Person in history

Garry Marshall

Garry Marshall, American actor, director, and producer (born 1934)

Life at a glance

Died
2016 · July 19

Their story

Who they were

Garry Kent Marshall was an American screenwriter, director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show until he developed the television adaptation of Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. He rose to fame in the 1970s for creating the ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984).

Early life

Early life and family Garry Kent Marshall was born in New York City [ 1 ] on November 13, 1934, the only son and the eldest child of Anthony Masciarelli (later Anthony Wallace Marshall; 1906–1999), a director of industrial films and producer, and Marjorie Irene ( née  Ward ; 1908–1983), the owner and teacher in a tap dance school. [ 2 ] He was the brother of actress-director Penny Marshall and Ronny Marshall Hallin , a television producer. His father was of Italian descent,

Path and career

Career Marshall c. 1995 Marshall began his career as a joke writer for such comedians as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster and became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jack Paar . [ 1 ] He originally partnered with writer Fred Freeman. [ citation needed ] In 1961, he and Freeman moved to Hollywood, where they broke into writing sitcoms on The Joey Bishop Show . Freeman, however, found that he did not enjoy sitcom work, and moved back to New York. Marshall began collaborating with writer Jerry Belson ,

Why this date

Garry Marshall appears on our July 19 calendar for 2016 as a death entry.

Sources

Cite this page

“Garry Marshall”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/people/garry-marshall, accessed October 24, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about Garry Marshall

When did Garry Marshall die?

July 19 2016.

Who else was born on this day?

The date page lists everyone we hold for that calendar day.

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