Biography
Mark "Babaloo" Mandel and his partner
Lowell Ganz are responsible for writing some of the most popular comedies in contemporary American cinema. They met in a Hollywood comedy club where Mandel worked as a gag writer. Ganz was also working as a writer on the TV comedy
The Odd Couple. They found they had a lot in common: both were from New York, and both idolized
Billy Wilder. It was Ganz who suggested they team up to write for popular television sitcoms such as
Laverne and Shirley; it was Laverne, actress
Penny Marshall, who later directed one of their most popular hits,
A League of Their Own (1992). They made their feature film debut with the black comedy
Night Shift (1982). The stories they tell, such as the Oscar-nominated
Splash (1984), are easily recognizable for their strong narrative structure and full bodied characterizations. Mandel is also notable as being a master of hardhitting punchlines. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide