One of her first jobs was playing the plain girl opposite bombshell Farrah Fawcett in a 1970s Head & Shoulders commercial. But there was nothing ordinary about Penny Marshall’s life. The actress and director, who grew up in The Bronx and still lives part of the year on the Upper West Side, has crossed paths with countless A-list names over the years. She was married to Rob Reiner, dated Art Garfunkel and helped launch Tom Hanks in “Big.” Her brother is Garry Marshall, creator of “Happy Days” and his sister’s star vehicle, “Laverne and Shirley.” Marshall recounts her life in her fascinating new memoir “My Mother Was Nuts,” out Tuesday. This is her New York.
1. Paul Simon’s apartment, 88 Central Park West
“Except for two songs on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1975, [Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel] hadn’t performed together since 1972. One night at Paul’s apartment [in 1980, when I was dating Art], I asked them to sing. I knew who they were, and I knew their songs, but I didn’t know their history. I said, ‘Well, why don’t you sing something?’ There was a slight pause, then Paul went to the guitar closet [and] picked the one with the best echo. They played Everly Brothers and ’50s stuff. It was thrilling. Then, a year later, they reunited for the Central Park concert. Maybe I contributed to them getting back together, I don’t know.”
2. Fifth Avenue, near 79th Street
“After the Central Park concert, Artie and I headed toward his building on Fifth Avenue. Artie would grade everything: a meal, a hotel, a restaurant. I asked what he had thought of the performance. He thought about it for a moment and said, ‘C-minus.’ That was just Artie. I said, ‘You’re crazy. Listen.’ Then I rolled down the car windows. ‘Listen to them, they’re singing! They loved it!”
3. FAO Schwarz, 767 Fifth Ave., at 59th Street
“I had seen a piano like what we used in ‘Big,’ but it didn’t play the right notes. You couldn’t play a real tune. So I went to the inventor and asked him if he could make another one that could play simple tunes like ‘Chopsticks.’ I also needed the keyboard made long enough for two people to dance on it.”
4. White Castle, 2092 Seventh Ave., at 125th Street
“When I arrive in New York, I go straight to a White Castle. I love the belly bombers. They’re great. I can eat about six. That’s what we used to eat as kids, because it was cheap.”
5. “Saturday Night Live,” 30 Rockefeller Center, at Sixth Avenue
“Rob [Reiner] and I hosted the third show. I don’t know why I was there, but Lorne [Michaels] wanted me there. I said, ‘Why? I’m nobody.’ This was October [1975] and ‘Laverne & Shirley’ (left) didn’t premiere until January. ‘SNL’ was wild. Lorne had to keep track of a lot of crazy people. It was a fun place to hang out. They were writing all night. I can’t work well on any drug. I’m always straight. Ain’t no one funny on cocaine. You can’t work on that s – - t.”
6. “Preacher’s Wife” shooting location, 14th St., near Ninth Avenue
“I didn’t have any problems [directing] Whitney [Houston on ‘The Preacher’s Wife’]. She always knew her lines. Yes, she did have an entourage, and yes, there were a few times when she fought with Bobby Brown on the phone, and yes, on occasion, she did miss her call times. But her people always sent word she was going to be late.I had asked [her] what she wanted to sing [in one scene]. She explained that if she picked so-and-so’s song, they’d get royalties. I said, ‘All I know is, I don’t get paid either way. What do you want to sing?’ She played me ‘I Believe in Miracles’ by the Four Tops, and I said, ‘Fine.’ We shot the scene at a club on 14th Street.”
7. The Marshall residence, 3235 Grand Concourse, at Van Cortlandt Avenue East, The Bronx
“When Rob Reiner and I were children, we lived across the street from each other. We never met because the Grand Concourse was a busy street and we were too young to cross it. He went to P.S. 8, I went to 80. He moved when he was 7. His father, Carl, was one of the stars on ‘Your Show of Shows,’ and he was the most famous person in the neighborhood. He was also known for giving out the best Halloween candy. A lot of famous people grew up on that street: Robert Klein, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren Lipschitz. They all went to the same school. Robert, I’m still friends with. Ralph and Calvin I run into from time to time.”
8. Queen of the Universe Shrine, 3091 Grand Concourse, The Bronx
“There was a vacant lot across the street from our apartment. One day [in 1945] Crazy Joseph [Vitolo] from Villa Avenue saw the Virgin Mary while we were all playing. Jo-Jo suddenly dropped to his knees and started praying. We didn’t know from the Virgin Mary, but we believed, because they built a shrine. Soon people came by the busload to the spot. There are buildings there now, but the shrine is still there.”
9. Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, 681 Clarkson Ave., at Utica Avenue, Brooklyn
“We filmed ‘Awakenings’ there, and it was a hell hole. In the scene where Dr. Sayer [Robin Williams] and Leonard [Robert De Niro] argue, Bobby told Robin to actually hold down his hands and prevent him from moving. One time, Robin’s hands flew up and hit Bobby in the nose. It turned out he had broken Bobby’s nose. I asked Bobby if he wanted to go to the hospital, and he said, ‘No, it’s numb now.’ It healed fast and it actually straightened out his nose.”