PENNY MARSHALL
Big (1988)
There were a whole lot of other body-switch comedies that came out around the same time, but the only one anybody remembers now is this one, thanks to Tom Hanks' winningly childlike performance as a boy who becomes a man overnight, and to Marshall's ability to build showpiece moments, like the scene where Hanks and Robert Loggia play that giant piano. On only her second film, Marshall became the first woman to direct a blockbuster that grossed more than $100 million.
Awakenings (1990)
In this tearjerker based loosely on Dr. Oliver Sacks' real-life case histories, Marshall elicits a typically multifaceted performance from Robert De Niro as a patient emerging from a decades-long nightmare, and she coaxes an atypically restrained dramatic performance from Robin Williams as the Sacks-like neurologist who also must emerge from his shell.
A League of Their Own (1992)
Marshall's second $100 million-plus blockbuster was this based-loosely-in-fact comedy-drama about the all-female professional baseball league launched during World War II. Along with Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, and Lori Petty, League featured Madonna in a rare supporting part and Rosie O'Donnell's film debut.
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