My Mother Was Nuts, Penny Marshall
My Mother Was Nuts, Penny Marshall
10 Rating(s)
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My Mother Was Nuts
A Memoir

Author: Penny Marshall

Narrator: Penny Marshall

Unabridged: 8 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/18/2012

Synopsis

Most people know Penny Marshall as the director of Big and A League of Their Own. What they don’t know is her trailblazing career was a happy accident. In this funny and intimate memoir, Penny takes us from the stage of The Jackie Gleason Show in 1955 to Hollywood’s star-studded sets, offering up some hilarious detours along the way.My Mother Was Nuts is an intimate backstage pass to Penny’s personal life, her breakout role on The Odd Couple, her exploits with Cindy Williams and John Belushi, and her travels across Europe with Art Garfunkel on the back of a motorcycle. We see Penny get married. And divorced. And married again (the second time to Rob Reiner). We meet a young Carrie Fisher, whose close friendship with Penny has spanned decades. And we see Penny at work with Tom Hanks, Mark Wahlberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert De Niro, and Whitney Houston.Throughout it all, from her childhood spent tap dancing in the Bronx, to her rise as the star of Laverne & Shirley, Penny lived by simple rules: “try hard, help your friends, don’t get too crazy, and have fun.” With humor and heart, My Mother Was Nuts reveals there’s no one else quite like Penny Marshall.

About Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall is an actress, producer, and director. From 1976 until 1983, she starred as Laverne DeFazio in the classic TV sitcom Laverne and Shirley. She went on to direct films such as Big (1988), the first movie directed by a woman to gross in excess of $100 million at the U.S. box office, Awakenings (1990), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and A League of Their Own (1992), which also made over $100 million in the U.S. She has directed episodes of United States of Tara (2009) and guest-starred on Portlandia (2011).

Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on June 18, 2021

3.5 stars I listened to the audio version of this book, narrated by the author in her unmistakable deep voice and New York accent. Penny Marshall Penny Marshall was born to Marjorie and Tony Marshall in 1943. Her show business career started in Marjorie's dancing school in the basement of their Bronx,......more

Goodreads review by Katie on April 29, 2019

3.5 stars I didn't realize just how much I liked Penny Marshall until she passed away. The show that made her famous, Laverne and Shirley, aired mainly before I was born so that's not the reason I was bummed to hear the news she had died. I think the reason I was sad is because I feel like she had so......more

Goodreads review by Mark on December 28, 2012

This is an excellent autobiography. Despite what some of the reviews would have you believe, Ms Marshall seems completely aware of the mistakes she made, she just doesn't come across as needing to beat herself up publicly to receive public approval for her contrition. Anyone with two brain cells to......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on April 01, 2017

Honest, compelling, laugh out loud funny, and tender, this audio was excellent. I rarely give an audiobook 5 stars; however, when read by the author about her own life, with sincerity, with actual sorrow in her voice when she spoke of the loss of her loved ones, with real humor at life's funny momen......more

Goodreads review by Bonnie on December 08, 2012

I see the majority of reviews on Amazon's were disappointed in this but I felt quite differently. As I've made my way through her audiobook, which is read by her, I sense that hearing her voice provides a sense of depth and sincerity that perhaps others can't possible grasp in a book or on a screen.......more

Quotes

“There's as much practical, hard-won advice here as there is Hollywood gossip, and Marshall's boundless energy and no-nonsense attitude make for a fun read.” –Publishers Weekly

“Hollywood aficionados will get a kick out of Marshall’s anecdotes about her circle of friends, including Albert Brooks, John Belushi, and Carrie Fisher, all told in a funny, down-to-earth manner.” –Booklist

“Penny Marshall is a fascinating woman who has lived a life few of us could survive. Did you know she gave me two of the best jobs I’ve ever had? Of course not, because when she talks she is barely comprehensible. Read her memoir and you’ll come to love her as much as I do.” –Tom Hanks

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