Television Production and Press Documents, 1967-2015 and undated

The Garry Marshall papers consists of the professional and personal papers of screenwriter, film director, producer, and actor Garry Marshall (1934-2016). The collection is arranged into 12 series, spans 88 boxes, and dates from 1931 to 2021.

Series 1. Biographical Materials, 1931-2018 and undated, contains personal artifacts and documents from Marshall’s educational years, resumes from different stages of his career, information on Marshall’s contributions to Northwestern University, and personal financial and medical records.

Series 2. Correspondence, 1951-2020 and undated, covers the span of Marshall’s life and contains two sub-series. Sub-series 2.1. Personal Correspondence, 1965-2017 and undated, contains personal letters from prominent actors, such as Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks, as well as letters from Marshall’s family. The sub-series consists largely of thank you notes, congratulatory letters, and other personal exchanges. Sub-series 2.2. Business Correspondence, 1951-2020 and undated, includes correspondence with entertainment industry professionals, such as Henry Winkler and Leonard Cohen. Also included are communications relating to several of Marshall’s films, the content of which is more business-focused, such as correspondence discussing business arrangements, contracts, and the substance or details of Marshall’s productions.

Series 3. Photographs, 1930-2015 and undated, includes personal photographs of Marshall and his family, as well as stills and cast and crew photos from several films. There are also casting photographs of actors under consideration for roles in Marshall’s productions, including for projects still in the planning stage immediately before Marshall’s death.

Series 4. Written Work by Garry Marshall and Various Authors, 1947-2016 and undated, is divided into three sub-series. Sub-series 4.1. Jokes/Sketches Written for Others, 1960-1970 and undated, contains original content Marshall created, or co-created with Jerry Belson, for specific comedians primarily during the 1960s. Sub-series 4.2. Miscellaneous Jokes/Sketches,1960-2005 and undated, includes material by Marshall and other authors that was not written for a specific comedian or performer. Sub-series 4.3. Miscellaneous Written Work, 1947-2016 and undated, contains other types of written work by Marshall or other authors, such as short stories written by Marshall for college classes.

Series 5. Scripts, 1959-2016 and undated, is organized into five sub-series. Sub-series 5.1. Radio Scripts, undated, contains written scripts for radio shows. Sub-series 5.2. Television Scripts, 1959-2016 and undated, holds scripts written by Marshall and other authors for various television series, including his early career writing for The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar, as well as scripts from later television shows, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and The Odd Couple. Sub-series 5.3. Screenplay Scripts, 1970-2016 and undated, contains draft and final screenplays written by Marshall and other authors, including early script versions of Marshall’s most famous productions, such as Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries, as well as notes and drafts from select screenplays. Sub-series 5.4. Play and Musical Scripts, 1965-2016 and undated, contains scripts for plays and musicals by Marshall and other authors, and includes script revisions for stage adaptations of Marshall’s films, such as Pretty Woman: The Musical, Happy Days: A New Musical, and Wrong Turn at Lungfish. Sub-series 5.5.The Roast Play and Screenplay Scripts, 1976-2005 and undated, contains the original play scripts for The Roast, co-written by Marshall and Jerry Belson, as well as screenplays for a proposed movie adaptation of The Roast that was never produced.

Series 6. Production and Press Documents, 1967-2018, is divided into three sub-series. Sub-series 6.1. Movie Production and Press Documents, 1967-2011 and undated, includes documents relating to Marshall’s many feature films, such as budgets, audience surveys, press kits, and more. Additionally, the original storyboards for his feature film, Pretty Woman, are included in this sub-series. Sub-series 6.2. Television Production and Press Documents, 1967-2015 and undated, holds production documents from several of Marshall’s television shows, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and The Odd Couple, including concept testing results, contracts, and show bibles (a document for screenwriters that outlines the characters, plots, settings, and themes of a television series). Sub-series 6.3. Play and Musical Production and Press Documents, 1975-2018 and undated, contains materials pertaining to Marshall’s plays and musicals, and includes playbills, budgets, press releases, and contracts from both the Happy Days and Pretty Woman stage adaptations.

