PRETTY WOMAN's Garry Marshall Dies at Age 81

Variety reports that Garry Marshall, best known for creating such iconic 1970s' TV shows as "Happy Days," "The Odd Couple," "Laverne and Shirley" and "Mork and Mindy" and for directing such classic films as Pretty Woman" and "The Princess Diaries," passed away on Tuesday, July 19th in Burbank, Calif. due to COMPLICATIONS from pneumonia following a stroke. He was 81.

As BWW recently reported, Marshall had officially secured the rights to move forward with his new PRETTY WOMAN stage musical adaptation, based on the hit film. The show was expected to arrive on Broadway sometime in 2017, with Jerry Mitchell set to direct and choreograph. It featured a score by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and per The Hollywood Reporter, Marshall had just completed a rewrite of the book.

Marshall and the film's original screenwriter, J.F. Lawton, had been working on the show's book for the past several years. Paula Wagner (Mothers and Sons, Grace) is producing and told the Hollywood Reporter: "He took great pride and delight from Pretty Woman and I know he would have wanted us to continue on and therefore we will bring this story to Broadway. Pretty Woman the musical will be a reminder of his humanity, his heart and his sense of humor."

Marshall's 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 played the role of "director" on Burbank's "Lights...camera...action!" float in the 2014 Rose Parade. In 2014, he took on directing duties for off-Broadway's BILLY & RAY, starring Sophie von Haselberg.

This morning, Julie Andrews, who starred in Marshall's 2001 and 2004 hits, The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, released a statement to ET, sharing: "I am devastated to hear of Garry's passing. He was a dear friend and colleague....generous to a fault," she said. "My heart goes out to [his wife] Barbara and the entire family. We shall miss him."

Other celebrities took to Twitter to react to news of Marshall's passing:

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). They then adapted Neil Simon's play THE ODD COUPLE for television. On his own, Marshall createdHappy 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 the short-lived sitcom Makin' It, which the three men also produced.

In the early 1980s, Marshall met Hector Elizondo while playing basketball and became great friends. Elizondo appears in every movie that Marshall directed, beginning with Marshall's first feature film, Young Doctors in Love. In 1984, Marshall had a movie hit as the writer and director of The Flamingo Kid.

A consummate producer, Marshall wore many hats during this period of his career: most of his hit TV shows 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 went on to focus on directing feature films, with a series of hits, such as Beaches, Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, and most recentlyValentine's Day and New Year's Eve.

Marshall was also an actor, making his TV acting debut starting as a child with a recurring role in the long-running CBS series The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950-58),appearing on the television series Murphy Brown and in such movies as Soapdish, on FOX's filmmaking-competition reality TV series On the Lot, which aired in 2007, and provided a guest-starring voice for THE SIMPSONS episodes Eight Misbehavin' andHomer the Father. He also appeared in two episodes of Happy Days. In 2014, he appeared in a guest star role in a February episode in season 11 of TWO AND A HALF MEN on CBS.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski