Claim: John Heard acted in a movie directed by a man.

Beaches -LRB- also known as Forever Friends -RRB- is a 1988 American comedy-drama film adapted by Mary Agnes Donoghue from the Iris Rainer Dart novel of the same name . It was directed by Garry Marshall , and stars Bette Midler , Barbara Hershey , Mayim Bialik , Skyler Blask , John Heard , James Read , Spalding Gray , and Lainie Kazan .   Despite generally negative reviews from critics , the film was a commercial success , grossing $ 59 million in the box office , and gained a cult following .   A sequel , based on the novel Beaches II : I 'll Be There was planned with Barbara Eden but never filmed .