Series 7. Scrapbooks, 1934-2016, includes scrapbooks which document much of Marshall’s personal life and professional career. Marshall titled many of the scrapbooks Hollywood, and they include correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, or other artifacts from his professional and personal life during the covered year(s). Certain scrapbooks are dedicated to a specific film, such as Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, or Runaway Bride. Until about 1985, Marshall personally made all of his scrapbooks.

Series 8. Publicity, 1960-2019, includes articles, magazines, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Marshall’s personal life and his productions. This series is organized into six sub-series. Sub-series 8.1. Autobiographical Publicity, 1967-2017 and undated, contains numerous written interviews with Marshall detailing his personal life, an interview with his wife, Barbara Marshall, and several of his obituaries. Sub-series 8.2. Book Publicity, 1995, consists of a summary of Marshall’s book, Wake Me When It’s Funny. Sub-series 8.3. Comedy Career Publicity, 1960-2015 and undated, includes magazine articles featuring interviews of Marshall discussing his career and stature in the comedy industry, and also includes his interview for a Korean magazine about his role and experience in the Korean War. Sub-series 8.4. Movie Production Publicity, 1969-2019, contains articles and reviews of various Marshall films, such as Beaches, The Twilight of the Golds, and Princess Diaries. Notations on several movie reviews reflect Marshall’s interest in critical reactions to his productions and his efforts to track their degree of success. Movie Production Publicity also includes articles about actors that Marshall worked with, such as Bette Midler and Julia Roberts. Sub-series 8.5. Play/Musical Production Publicity, 1980-2019, holds reviews, articles, advertisements, and other publicity material relating to Marshall’s plays and musicals, such as The Grand Duchess, Happy Days: A New Musical, and Pretty Woman: The Musical, and includes publicity regarding the Garry Marshall Theatre, formally known as the Falcon Theatre. Sub-series 8.6. TV Production Publicity, 2000-2012, contains publicity material regarding Marshall’s television productions, such as Happy Days and The Odd Couple.

Series 9. Books, 1960-2020 and undated, holds various books that Marshall owned, including educational tools for his career, such as The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri, Get a Reel Job by Philip Nemy, and Make ‘Em Laugh by Laurence Maslon and Michael Kantor, as well copies of his biographies.

Series 10. Artifacts, 1950-2019, includes several prominent three-dimensional items owned by Marshall and is organized into three sub-series. Sub-series 10.1. Awards, 1950-2019, contains both industry and personal awards given to Marshall, including awards for his productions, for his impact on the entertainment industry (including his American Cinema Editors Inc. Eddie Award), and his awards for baseball team championships. Sub-series 10.2. Clothing, 1956-2013 and undated, holds notable items of Marshall’s clothing, including his director’s bathrobe for Wrong Turn at Lungfish (Marshall had a bathrobe made for each of his productions and would wear it on set). Sub-series 10.3. General, 1952-2018 and undated, holds a wide range of items from Marshall’s personal and professional life, such as an Alpha Tau Omega fraternity paddle from Northwestern University, Marshall’s baseball glove, and a statue of Marshall and Hector Elizondo. Professional items within General include a Mork & Mindy card game, a Happy Days lunch box, Marshall’s directors chair, and a Princess Diaries II clapperboard.

Series 11. Oversized Materials, 1976-2018 and undated, contains awards, books, posters, magazines, and other materials that do not fit into a traditionally sized filing box. The folders in this series titled, “Large movie posters” are stored in a file drawer separate from the traditional box storage.

Series 12. Miscellaneous Files, 1955-2021 and undated, includes material from Marshall’s personal and professional life not otherwise clearly falling into the specific categories above. Personal items include Marshall’s address book, financial documents, and personal recommendations written by Marshall. Professional items include casting notes, call sheets, press documents, and story outlines unrelated to any of his feature films that are organized in Production and Press Documents.