This is What's Trending Today.

Garry Marshall was a comedy writer, producer and director. He was famous for creating television shows including The Odd Couple and Happy Days and directing the movies Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries.

He died on Tuesday at the age of 81.

Writer, producer and director Garry Marshall worked in television and film for almost 60 years. He died on Tuesday.

Marshall was involved as a writer, actor, producer or director on movies and television shows for almost 60 years.

Overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday, people Marshall worked with in Hollywood expressed their sadness and appreciation. Marshall was one of the trending topics on Twitter overnight.

Marshall started out as a writer for comedians in New York. He started writing for The Tonight Show in 1959. In 1961, he moved to Hollywood to work in television.

Marshall helped the careers of many actors by casting them in his shows. They included Henry Winkler and Robin Williams.

Winkler played the iconic character "The Fonz" on Happy Days, a show that aired in the 1970s. Williams played "Mork," an alien who came to live on Earth, on the show Mork and Mindy.

On Twitter, Winkler wrote: "Thank you for my professional life..."

Marshall directed the movie Pretty Woman. It starred Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The film website IMDB lists Pretty Woman as one of the most popular and successful movies of the 1990s. Before starring in the film, Roberts only had small movie roles.

In honor of Marshall, one Twitter user posted a link to a famous scene from Pretty Woman. It shows Roberts' character Vivian shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The twitter user said it "will forever hold a special place in my heart."

And that's What's Trending Today.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

Do you have a favorite Garry Marshall television show or movie? Tell us about it in the Comments Section or on 51VOA.COM.

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Words in This Story

appreciation – n. a feeling of being grateful for something

cast – v. to assign roles for (a play, movie, etc.) to actors

iconic – adj. used to describe a person or place that is representative of something larger

alien – n. from somewhere other than the planet Earth

scene – n. a division of an act in a play during which the action takes place in a single place without a break in time