Penny’s second career was a delightful surprise. Through the Seventies she was a minor character on The Odd Couple and Happy Days until she got a chance to star in Laverne & Shirley. My brother loved that show when he was a kid, I grew to like it after initially hating it, probably due to him liking it. Every Tuesday night, from 7-8 PM was must-watch TV as Happy Days followed by Laverne & Shirley gave us the weekly antics of an idealized Milwaukee in the Fifties to early Sixties. Penny’s character was unusual in how she had to have a big-fat L on her clothes.
The show went downhill when the Milwaukee duo moved to LA which made little sense and the Saturday-morning cartoons were no help.
However, Penny had her more famous second act as a director and assisted Tom Hanks’ rise to stardom through Big.
For me, Penny was helpful in getting the Simpsons rolling as the babysitter bandit, Mrs. Botz in the reworked pilot.
Thanks Penny, you and your brother Gary did a lot for TV and movies and I wrote about you both in contributing to Italian contributions to the world.