Tom Hanks, Madonna and more stars pay loving tribute to director Penny Marshall

By Meaghan Wray

Penny Marshall sadly passed at the age of 75 on Monday (Dec. 17), but not before touching the world in a significant way with her trailblazing work. Her publicist confirmed her death, saying that she lost her life due to complications related to diabetes, and a host of Hollywood heavyweights were quick to pay tribute.

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The actress and director may be gone, but her memory will certainly live on forever. Stars who were touched by her work, from Tom Hanks to Olivia Munn and Madonna, have taken to social media to pay their respects to the comedian, who saw her big break on her first TV show Laverne & Shirleybefore taking the film industry by storm.

Veteran actor Tom was one of the first to reach out. He had the incredible opportunity to work with her on the hit film Big, leading her to become the first female director in history to helm a film that grossed over $100 million. She later did the same many more times. The 62-year-old actor wrote on Twitter: “Goodbye, Penny. Man, did we laugh a lot! Wish we still could. Love you. Hanx.”

Penny directed another iconic film, A League of Our Own, which went on to make over $100 million, too. One of its stars, Rosie O’Donnell, took to Twitter to pay her respects, saying she was “simply heartbroken” over the loss. Rosie’s co-star, Madonna, also proudly called Penny a “Trailblazer For Women In Hollywood.”

Celebrated filmmaker Ava DuVernay poured her heart out for the powerhouse on Twitter, sharing a beautiful photo of the star posing beside a camera. The A Wrinkle in Timedirector wrote: “Thank you, Penny Marshall. For the trails you blazed. The laughs you gave. The hearts you warmed.”

Josh Gad, who voiced Olaf in Frozen, touched on her accomplishments as a woman in the industry, writing: “At a time when men dominated, #pennymarshall broke barriers as a director, giving us hit after hit.”

Other celebrities like Rosanna Arquette, William Shatner, Danny DeVito, Bette Midler and more shared their thoughts with the world, mourning the loss of an incredible person.

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