Penny Marshall Opens Up About Her Abortion, Wild Parties Of Yore

Penny Marshall is 69 years old now, but the actress and Hollywood mainstay is no less fiery than she was 40 years ago.

Penny Marshall is out with a new book, My Mother is Nuts, and in it, the star candidly discusses her marriages, drug use, famous exes and family members, and the abortion she had right after the end of Laverne & Shirley.

Despite having been legal for four decades since Roe Vs. Wade in the 1970s, abortion is still not an openly discussed topic and one that, despite its prevalence, most women are quiet and secretive about. Speaking out about an abortion, though it is an experience many women share, is still considered a transgressive act in Hollywood.

But Marshall was open about the abortion, among other things, in interviews she did to promote the new book. Sitting down with Entertainment Tonight, the Laverne & Shirley star explained that friends had disclosed their abortions, but she kept it a secret for years:

“I didn’t wish I hadn’t [had the abortion] … [Up until then] I was one of the few people who said, ‘No I’d never did that’ — every friend I had had done that. But they should have the right.”

Marshall added:

“It was my life that I was dealing with and so I have a right to an opinion … I already had a kid — it wasn’t like it was my first kid.”

Of drug use she details in the book, Penny explains:

“Those were the druggie years. I don’t do them now, but I did it back in the day. I’ll try anything once. But where am I speeding to now?”

Do you plan to pick up Penny Marshall’s new book?