Penny Marshall Filmography

Alice Upside Down

Actors: Alyson Stoner, Lucas Grabeel, Luke Perry, Penny Marshall

Synopsis: Newbery medalist Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's best-selling series of books arrive on the big screen in director Sandy Tung's tale of an eleven year old girl who attempts to find her footing in a new school while avoiding the wrath of her loathsome homeroom teacher - the dreaded Mrs. Plotkin. Alice Read More

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

Actors: Albert Brooks, Sheetal Sheth, Jon Tenney, John Carroll Lynch

Synopsis: Comic and filmmaker Albert Brooks serves his country while struggling to get some laughs in this offbeat satiric comedy. Brooks plays himself, a comedic filmmaker whose most recent success was providing the voice of a fish for an animated feature and who has just been passed by as director for a Read More

Entourage: Crash and Burn

Bewitched

Crew: Producer

Actors: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Jason Schwartzman

Synopsis: Nora Ephron directed and co-wrote this updated adaptation of a classic situation comedy that also casts a satirical eye on the entertainment industry. Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) is a movie star whose career has been going into a slow and steady decline. Desperate for a project that will give his Read More

Cinderella Man

Crew: Producer

Actors: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine

Synopsis: The true story of an athlete who achieved his greatest success against the most daunting odds of his life is brought to the screen in this historical drama. In the 1920s, James Braddock (Russell Crowe) from Bergen, NJ, was a promising contender in professional boxing; he had strength, spirit, and Read More

Great Women of Television and Comedy

Synopsis: Organized by New York's Museum of Television and Radio, this impressively assembled tribute to the funny women boasts a stellar all-female cast, drawn from half a century's worth of video entertainment. Hosted by Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), the special uses rare film clips and interviews to pay Read More

Intimate Portrait: Penny Marshall

Riding in Cars With Boys

Crew: Director

Actors: Drew Barrymore, Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, Adam Garcia, Lorraine Bracco, Sara Gilbert, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Synopsis: Penny Marshall directed this serio-comic story, based on the memoir by Beverly Donofrio, about a young woman who finds her life radically altered by an event from her teen years. Born in 1950, Beverly (Drew Barrymore) grew up bright and ambitious in a working-class neighborhood in Connecticut; her Read More

Jackie's Back

Actors: Jenifer Lewis, Tim Curry, TV Blake, Tangie Ambrose, Whoopi Goldberg

Synopsis: Soul diva Jackie Washington is determined to hit the comeback trail but seems to be having trouble finding the on-ramp in the mock-documentary comedy Jackie's Back. Jackie (played by Jenifer Lewis) was a Rhythm and Blues singer who had a few late '60's and early 70's hits, including "Yield" and Read More

The Preacher's Wife

Crew: Director

Actors: Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney Vance, Gregory Hines, Justin Pierce Edmund

Synopsis: An angel wonders if love can be Heaven on Earth in this family-themed romantic fantasy. Rev. Henry Biggs (Courtney B. Vance) is the pastor of a struggling Baptist church in a poor section of New York City. Biggs is devoted to serving his flock and his community, but things are not easy; membership Read More

Getting Away with Murder

Crew: Producer

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Dan Aykroyd, Lily Tomlin, Bonnie Hunt, Brian Kerwin

Synopsis: A well-meaning man discovers the downside of taking the law into your own hands in this black comedy. Jack Lambert (Dan Aykroyd) is a college ethics professor who lives next door to a kindly old man of German descent named Max Mueller (Jack Lemmon); Jack is also in love with an attractive doctor Read More

Get Shorty

Actors: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini

Synopsis: A gangster is looking to get away from crooked deals and double-crossing people but ends up in the movie business anyway in this comic crime story. Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is a Miami-based loan collector for the mob trying to collect a gambling debt. His assignment takes him to Hollywood to Read More

Renaissance Man

Crew: Director, Executive Producer

Actors: Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, James Remar, Cliff Robertson, Lillo Brancato

Synopsis: Penny Marshall's feel-good comedy, invoking parts of Dead Poet's Society, Sister Act, and Private Benjamin, features Danny DeVito as Bill Rago, a divorced advertising man who is fired from his job. During an appointment at the unemployment office, a counselor finds him a job as a civilian Read More

