Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American screenwriter, director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show until he developed the television adaptation of Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. He rose to fame in the 1970s for creating the ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984).
Marshall went on to direct numerous films including Young Doctors in Love (1982), The Flamingo Kid (1984), Nothing in Common (1986), Overboard (1987), Beaches (1988), Pretty Woman (1990), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Exit to Eden (1994), Dear God (1996), The Other Sister and Runaway Bride (both in 1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), Raising Helen (2004), Georgia Rule (2007), Valentine's Day (2010), New Year's Eve (2011), and Mother's Day (2016). As an actor, Marshall appeared in the films Lost in America (1985), Soapdish (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993) along with his sister Penny Marshall, With Friends Like These... (1998), Orange County (2002), Keeping Up with the Steins (2006), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), and Life After Beth (2014).