He was 81 years old. Details of his death are yet to be made public but his sister Penny Marshall confirmed to CBS News that her brother died on Tuesday night (Los Angeles time).

He was also responsible for some of the most iconic romantic comedy movies, such as Pretty Woman and Overboard.

For a generation of television viewers, his name was synonymous with comedy. And a spoken footnote that his shows were "filmed in front of a live studio audience."

Marshall's magic touch was intangible, though he did once say he had the rare ability to find humour in any situation.

"If you've got the comedy eye, you can look at any situation and see the humour in it while others don't," he said.

Marshall was born in the Bronx, as Garry Kent Maschiarelli.

He studied journalism and later flirted with a writing and acting career, writing jokes and taking roles including a small role in the Bond film Goldfinger. (He played a hoodlum.)

He struck gold in 1970, when he developed and produced the television adaptation of The Odd Couple.

It would go on to become a titanic success, and make stars of its two leads, Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.

A year later, he wrote the pilot for a series titled Happy Days, about a family living in Milwaulkee.

It was another titanic hit for Marshall, becoming the number one program on US television and one of the most successful television comedies in the history of the medium.

Happy Days also carved its initials into the cultural zeitgeist as the source of the phrase "jump the shark", meaning when a television program has passed its use by date.

That line comes from an episode of Happy Days in which the character Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps a pool of sharks on waterskis.

It was said that the idea was Marshalls', though it has never been confirmed.

Happy Days also spawned two successful spin-offs, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork and Mindy.

The first starred Marshall's sister Penny Marshall, and actress Cindy Williams, as two best friends and roommates.

The second starred comedian Robin Williams as an alien who comes to earth.

Throughout his career Marshall never quite gave up acting, taking cameo roles in a raft of films such as 1991's Soapdish, where he played the exhausted head of daytime television at a network with an embattled soap.

He also made a cameo appearance in the television reboot of The Odd Couple this year, playing Oscar Madison's father, Walter Madison; the character's first name is a nod to actor Walter Matthau who played the role in the 1968 film.

Marshall also directed feature films, including 1982's Young Doctors in Love.

His most successful film was 1990's Pretty Woman, which starred Julia Roberts and Richard Gere; it grossed almost half a billion dollars at the box office.

Marshall's other film credits include the Goldie Hawn comedy Overboard, and the Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey film Beaches.

In 1999, Marshall directed Runaway Bride, which reunited him with Roberts and Gere.

Marshall also directed The Princess Diaries and its sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

In addition to his better known credits, his name has appeared on a raft of film and television projects, including Gomer Pyle USMC, Love American Style, Angie and another of several Happy Days spin-offs, Joanie Loves Chachi.

In 1997, Marshall was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, and in 2014, he received the Laurel Award for television writing achievement from the Writers Guild of America.

Marshall is survived by his wife, Barbara, son Scott and daughters Lori and Kathleen, and two sisters, producer Ronny Hallin and actress/director Penny.