My Happy Days in Hollywood
A Memoir
By Garry Marshall with Lori Marshall
Read by Garry Marshall Random House Audio, 2012
An Unabridged Audio Recording on 9 CDs
ISBN: 978-0-307-97048-0
Genre: Autobiography
For those who don't know who he is, Garry Marshall is an actor, producer, director and writer who has worked in film, television, and in the theater over the course of his long career. He has worked on such memorable television shows as The Odd Couple, Happy Days, and Laverne & Shirley. He's directed a number of well-known movies, including Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries. In My Happy Days in Hollywood, Garry Marshall takes readers and listeners into his world, providing them with insights into his career, the workings of Hollywood, and the various actors he has worked with along the way, including Julia Roberts and Robert Williams.
Born in 1934, Garry Marshall is the brother of the actress and director, Penny Marshall, and his co-writer for this book was his daughter Lori Marshall. Like his many comedies, My Happy Days in Hollywood is a fun book to read. It is filled with humor, keen insights, and it serves to transport readers back to the hay day of comedic television and to discover the man behind some of the classic shows of this period.
If you have an interest in television or the movies, or are simply looking for an enjoyable diversion to spend about eleven hours with, you are sure to find this book delightful. Marshall is a man who has obviously enjoyed his career and the people that he has worked with over the years. Unlike some 'Hollywood' books that are merely exercises in complaining about how terrible x's life was and how horrid all the people he or she worked with, in the industry, this is a cheerful, friendly book that illustrates that there are some really nice people who work in the industry, and Marshall seems to have had a knack for managing to work with them. This is also a book about one obviously talented man who found his niche in life, and who had a lot of fun working in it.
Read by Garry Marshall himself, this book is more like a conversation with an old friend, than simply listening to a book. Marshall's Brooklyn accent still rings true, as he gleefully shares the memories of his remarkable life with you, his new found friend. This audio edition also includes an introduction to the book written and read by Hector Elizondo, who has appeared in every film that Marshall ever directed! From beginning to end, My Happy Days in Hollywood is a delightful tale about one of Hollywood's multifaceted legends whom we have all met, one way or another ;-)
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