Penny Marshall Is A Golden Globe-nominated Actress

Penny Marshall (born October 15, 1942) is an American Golden Globe-nominated actress, producer and director. She was the first woman to direct two films that grossed over $100 million each (Big and A League of Their Own).Marshall was born Carole Penny Marshall in The Bronx, New York City, the daughter of Marjorie Irene (née Ward), a tap dance teacher who ran a tap dance school, and Anthony Wallace Marshall, a director of industrial films and later a producer.She is the sister of actor/director/TV producer Garry Marshall and Ronny Hallin, a TV producer.

Marshall first gained prominence as a television actress with a recurring guest role on The Odd Couple from 1971 - 1975. She then played the role of the wise-cracking brewery worker Laverne De Fazio in the popular TV sitcom Laverne and Shirley from 1976 - 1983. While on Laverne and Shirley, she made two guest star appearances on Mary Tyler Moore as Mary's neighbor in her new apartment building, Paula Kovacks. Also made one guest star on Taxi playing herself in the role.

She has directed several successful feature motion pictures since the mid-1980s, including Big (first film directed by a woman to gross over USD $100 million), Awakenings starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, and A League of Their Own, which starred Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell. She has also lent her voice to the evil nanny on the first produced episode of The Simpsons, Ms. Botz, and played a cameo role as herself in HBO's hit series Entourage.

In April 2007, it was announced that Marshall would reunite with her Laverne & Shirley co-star Cindy Williams for a TV Land network reality series in which the ladies would play themselves and live in Marshall's house, where the show would be filmed. Described as a buddy comedy, Penny and Cindy, is being produced by Gay Rosenthal Prods, while Jim Vallely (The Golden Girls, Arrested Development) is the writer and executive producer.