy Days. The character spun off into a hit series from 1976-1983 and she then went on to become a successful director in the 1980s and 90s.
She died last night, December 17, at her Los Angeles home from complications of diabetes.
