Penny Marshall: Heartbroken Star’s Final Days

Penny Marshall is being killed by a broken heart, pals fear. Devastated by the double blow of losing her brother Garry Marshall and best pal Carrie Fisher. “These two deaths have flattened Penny like a one-two punch,” revealed a source close to TV’s "Laverne and Shirley" star. 73-year-old Penny amazed Hollywood by beating deadly brain and lung cancer with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation in 2013.

Penny Marshall is being killed by a broken heart, pals fear. Devastated by the double blow of losing her brother Garry Marshall and best pal Carrie Fisher. “These two deaths have flattened Penny like a one-two punch,” revealed a source close to TV’s "Laverne and Shirley" star. 73-year-old Penny amazed Hollywood by beating deadly brain and lung cancer with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation in 2013.

But the "A League of Their Own" director, who incredibly still smokes, was shattered when her beloved brother and "Happy Days" producer, Garry, died at age 81 in July. She plunged into an even deeper funk after Carrie’s fatal heart attack at age 60 in December. “Penny and Carrie were thick as thieves for as long as I can remember,” the source recalls. “Carrie joked that she and Penny were so close, they were ‘lovers.’” The inseparable buds celebrated their October birthdays with big bashes that drew top stars like David Bowie and his wife, Iman!

After Carrie passed, reeling Penny reached out to Mark Wahlberg, a pal she helped when he was struggling with his acting career. The "Transformers" hunk quickly moved her into his huge Hollywood home. “He’s helping her cope with her grief and keeping an eye on her health,”  the source revealed. They’ve been close since she cast him in her 1994 comedy flick, "Renaissance Man" when he “wanted to walk out of his audition.” Director Penny convinced him to stick it out. “Now Mark’s trying to do the same for her,” said the source.