Garry Marshall created, wrote, or produced some of television's most beloved sitcoms, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and The Odd Couple. He has also directed 17 movies, including Pretty Woman, Beaches, The Princess Diaries, and Valentine's Day. His oldest daughter, Lori, co-wrote his autobiography, Wake Me When It's Funny (Newmarket, 1997). She is also a journalist, a children's playwright, and the mother of twin daughters, age 16 going on 40.
LORI: I hate my name. How could you have named me Lorraine when there are so many better names in the universe?
GARRY: We gave you your grandmother’s middle name because we thought it was pretty. Would you have preferred Vivian, her first name?
LORI: Yes. Julia Roberts's name in Pretty Woman was Vivian. So, yes, I would have liked that over Lorraine. It makes me sound like a slice of quiche.
GARRY: You can’t choose your own name. You
can choose your children’s names and I think you did well with Lily Camille and Charlotte Grace. You named Charlotte after Charlotte Rae, correct? From
The Facts of Life?
LORI: Funny, but no. Charlotte Bronte. And Lily was named after Lillian Hellman.
GARRY: Good. In that case you had a choice. The only other name you can choose is what your grandkids call you.
LORI: Your six grandkids call you Pop. How did you decide on that?
GARRY: You called my dad Pop and I liked the sound of that. Pop is peppy and energetic and doesn’t sound like a man sitting on a couch with an afghan over his legs sipping lukewarm tea. I still play softball, and I have an athletic image to maintain.
LORI: Mom decided to have her grandkids call her Polly, which is a little off the beaten path, don’t you think?
GARRY: Your mother is a tried and true Anglophile. She liked Polly because she heard some grandchildren in England call their grandmas Polly.
LORI: Do you think the Queen of England's grandkids call her Polly?
GARRY: No. When I once met Sarah Ferguson she said her daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, call their grandmother Grammy.
LORI: What do Spencer, Viva, and Bella call your sister Penny?
GARRY: She signs their presents "Love, G Penny," but when they see her they call her Grandma Penny.
LORI: I guess it is a choice. You can be traditional or completely avant-garde.
GARRY: I read in Parade magazine that one family calls their grandparents Geezer Girl and Geezer Guy.
LORI: Mean! I read online that one of Goldie Hawn's grandchildren call her GlamMa.
GARRY: I directed Goldie in Overboard and her daughter Kate in Raising Helen. Both are very talented and glamorous. I agree.
LORI: What did you call your grandparents?
GARRY: Nanny was blind and she was married to Grandpa Willie. And then my other grandparents were Italian and didn’t really speak much English. So we referred to them sometimes as Grandma and Grandpa and other times as "those people who make the good pasta with the red sauce." We weren't that close to them but for a good pasta sauce you can get along with almost anyone.
LORI: I think the idea of the names Grandma and Grandpa used to conjure up someone old and feeble.
GARRY: Like Whistler’s Mother.
LORI: But now so many grandparents are so young. They're more triathletes than tired people.
GARRY: Also many grandparents are hip and don’t want to walk around with a cranky name.
LORI: I wonder what my grandkids will call me. My Kentucky relatives call my grandma MawMaw and grandpa PawPaw. Those are a little too country for me.
GARRY: What do Lily and Charlotte call their other grandma?
LORI: Oma. It's German.
GARRY: Sounds funny. Like, "Oh ma my back hurts!" Not quite youthful enough for you. How about Gotchma?
LORI: Excuse me?
GARRY: Sometimes you have to go with what the grandkids can get their mouths around. Your mother couldn't say Grandma so she called her Oklahoma grandmother Gotchma. Cute?
LORI: Sounds like a board game. Not for me. What did Anne Hathaway call her grandmother, Julie Andrews, in your movie Princess Diaries?
GARRY: Grandmere. Queen Clarissa Renaldi, otherwise known as Grandmere.
LORI: Fancy. Fancy.
GARRY: You aren’t going to get away with calling Juile Andrews Geezer Girl or Big Mama.
LORI: I don't think I can pull off Grandmere. Sounds like someone who wears those Ferragamo shoes with the bows on them. Too elegant for me. I still shop at Forever 21.
GARRY: How about Lala? Grandma Lala?
LORI: That’s a Teletubby!
GARRY: What about Babushka? It’s Russian. They could call you Babs for short. Like Streisand.
LORI: No, I think I like Grammy.
GARRY: That’s what you used to call my mom who taught you all to tap dance. A good name. Wait. Would you prefer Bomma?
LORI: Bomma?
GARRY: It's Flemish.
LORI: I’m sticking with Grammy, thanks.
GARRY: But your twins are only 16. You have a few years before you become a grandparent.
LORI: You know me. Oldest child and a Capricorn. I like a plan. I like to be prepared.
GARRY: Good. Now could you go and prepare me a sandwich? I’m starving.
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