Penny Marshall explained how Laverne & Shirley's success affected her marriage to Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall were a Hollywood power couple in the seventies. Both won starring roles on a hit television series, All in the Family and Laverne & Shirley, respectively. Furthermore, both desired to pursue creative endeavors on the other side of the camera, and the two became successful directors independently.
However, while some might assume that the couple's mutual success would be the key to happiness, Marshall explained that it was a double-edged sword during an interview with the Ventura County Star. While work kept the two occupied, it also separated them from each other, and from Marshall's young daughter, Tracy.
"The series has kept me so busy that I'm not moping around the house like I used to, which has taken some pressure off Rob," Marshall said. "Since he started his Fire Sale movie and I got back into production of my series we haven't seen one another too much. I think it's been hardest on my daughter, Tracy."
There were moments when scheduling became easier, and as such, Reiner picked up some of the slack at home while Marshall was away at work.
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"The responsibility of running a family and doing a show — plus we just moved into a new house in Encino — has been impossible," she said. "But Rob does cook and does the shopping. I clean up after him."
Still, the separation from Tracy took its toll on Marshall.
"I think I'm a terrible mother because I don't have an apron on, baking cookies when Tracy is coming home from school," she said. "I've resented not growing up in a family like The Waltons, and it's bothered me that my own family isn't like them. As a matter of fact, I can't even watch The Waltons because I cry."
Luckily, like any good couple, Reiner and Marshall leaned on each other emotionally.
"I think Rob and I depend on one another for stability, because our professional lives are so crazy," she said. "We help each other through hard times and more than anything else, we're good friends. But at the same time, our lives are totally independent."
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