Calendar Girl

Crew: Producer

Actors: Jason Priestley, Gabriel Olds, Jerry O'Connell, Joe Pantoliano, Steve Railsback

Synopsis: Lots of guys used to dream about having a date with Marilyn Monroe, but three friends who are about to graduate from high school to go their separate ways try to make that fantasy a reality in this comedy, set in 1962. Roy (Jason Priestley), Ned (Gabriel Olds), and Scott (Jerry O'Connell) have Read More

A League of Their Own

Crew: Director, Executive Producer

Actors: Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Lori Petty, Madonna, Jon Lovitz, Rosie O'Donnell, Bill Pullman

Synopsis: The All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League was founded in 1943, when most of the men of baseball-playing age were far away in Europe and Asia fighting World War II. The league flourished until after World War II, when, with the men's return, the league was consigned to oblivion. Director Penny Marshall Read More

The Hard Way

Actors: Michael J. Fox, James Woods, Annabella Sciorra, Penny Marshall, LL Cool J, John Capodice

Synopsis: Action film director John Badham bites the hand that feeds him in this action movie spoof that features ribbing of pretty-boy Hollywood action stars by Michael J. Fox and a parody of colorful, hair-trigger James Woods types by the man himself. Woods plays New York homicide detective John Moss, who Read More

Awakenings

Crew: Director, Producer

Actors: Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Julie Kavner, Ruth Nelson, John Heard, Penelope Ann Miller

Synopsis: Based on a true story as related by neurologist Oliver Sacks, Awakenings stars Robin Williams as the Sacks counterpart, here named Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Something of a klutz and naif, Dr. Sayer takes a job at a Bronx psychiatric hospital in 1969. Here he's put in charge of several seemingly catatonic Read More

Big

Crew: Director

Actors: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Jared Rushton, Robert Loggia

Synopsis: More than anything else, 13-year old New Jerseyite Josh (David Moscow) wants to be "big". That's the wish he makes at an odd-looking amusement pier fortunetelling machine. The next morning, Josh wakes up-only to discover that he's grown to manhood overnight! (At this point, the part is taken over Read More

Jumpin' Jack Flash

Crew: Director

Actors: Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Collins, Jonathan Pryce, James Belushi, John Wood, Carol Kane, Annie Potts

Synopsis: Penny Marshall in her feature film directing debut, four screenwriters, and a ebullient Whoopi Goldberg join forces to make Jumpin' Jack Flash, a modern espionage comedy. Goldberg plays Terry Doolittle, a computer operator in a large New York City bank who picks up a cry of help on her computer. Read More

Movers and Shakers

Actors: Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin, Vincent Gardenia, Tyne Daly, Bill Macy

Synopsis: The "movers and shakers" in this weak comedy limned by Charles Grodin do not refer to a religious sect, but the big-wigs in Hollywood who determine how the next many millions are to be spent. Two parallel stories occupy center stage. On the one hand, Joe Mulholland (Walter Matthau) has made a Read More

Challenge of a Lifetime

Actors: Penny Marshall

Synopsis: The Challenge of a Lifetime is Hawaii's Ironman Triathalon. Unless you're an ironman, the outcome of this competition may not be of paramount importance to you. But it is crucial to Penny Marshall, a divorced mother seeking to prove that she's more than just an adjunct to her family. Marshall Read More

Love Thy Neighbor

Actors: John Ritter, Bert Convy, Penny Marshall

Synopsis: See if you can predict the ending of this one. John Ritter and Cassie Yates are the next-door neighbors of Penny Marshall and Bert Convy. Ritter and Marshall can't stand each other. But presto! Ritters' wife Yates runs off with Marshall's husband Convy. The two spurned spouses meet to bemoan their Read More

Taxi: Louie Moves Uptown

Synopsis: Miracle of miracles! After years of being perfectly comfortable with his "gross and disgusting" self, Louie (Danny DeVito) is suddenly anxious to turn over a new leaf. The reason? He has the chance to move into a plush co-op apartment -- a chance bolstered by the 48,000-dollar down payment he has Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 08

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael McKean, Eddie Mekka, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: Laverne & Shirley was Laverne & Shirley in name only as the series entered its eighth and final season. For a variety of reasons, chief among them her feelings that she was being overshadowed by co-star Penny Marshall (Laverne) and that the producers were insensitive to the work limitations Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 07

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Eddie Mekka, Michael McKean, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: Here's the status quo as Laverne & Shirley enters its seventh season. Ex-Milwaukeeans Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) are still living in Burbank, CA, still working at Bardwell's Department Store, and still trying to break into the movies. The girls' zany pals Lenny (Michael McKean Read More

Laverne & Shirley: But Seriously, Folks...

