Babaloo Mandel | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | October 13, 1949
Occupation(s) | Writer, producer |
Spouse | Denise Madelyn Horn (m. 1974) |
Children | 6 |
Marc "Babaloo" Mandel (born October 13, 1949) is an American writer and producer. He first wrote episodic television comedy, then transitioned to writing feature films and theatre. He and long-time writing partner Lowell Ganz wrote numerous high-profile films including Splash (1984), Parenthood (1989), City Slickers (1991), and A League of Their Own (1992). [1]
Mandel was born in New York City. His father was a taxi driver. [1] He attended Queens College, City University of New York, before leaving for Hollywood in 1972.
At Queens College, Mandel met Ganz, who nicknamed him "Babaloo", after the character Ba-ba-lu Mandel in Philip Roth's novel Portnoy's Complaint . [1] In 2006, Mandel and Ganz were featured in The Dialogue interview series.[ citation needed ] In the 90-minute interview with producer Michael De Luca, they discussed their 40-year partnership as it evolved from television to feature films.
Both men worked on the television series Happy Days , Mandel as a creative consultant, Ganz as supervising producer. [1] As a result of that connection, they were offered their first big break, the movie Night Shift, by series star Ron Howard and his friend, producer Brian Grazer. [1] Howard directed Night Shift, and it was Grazer's first feature film as producer. [2] The writing duo later teamed up again with Howard on Splash , for which Mandel, Ganz, and Bruce Jay Friedman won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay. Mandel, Ganz, Friedman, and Grazer were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The pair also wrote for the television series Laverne & Shirley . They were the screenwriters for the 1992 sports movie A League of Their Own , directed by Penny Marshall.
He married Denise Madelyn Horn in 1974. [1] They have six children, including a set of triplets. [3]
The Online Archive of California houses the Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel Collection of material related to their writing careers. [2]
Ronald William Howard is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions in film and television.
Laverne & Shirley is an American sitcom television series that ran for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, two friends and roommates who work as bottle-cappers in the fictitious Shotz Brewery in late 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From the sixth season onwards, the series' setting changed to mid-1960s Burbank, California.
Splash is a 1984 American romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Ron Howard, from a screenplay by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, and Bruce Jay Friedman, and a story by Friedman and producer Brian Grazer. The film stars Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, and Eugene Levy. Its plot involves a young man who falls in love with a mysterious woman who is secretly a mermaid. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
City Slickers is a 1991 American Western comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby and Jack Palance, with supporting roles by Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater and Noble Willingham, and Jake Gyllenhaal making his acting debut.
Carole Penny Marshall was an American actress, film director, and producer. She is best known for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983), receiving three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her portrayal.
Garry Kent Marshall was an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show until he developed the television adaptation of Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. He rose to fame in the 1970s for creating the ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974–1984).
A League of Their Own is a 1992 American sports comedy drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). It stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall, Rosie O'Donnell, and Bill Pullman and was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, from a story by Kelly Candaele and Kim Wilson.
Lowell Ganz is an American writer and producer. He is the long-time writing partner of Babaloo Mandel and has written for television, film, and theatre.
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Cynthia Jane Williams was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcoms Happy Days (1975–1979), and Laverne & Shirley (1976–1982). She also appeared in American Graffiti (1973), The Conversation (1974), Mr. Ricco (1975), and More American Graffiti (1979).
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Mr. Saturday Night is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that marked the directorial debut of its star, Billy Crystal.
Bruce Jay Friedman was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. He was noted for his versatility of writing in both literature and pop culture. He was also a trailblazer in the style of modern American black humor. The themes he wrote about reflected the major changes taking place in society during the 1960s and 1970s. Many of his stories were inspired by the events of his personal life.
Chris Thompson was an American television writer and producer. Beginning in 1977, he wrote and produced for the television series Laverne & Shirley and The Larry Sanders Show. He had also created, written and produced Bosom Buddies, The Naked Truth, Action, Ladies Man and the Disney Channel original series, Shake It Up, as well co-written the feature films Jumpin' Jack Flash and Back to the Beach.
Monica Johnson was an American screenwriter whose film credits included Mother, Lost in America, Modern Romance, Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again and The Muse. Her television credits included The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laverne & Shirley and It's Garry Shandling's Show. She was a frequent collaborator with Albert Brooks.
Jan Pringle Eliasberg is an American film, theatre, and television director and writer. Her debut novel, Hannah's War, was published by Little, Brown in 2020 and has sold 70,000 copies to date. Hannah's War has been called "a gripping cat-and-mouse tale of love, war, deception and espionage that you won't be able to put down." Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network and The Rose Code. The Jewish Book Council stated, "That a novel that deals fluently with physics, espionage, and Jewish tragedy can also become a deeply affecting emotional tale – with a transcendent, redemptive vision of love – is a tribute to its hugely gifted author." Hannah's War was a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and has been acquired for film with Eliasberg adapting the novel for the screen and directing..
The 19th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 3 January 1985, honored the best filmmaking of 1984.
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