The Surprising Inspiration Behind ‘Laverne & Shirley’

Garry Marshall may have created one of the biggest shows of the ’70s with Laverne & Shirley, but his reasons for producing the first and most successful Happy Days spinoff were far personal than anyone knew at the time. As Marshall later explained in a filmed interview for the Television Academy Foundation, he created the roles of Laverne and Shirley because his mother kept reminding him that his sister, Penny Marshall, was between acting jobs and needed work. She insisted that he create a show for Penny to star in.