Death of Penny Marshall

American actress and director Penny Marshall has passed away at the age of 75.

Marshall, who was best known as playing Laverne in the TV sitcom Laverne & Shirley, died due to diabetes complications at her home in Hollywood Hills, CA on Dec 17. She leaves behind her brother Ronny, her daughter Tracy Reiner, and her grandchildren.

Marshall rose to fame in the show, Happy Days before working with Cindy Williams in Laverne & Shirley. Williams released a statement saying, “What an extraordinary loss. My good friend, Penny Marshall is gone — one in a million.” She then went on to describe Marshall as “utterly unique” and that she “can’t describe” how much she will miss the star.

After Laverne and Shirley, Marshall went on to director numerous movies with Big and A League of Their Own being her most popular and accomplished. Tom Hanks, who was a main character in both films took to Twitter and wrote, “Goodbye, Penny. Man, did we laugh a lot! Wish we still could. Love you. Hanx”. Through the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media’s Twitter page, a statement was released from Geena Davis. Davis, who played Dottie Hinson in A League of Their Own commented on Marshall’s death stating, “I’m terribly sad to hear the news about Penny passing. My heart goes out to Tracy Reiner and her family. Penny brought so much joy to so many and will be sorely missed. I will be forever grateful to her for letting me be part of A League of Their Own”