The news of Penny Marshall’s death was jolting, not just for its suddenness, but for the realization that we lost a bona fide Bronx-born…
The news of Penny Marshall’s death was jolting, not just for its suddenness, but for the realization that we lost a bona fide Bronx-born talent so rare that she conquered television and the movies alike — no mean feat in the fickle world of show business.
As someone who makes a living writing about television — and someone of a certain age — my first thought after hearing about Marshall’s death was Marshall-as-Laverne, wearing the cursive “L” on her sweater, in “Laverne & Shirley.”
The ABC sitcom ran for eight (mostly) glorious seasons in the 1970s and ’80s — turning Marshall and co-star Cindy Williams into household names as they romped through prime time as Milwaukee-based brewery workers Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney.
