My Happy Days in Hollywood: A Memoir

Film and television producer Marshall expands on his previous memoir, Wake Me When It’s Funny (1997), for another look back at his life and multifaceted career. After a sickly childhood growing up in the Bronx with sisters Ronny and Penny, he studied journalism at Northwestern, where he played drums in a band, wrote comedy skits and “only dated girls with cars because I didn’t have one.” Joining the army, he performed in Korea as a drummer and a comedian. Back in New York, he became a Tonight Show staff writer, heading west in 1961 to do sitcoms. Teaming with Jerry Belson, he churned out scripts for Joey Bishop, Lucille Ball, Dick Van Dyke, and others: “In one year my entire family moved to California and I was the only one working.” At age 36, his big breakout came in 1970 when he and Belson coproduced TV’s The Odd Couple, both a critical and popular success: “One well-respected show, and suddenly I was a player in show business.” After mounting more TV hits (Happy Days; Laverne & Shirley, which starred his sister Penny; Mork & Mindy), he turned to directing movies (Pretty Woman, Beaches) and acting, including a recurring role on Murphy Brown. Marshall draws the reader in with a disarming manner and a casual, easy-to-read writing style, detailing early self-doubts as well as later triumphs. The result is an engaging and entertaining blend of honesty and humor, punctuated throughout with show business insights and anecdotes. (Apr. 24)