Garry Marshall began his career as a joke writer for such comedians as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster and then became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. In 1961, he moved to Hollywood, where he teamed up with Jerry Belson as a writer for television. The pair worked on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Danny Thomas Show, and The Lucy Show. Their first television series as creator / producers was Hey, Landlord, which lasted one season (1966–67). Then they adapted Neil Simon’s play The Odd Couple for television. On his own, Marshall created Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley (starring his sister Penny), and Mork & Mindy, which were produced by his associates Thomas L. Miller, Robert L. Boyett, and Edward K. Milkis. He was also a co-creator of Makin’ It, which the three men also produced. In the early 1980s, he met Hector Elizondo while playing basketball and became great friends. Elizondo appeared in every film that Marshall directed, beginning with Marshall’s first feature film Young Doctors in Love. Elizondo once noted that he is written into all of Marshall’s contracts whether he wanted to do the movie or not. In the opening credits of Exit to Eden (their eighth film together), Elizondo is credited “As Usual … Hector Elizondo”. In 1984, Marshall had a film hit as the writer and director of The Flamingo Kid.

A consummate producer, Garry Marshall wore many hats during this period of his career: Most of his hit television series were created and executive produced by him. His first producing assignment came with Hey, Landlord in 1966. He stepped up the very next year, producing The Lucy Show. Then came successes in producing The Odd Couple, Laverne and Shirley, Blansky’s Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Angie, and Happy Days. Marshall also launched independent productions through his theater (The Falcon in Toluca Lake) and in association with productions launched with talent he was grooming and working with for years. One such project titled Four Stars was directed by Lynda Goodfriend (who portrayed Lori Beth in Happy Days), and was based on a play Goodfriend had read when she was studying at the Lee Strasberg Center, which had been written by John Schulte and Kevin Mahoney. It starred Julie Paris (the daughter of Happy Days director and Dick Van Dyke Show co-star Jerry Paris) and Bert Kramer. Marshall went on to focus on directing feature films, with a series of hits, such as Beaches, Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, Valentine’s Day, and New Year’s Eve.

Garry Marshall was also an actor, making his television acting debut starting as a child with a recurring role in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–58), appearing in Murphy Brown and in such films as Soapdish, On the Lot, and provided a guest-starring voice for The Simpsons episodes Eight Misbehavin’ and Homer the Father. He also appeared in two episodes of Happy Days as a drummer. His theater credits included Wrong Turn at Lungfish, which he wrote in collaboration with Lowell Ganz, The Roast with Jerry Belson, Shelves and Happy Days: A New Musical with Paul Williams, which had its premiere at the Falcon Theater in Burbank, California, February 24, 2006. He portrayed the role of “director” on Burbank’s “Lights…camera…action!” float in the 2014 Rose Parade. His son Scott Marshall is also a director. In 2014, Marshall appeared in a guest star role in a February episode in season 11 of Two and a Half Men. On July 19, 2016, Garry Marshall died at a hospital in Burbank, California at the age of 81 due to complications of pneumonia after suffering a stroke.