My Happy Days in Hollywood: A Memoir by Garry Marshall with Lori Marshall

               When I see someone who has achieved success in a field I am interested in, I want to know how they did it. I am not talking about the nitty gritty details every second of his or her life is revealed type thing. What I want to know is the path a person took. No two people lead their lives the same way. Even if they get to the same end point, how that point was gotten to will be different.

               I knew who Garry Marshall was when I picked up this book. If I had not I would not have chosen to read his memoir. What I did not know until I began reading was the extent of Mr. Marshall’s career. He has been involved with everything in Hollywood: writing, acting, directing, and producing. So many people dream about getting into just one of these industries. Mr. Marshall has been fortunate to be successful in all four. He managed to achieve this without being raised in a show biz family. Growing up in the Bronx, his mother did like entertainment, but it was something else that brought Mr. Marshall to where he is today.
             In my opinion, Mr. Marshall’s success came about with talent, hard work, and making good choices in people and opportunities. He has been able to work on iconic television shows and make well loved films. On top of this, he is an admired and respected man. I do not recall anything bad being said about him and people seem eager to collaborate. He is also loyal. So many of the people he works with are ones he has done projects with before. If I understand correctly, and I apologize if I get this wrong, Mr. Marshall has cast Hector Elizondo in every movie he has directed. Not that I could blame him. How can you resist Hector Elizondo? But my point with this example is that whether it is writers or actors, Mr. Marshall is very good to the people he works with and remembers them later on as well.
             Everything in this book was written with a lot of class. It would have been easy to trash or tear people apart when talking about tough times. Mr. Marshall did not. Things were not hidden, but he kept it to the facts of the time instead of making it deeply personal and hurting someone’s character. I greatly respect this. 
              While there were many things to admire about Mr. Marshall throughout the book, what remains with me most is the letters. I find it truly endearing that Mr. Marshall takes the time to write letters to the parents of his actors. He lets them know how their child is doing, not only in acting but in life. I find this to be an incredibly wonderful act and wonder: why cannot all of Hollywood be this way?