Tom Hanks Says Farewell to ‘Big’ and ‘League of Their Own’ Director Penny Marshall

Tom Hanks has issued a statement on death of Big and A League of Their Own director Penny Marshall, saying farewell to his late friend.

In a message posted to Twitter, Hanks wrote, “Goodbye, Penny. Man, did we laugh a lot! Wish we still could. Love you. Hanx.”

Hanks and Marshall first worked together on 1988’s Big, and then again on A League of Their Own in 1992.

Following the new of Marshall’s passing, other celebrities took to Twitter to share messages of sympathy. A-list star Mark Wahlberg was one of them, as he and Marshall worked together on the 1994 film Renaissance Man.

“Rest in peace, Penny. Such a wonderful, funny and talented lady. Without her support and encouragement, I would not be where I am today,” he wrote. “She will be missed.”

“At a time when men dominated, #pennymarshall broke barriers as a director, giving us hit after hit. A League of their Own, Awakenings, & Big aren’t simply great movies,” Frozen actor Josh Gad stated in a tweet. “They r classics made by a director who was simultaneously setting up shots while breaking down walls. RIP.”

“God Bless Penny Marshall’s extraordinary soul,” writer/director James L. Brooks added. “Beyond doubt she was able to excel at anything she put her world class mind & heart to and, lucky us, she picked comedy and films which celebrated humans. To many of us lost ones she was, at the time, the world’s greatest den mother.”

Celebrities have not been the only ones to lament Marshall’s passing, as her alma mater, University of New Mexico, also shared a message regarding her passing.

“We lost one of our own today Lobos, Penny Marshall, who attended UNM in the early ’60s, known for her successful acting and directing career passed away at age 75. We are sending our thoughts with all those affected by her passing,” the university tweeted.

Marshall passed away on Dec. 18 from complications of diabetes. She was 75 years old.