Penny Marshall, who starred in the hit American sitcom Laverne & Shirley before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood, has died at 75.
Marshall’s publicist said she passed away at her home in the Hollywood Hills, California, on Monday due to complications from diabetes.
Marshall played Laverne, starring alongside Cindy Williams as Shirley, in the hit ABC comedy that aired from 1976 to 1983.
Marshall, who was born in the Bronx in New York, was the younger sister of the successful TV and film director and producer Garry Marshall. She turned to directing herself after Laverne & Shirley ended. Her first film was the underwhelming 1986 Whoopi Goldberg comedy Jumpin’ Jack Flash, but that was followed by the charming 1988 hit Big, starring fellow former TV sitcom star Tom Hanks.
Penny was a tomboy who loved sports, doing puzzles of any kind, drinking milk and Pepsi together and being with her family.'
She is survived by her daughter Tracy and five grandchildren.
Marshall had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010 which metastasized, or spread, to her brain, but announced in 2012 that she was in remission.
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