We’re counting down the 40 days to NYWIFT’s 40th Anniversary Muse Awards with a look at some of our favorite honorees, all women of vision and achievement who have contributed to the film and television industry. Join us as we look back at #Muse40for40, and buy your tickets for the Muse Awards on Tuesday, December 10th at nywift.org/muse!
#6: Penny Marshall
By Tricia Nolan
Bronx-born Penny Marshall, best known for playing Laverne DeFazio on ABC’s Laverne & Shirley, smashed Hollywood’s glass ceiling with her sophmoric directorial effort Big (’88) starring Tom Hanks. Penny became the first woman to helm a major motion picture that grossed more than $100M at the box office. With her 1990’s Awakenings, starring Robin Williams & Robert De Niro, Marshall went on to become the second woman in Oscar history to helm a movie nominated for Best Picture. She then went on to direct the 1992 blockbuster A League of Their Own, starring an ensemble cast that included Hanks, Madonna, Geena Davis and Rosie O’Donnell.
Known for being as courageous as she was talented, Penny proved – over and over again – that a woman’s vision is as creatively vital and economically profitable as a man’s.
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