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Would-be standup comedian Carmine (Eddie Mekka) invites the gang to catch his act at "The Comedy Jungle", a popular Hollywood club. Unfortunately, no one is laughing when Carmine begins telling nasty jokes about Laverne (Penny Marshall), Shirley (Cindy Williams), Lenny (Michael McKean), Squiggy Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 06

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael McKean, Eddie Mekka, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: To counteract a precipitous drop in its ratings during its previous season, Laverne & Shirley launched season six by shifting the series' locale from Milwaukee, WI, to Burbank, CA. Fired from their jobs when Shotz Brewery decides to switch to automation, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams Read More

Laverne & Shirley: The Dating Game

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Well, it must be the late 1960s on Laverne & Shirley, inasmuch as this episode revolves around a telecast of the vintage TV series The Dating Game. Under the watchful eye of the show's host Jim Lange (playing himself), contestants Lenny (Michael McKean) and Squiggy (David L. Lander) do their best Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 05

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael McKean, Eddie Mekka, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: Season five of Laverne & Shirley begins with the conclusion of a two-part story inaugurated on its "sister" series Happy Days: "Shotgun Wedding, Part 2," wherein big-hearted Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) become engaged to hapless teenagers Richie (Ron Howard) and Potsie (Anson Williams Read More

Laverne & Shirley: The Duke of Squiggman

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Series regular David L. Lander is afforded a rare opportunity to show off his acting versatility in this episode. While awake, Squiggy (Lander) is his usual "Squiggy" self. But while sleepwalking, Squiggy transforms into the vain, aristocratic Duke of Squiggman, replete with authentic upper-crust Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 04

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael McKean, Eddie Mekka, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: Season four of Laverne & Shirley found the series' time frame progressing from the late '50s to the early '60s. The season opener is the two-part "Festival," wherein Laverne (Penny Marshall), Shirley (Cindy Williams), and the other series regulars leave their familiar Milwaukee environs for a trip Read More

1941

Actors: Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee, Nancy Allen

Synopsis: It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual blind panic in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus begin several story threads that comprise the "plot" of this strange period Read More

Working Stiffs [TV Series]

Crew: Director

Actors: James Belushi, Michael Keaton

Synopsis: Taken from the '70s television show "Working Stiffs," this collection features a selection of episodes, including "My Boys Are Having a Baby," "Bosses," and "Pal Joey." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Squiggy in Love

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Two episodes ago, it was Lenny (Michael McKean) who fell love. Now it is Lenny's pal Squiggy's turn to lose his heart to a girl. Thing of it is, the beauteous Vivian (Cynthia Harrison) is merely playing up to Squiggy (David L. Lander) so that he will help her decorate and furnish her new Read More

More Than Friends

Actors: Penny Marshall, Rob Reiner, Phillip Richard Allen

Synopsis: This made-for-TV ancestor to When Harry Met Sally stars the then-married Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall in what was essentially a replay of their own courtship. Covering a timespan from 1958 to 1971, the teleplay (written by Reiner and his frequent collaborator Phil Mishkin) asks the musical Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 03

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Eddie Mekka, Michael McKean, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: When Laverne & Shirley signed on in January of 1976, America's top-rated program was Happy Days -- of which Laverne & Shirley was, of course, a spin-off. By the time the last-named series entered its third season, it had climbed to the coveted number one slot, while Happy Days had retreated to Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 02

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael McKean, Eddie Mekka, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: Ending its first season as America's second most popular TV series (its "inspiration," Happy Days, was the first), Laverne & Shirley held fast to the second-place slot throughout season two. Still set in the late '50s, the series continues to star Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as Milwaukee Read More

Laverne & Shirley: Season 01

Actors: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael McKean, Eddie Mekka, Phil Foster, David L. Lander

Synopsis: Exploiting the overwhelmingly positive audience response to the 1975 Happy Days episode in which Richie (Ron Howard) and Potsie (Anson Williams) found themselves on a riotous date with brash but lovable "older women" Laverne De Fazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams), executive Read More

Let's Switch!

