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What Movies Did Penny Marshall Direct?

7 Iconic Movies Directed by the Late, Great Penny Marshall

Hollywood lost another great on Tuesday afternoon with the news of the passing of Penny Marshall. Best known as the star of the sitcom Laverne & Shirley (and as the sister of the prolific actor/director Garry Marshall), Marshall also had a decades-long career as a film director. Her credits ranged from serious dramas to quirky comedies and everything in between. She even directed some TV episodes, including four episodes of Laverne & Shirley.

Over the course of her directorial career, Marshall directed seven feature-length films, plus one documentary (Rodman) still in postproduction. Her career will be remembered as one of skillful variety and with a knack for capturing a wide array of voices. See how many of her films you recognise!

Image Source: Getty / Kevin Winter

1. Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

Marshall made her feature film directorial debut with this Whoopi Goldberg spy comedy. After accidentally decoding a spy's message, Terry gets drawn into a ring of espionage far beyond her humdrum daily life at a bank. Marshall also directed the tie-in music video, starring Aretha Franklin.

Image Source: Everett Collection

2. Big (1988)

The unforgettable comedy about a boy who magically becomes an adult (played by Tom Hanks) made Marshall a household name. Marshall made history with this movie: she became the first woman to direct a film that grossed over $100 million. It even returned to theatres this past Summer to celebrate its 30th anniversary!

Image Source: Everett Collection

3. Awakenings (1990)

Awakenings reunited Marshall with Robin Williams, with whom she had costarred in the Happy Days TV universe (her in Laverne & Shirley, he in Mork & Mindy). It was a more serious film than she'd tackled before, focussed on the fallout when a drug is developed that could awaken and cure victims of an epidemic. Although Marshall did not snag an Oscar nomination, the film itself was nominated for best picture.

Image Source: Everett Collection

4. A League of Their Own (1992)

Alongside Big, A League of Their Own is probably Marshall's best-known and most loved film. Through the lens of fictionalized characters, Marshall tells the very real story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which briefly replaced professional (male) baseball during World War II. The movie is joining the recent reboot trend, with an Amazon series announced earlier this year.

Image Source: Everett Collection

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5. Renaissance Man (1994)

Starring Danny DeVito as a failed businessman brought in to teach Army recruits, Renaissance Man was part of Marshall's most prolific period as a director in the late-'80s to mid-'90s. The comedy was classic Marshall, focussed on a funny, mismatched set of underdogs who have to learn to understand and support one another in order to succeed.

Image Source: Everett Collection

6. The Preacher's Wife (1996)

Marshall worked with a lot of legends during her career, and this was no exception: Whitney Houston, at the peak of her career, played the titular wife and choir director whose family is turned upside down by the arrival of a real-life angel. This wouldn't be Houston and Marshall's only connection, because Houston was a producer for The Princess Diaries, which Marshall's brother, Garry, directed in 2001.

Image Source: Everett Collection

7. Riding in Cars With Boys (2001)

Although she was best known for her comedies, Marshall was equally capable of tackling dramatic material, as she did with this film, centreed on a teenage mother and aspiring writer played by Drew Barrymore. Marshall won the Golden Swan Award at the Cabourg Romantic Film Festival for the dramedy in 2002.

Image Source: Everett Collection

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