BOOK REVIEW #5: "GARRY MARSHALL'S MY HAPPY DAYS IN HOLLYWOOD: A MEMOIR"

He gave the world a “Pretty Woman” back in 1990 and unleashed a “Runaway Bride” nine years later. 78 year old Garry Marshall will most likely be remembered for the two Julia Roberts’ romantic comedies and recently two holiday movies, Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve.

(Part of the above paragraph is taken from this reviewer’s New Year’s Eve DVD article)

Co-written with his daughter, Lori Marshall, “My Happy Days In Hollywood” is a memoir of Garry Marshall recalling his childhood days in Bronx to being a comedy writer for television sitcoms and a director of feature films at the age of 48. Marshall is such a nice guy that he compliments every stars he has worked with including the notorious Lindsay Lohan who got a warning letter from the producer on his flop, “Georgia Rule”. Julia Roberts is one A-list star he can count on. Jennifer Garner is another of his best friend. Nothing however beats his wife of 40 years, Barbara. A rare thing in Hollywood definitely.

Sugar-coated this memoir maybe but Marshall’s true sense of tongue-in-cheek humour can be seen throughout the 276 pages book as you wouldn’t know he actually began his career writing for talk show host Dick Van Dyke and went on producing some of the most iconic sitcoms of all time, remember “Happy Days” that starred a young Ron Howard that ran on and on. And who can forget the quirky “Mork & Mindy” that catapult Robin Williams to a star. Marshall spent each chapter recounting interesting nuggets of information and difficulties he faced making each sitcom and movie though it’s a breeze going through the pages given his light-heartening scribing.

The man has come a long way since his sickly days as a child. He survive the Korea War, a near bankruptcy and of late, had just completed seven weeks of chemotherapy to combat a tumour before beginning work on “New Year’s Eve”. Despite (according to him anyway) being constantly whacked by his critics, he will continue to try harder on his next project. This Hollywood legend at the minimum deserved some respect for the way he lead his life. For that we salute him.

Book Rating:

Review by Linus Tee

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