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Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall dies

Updated / Wednesday, 20 Jul 2016 10:13
Garry Marshall and Julia Roberts - The director credited the actress with persuading Richard Gere to star opposite her in Pretty Woman
Garry Marshall and Julia Roberts - The director credited the actress with persuading Richard Gere to star opposite her in Pretty Woman

Garry Marshall, the director of box office hit Pretty Woman and the creator of the classic TV series Mork & Mindy and Happy Days, has died. He was 81.

Marshall's publicist said he passed away on Tuesday at a hospital in Burbank, California from complications of pneumonia following a stroke.

One of the most-loved people in Hollywood, New Yorker Marshall's screen career spanned six decades and included acting and producing, as well as writing and directing. He gave Anne Hathaway, the late Robin Williams and many others their big breaks.

Known for his wit and candour, Marshall was one of the most eminently quotable figures in showbusiness.

"The producer has to convince people of the basic sports theory that sometimes you've got to work with people; you don't have to go to lunch with them," he told the Archive of American Television in 2000.

When Marshall signed on to direct Pretty Woman he brought already-cast newcomer Julia Roberts to meet A-lister Richard Gere at his New York apartment to see if they clicked - and to try to convince Gere to take the role. 

"When you meet stars you have a normal thing - you go to the restroom while they talk," he told US TV show Today during a 25th anniversary reunion of the Pretty Woman cast in 2015. "I came out and I saw the two of them at the end of a hall just looking at each other and right there I said, 'Look at that chemistry! They don't know each other!'"

Gere and Roberts spent some more time together that day, with Marshall phoning Gere to ask how the meeting was going. As Gere was talking to the director on the phone, Roberts wrote a message on a Post-It and passed it to Gere. The note simply read: "Please say 'yes'", and Marshall credited Roberts with getting Gere on board for the movie. Made for $14m, Pretty Woman went on to take $463m at the box office. 

Paying tribute, Gere said that "everyone loved Garry". "He was a mentor and a cheerleader and one of the funniest men who ever lived," Gere continued. "He had a heart of the purest gold and a soul full of mischief. He was Garry."

Along with Pretty Woman, Marshall directed 17 other films including Beaches, Frankie & Johnny, The Princess Diaries and its sequel, Valentine's Day and New Year's Day. He reunited with Gere and Roberts in 1999 for The Runaway Bride and his final film, Mother's Day, was released earlier this year. Roberts was also part of the ensemble casts of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.

Garry Marshall with The Princess Diaries stars Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews at Disney Studios in Burbank, California in 2001

On the small screen, Marshall also created the series The Odd Couple and Laverne & Shirley, which starred his sister Penny Marshall, and was a writer on The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. 

Marshall published his memoir, My Happy Days in Hollywood, in 2012. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Barbara Sue Marshall, their three children, Lori, Kathleen and Scott; sisters Penny and Ronnie and six grandchildren. 

Garry Marshall and wife Barbara Sue at the premiere party for his film Valentine's Day in Los Angeles in February 2010 

Tributes to Marshall have poured in on social media: 

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