Penny Marshall

ABOUT PENNY MARSHALL

Starred as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne & Shirley , then went on to become a director sf such films as Awakenings, A League of Their Own and Big , starring Tom Hanks . With Big, she became the first female director to have a film gross over $100 million.

She started tap dancing at the age of three. Her street as a child was Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Such luminaries as Neil Simon and Calvin Klein also grew up there.

She began her acting career with guest-starring appearances on The Odd Couple, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Happy Days .

She met Michael Henry in college and they were married in 1961. She later married Rob Reiner on April 10, 1971. They divorced in 1981. She and Rob had a daughter named Tracy Reiner who became an actress.

In 2009, she directed Jim Belushi in a pair of episodes of the sitcom According to Jim.