A “League of Their Own” Director Penny Marshall is Dead at 75

Penny Marshall, one of the top grossing female directors that empowered women all over with “A League of Their Own” passed away at the age of 75 this week.

Marshall, who was also an actress and starred in “Laverne & Shirley” before going on to direct, passed away in her Hollywood Hills home on Monday due to complications from diabetes said her publicist Michelle Bega.

Marshall was the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million with “Big,” in the ’80s, which starred Tom Hanks.

“If it had not been for Penny Marshall, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League would still be unknown,” Shirley Burkovich, one of 79 surviving members of the league, told USA TODAY Sports this week. “It would have been known only to those who lived in that area at that time.

“To have her realize the significance of that league, and to put it into a motion picture that became the No. 1 grossing baseball movie ever made, that to me shows you the type of person that she was.”

“I don’t know if it would have even gotten into the history books. We feel very grateful and a deep gratitude to Penny Marshall, for giving us the recognition that we now feel we deserved.”