Synopsis: A made-for-TV domestic comedy, Let's Switch stars Barbara Eden as a homemaker and Barbara Feldon as her best friend, a glamorous magazine editor. Both are slightly jealous of each other's life style, so they decide to switch roles for a while. Feldon is consigned to the laundry and kitchen, while Eden Read More

How Come Nobody's on Our Side?

Synopsis: Richard Michaels, who directed over 30 made-for-TV movies as well as episodes of The Brady Bunch and Love, American Style, gives an overly small-screen feel to this self-described "high-flying comedy caper" which remains hopelessly earthbound. Biker-movie refugees Adam Roarke and Larry Bishop Read More

The Couple Takes a Wife

Actors: Nanette Fabray, Robert Goulet, Myrna Loy

Synopsis: Contrary to popular belief, "B" pictures didn't die in the 1970s; they just changed their classification to "ABC Movies of the Week". First telecast December 5, 1972, The Couple Takes a Wife is a by-the-numbers screwball comedy with a spirited all-TV cast. Career-minded couple Bill Bixby and Paula Prentiss Read More

The Crooked Hearts

Synopsis: A million-dollar cast was assembled for this high-gloss TV movie. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Rosalind Russell play a pair of ageing con artists, plying their trade with the members of a lonely hearts club managed by Maureen O'Sullivan. Complicating the schemes of the tricky duo is the presence of a Read More

The Bob Newhart Show: Fly the Unfriendly Skies

Actors: Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, Bill Daily, Peter Bonerz, Marcia Wallace

Synopsis: Though not the first episode of The Bob Newhart Show to be filmed, "Fly the Unfriendly Skies" was chosen as the series' premiere telecast on September 16, 1972. Bob Hartley's "Fear of Flying" workshop has booked plane passage from Chicago to New York. Emily supportively goes along on her husband Read More

The Feminist and the Fuzz

Synopsis: With a title like The Feminist and the Fuzz, the TV-movie comedy could only have been produced in the swinging' seventies. Barbara Eden forsakes her "I Dream of Jeannie" obsequiousness to play dedicated feminist Dr. Jane Bowers. While engaging in a protest rally, Jane comes in contact with Read More

Evil Roy Slade

Actors: Edie Adams, John Astin, Pamela Austin, Henry Gibson, John Ritter, Dick Shawn, Milton Berle, Dom DeLuise, Penny Marshall, Mickey Rooney

Synopsis: Overlooked when it first aired February 18, 1972, the made-for-TV Evil Roy Slade has gained a loyal and protective cult following in the past 20 years. The film was the second pilot for a never-sold TV western spoof created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, Sheriff Who?. Actually, it was the Read More

The Grasshopper

Actors: Jacqueline Bisset, Jim Brown, Joseph Cotten, Corbett Monica, Ramon Bieri

Synopsis: Christine (Jacqueline Bisset) is the young bank teller who is bored with her job and her husband. She leaves for Las Vegas where she scores a job as a chorus girl. The beautiful Christine does not have the talent to parlay the job into an upwardly mobile career. She marries an older man and Read More

The Savage Seven

Actors: Robert Walker, Jr., Larry Bishop, Joanna Frank, John Garwood, Adam Roarke

Synopsis: This violent motorcycle gang drama finds the outlaws riding onto an Indian reservation to take over. A rival gang has other ideas. There are few likeable characters in this feature, the possible exception being Johnnie (Robert Walker), and he is a convicted thief. Rock-guitar legend Duane Eddy Read More

How Sweet It Is!

Actors: James Garner, Debbie Reynolds, Maurice Ronet, Paul Lynde, Marcel Dalio, Terry-Thomas

Synopsis: Two parents worry about the feelings of their love-struck teenage son in this engaging romantic comedy. Grif (James Garner) and wife Jenny (Debbie Reynolds) are concerned about their son Davey (Donald Losby). When his girlfriend is slated for a tour of Europe, the teenage boy is heartbroken. Grif Read More