Penny Marshall, R.I.P.

Penny Marshall starred in or directed many, many things that were very, very successful and made a lot of people happy. She also made a ton of money and may have turned down more offers to act or direct than any other Hollywood figure of her generation.

I had about a half-dozen encounters with her, most of them brief although she was a guest star once long ago on a special for which I was head writer. In each case, she treated me and everyone else around us like we were all beings from a warring planet who were disguised as friendly humans so we could get close enough to murder her. I'm sure she wasn't like that all the time and I wish I'd seen the other side.

Her work will endure and it'll make a lot more people happy. I hope she knew that.