Film and TV director Garry Marshall dead at 81

Film and television director Garry Marshall died Tuesday, his spokeswoman has confirmed. He was 81.

In a statement, the spokeswoman said Marshall passed away “at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19 from complications of pneumonia following a stroke at a hospital in Burbank, California.”

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, nurse Barbara Sue Marshall, two sisters, Ronny Hallin and Penny Marshall, three children, Lori, a writer, Kathleen, a theatre producer, and Scott, a film and TV director, as well as six grandchildren.

Funeral services will be private, his spokeswoman said. A memorial is being planned for his birthday on November 13.

The Bronx-born Marshall created the iconic sitcoms “Happy Days,” “Laverne and Shirley” (starring his sister Penny), as well as “Mork & Mindy.”

Beginning in 1982, Marshall began directing films, starting with “Young Doctors in Love.” His other film directs in the 1980s included “The Flamingo Kid” and “Beaches.” He kicked off the 1990s, directing “Pretty Woman” in 1990, followed by “Frankie and Johnny,” “Exit to Eden,” “Dear God,” “The Other Side” and “Runaway Bride.”

In the years that followed he directed “The Princess Diaries” (2001), “Raising Helen” (2004), “Georgia Rule” (2007), “Valentine’s Day” (2010), “New Year’s Eve” (2011) and earlier this year, “Mother’s Day,” starring Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts.

Marshall was also no stranger to acting: One one of his most notable sitcom roles was that of Stan Lansing in the 1990s sitcom “Murphy Brown.” He also made a slew of other appearances, in shows including “The Simpsons,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Hot in Cleveland.”

Donations in the name of Garry Marshall can be made to The Saban Community Clinic, formerly known as the Los Angeles Free Clinic, The Intensive Care Unit at Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank, and Northwestern University Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.