Not 24 hours after news of Garry Marshall’s passing ricocheted around Hollywood and beyond, the tributes have come pouring in. Many share a common theme: the icon, whose vast credits include Happy Days, Mork & Mindy and Pretty Woman, was not only driven and talented but also magnanimous and kind.
The memories that Bob Daily — who executive produces the CBS update of Marshall’s The Odd Couple — shared of Marshall were no different:
When The Odd Couple got picked up in 2014, CBS wanted to give Garry an Executive Consultant credit, as an homage to the original series he’d created. Garry called me and said, “I will not take their money unless I earn it.” So for the next two seasons, he pitched story ideas (I remember one that involved both a mobster and a monkey), sat in the writers room and came to tape nights, where he came up with hilarious jokes on the floor.
The best 20 minutes of the week, however, happened whenever there was a costume change and the audience warm-up would hand Garry a microphone. All work stopped as we listened to his stories about Happy Days, Robin Williams, Pretty Woman, [Jack] Klugman and [Tony] Randall, etc. The man could tell a story! And never the same story twice — he had a million of them.
I’m sad I won’t get to hear more.
